NOBODY LOVES YOU: 88% – SWEET

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Alex Brightman in "Nobody Loves You" at The Old Globe. Credit: Henry DiRocco.

BITTER
The score is mostly generic rock and definitely loud — so much so, that the cast has to use face mics to be heard above the din in a theater that is all of five rows deep. Indeed, anyone above age 25 should be advised to bring ear plugs — and perhaps check their minds at the door.
Rob Stevens – TheaterMania

SWEET
“Nobody Loves You’s” book and songs might feel a little first drafty, but they’re still fresh, pertinent and very, very funny.
Margaret Gray – LA Times

BITTERSWEET
While their musical is extremely likeable, engaging and entertaining, it remains an uneven effort.
Tony Frankel – Stage and Cinema

SWEET
The Old Globe’s smart, tuneful “Nobody Loves You” skewers a crackpot TV dating competition without losing sight of the genuinely yearning, burning hearts on either side of the small screen.
Bob Verini – Variety

SWEET
The songs are even funnier, and often more insightful, than the dialogue. “So Much to Hate,” “The Obstacle Course of Love,” and “Crush Ceremony” stand out. At times, it seems like writers Gaby Alter and Itamar Moses are channeling Noel Coward.
Josh Baxt – Culture Vulture

SWEET
The show may plink at some easy targets and conclude without a whole lot of consequence, but the trip it takes to the most ridiculous fringes of reality-land can be a blast to witness.
James Hebert – San Diego Union-Tribune

SWEET
It’s a delicate balance, but it works thanks to the smart, playful direction of Michelle Tattenbaum and the hilarious hyper-corny choreography of Mandy Moore.
Pam Kragen – North County Times

SWEET
With some zippy and snappy music and lyrics driven by a talented and appealing ensemble, this contemporary piece should charm most everyone especially if the sound (Paul Peterson) is brought down by a few decibels and you don’t get stuck sitting in front of a few yahoos who were so damn loud and obnoxious that I wanted to muzzle them.
Carol Davis – San Diego Examiner

SWEET
It’s a shame that this show’s smaller scale may make a New York production problematic. This almost-perfect 90-minute musical deserves to be enjoyed well beyond its world premiere.
Bill Eadie – Talkin’ Broadway

SWEET
But Moses and his collaborators have found their way to an engaging and entertaining show. The excellent cast sings, dances and acts well, the songs are clever and the under-the-stage band is fine. The lone problem is that the decibel level needs to be lowered.
Jean Lowerison – SDGLN

SWEET
Like the programs that it mocks, “Nobody Loves You” doesn’t offer much intellectual stimulation but accomplishes its goal—it entertains.
Katherine Davis – Backstage

SWEET
It may poke fun but it does so with genuine charm and a highly entertaining score to help tell its story.
Ellen Dostal – Musicals in LA

SWEET
Playwright Itamar Moses has met his match in Composer Gaby Alter. Contributing the gifts of their respective disciplines they share lyric-writing chores and turn a walk down the worn path of love stories into a zippy, giddy, contemporary romp that pokes fun at everything and promises to tickle everybody.
Cristofer Gross – TheaterTimes

NOBODY LOVES YOU
The Old Globe
Balboa Park, San Diego
7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 7 p.m. Sundays
Tickets: $29 and up; (619) 234-5623
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes