Broadway Musical Wanted Opens to Critical New York Post Review

"Wanted," a new Broadway musical about two sisters who pass as white to rob trains in 19th-century Texas, opened Sunday night at the James Earl Jones Theatre, and the show's reception from at least one New York critic was harsh. New York Post theater critic Johnny Oleksinski, in a review published Nov. 9, wrote that the production "squanders what's good about it" and called it "a gaudy, uninvolving slog," according to the review.

What Is 'Wanted' About?

"Wanted" is written by Ross Baum and Angelica Chéri, and Chéri based the story on her own family history, according to the Post review. The musical follows two Black sisters, fictionalized as Mary and Martha, who are drawn from Chéri's real ancestors Mary and Martha Clarke — sisters who were able to pass as white and used that advantage to carry out a string of crimes in Texas in the late 1800s, Oleksinski reported.

In the stage version, sharecropper mother Tallulah is about to lose the family's home, and her daughters set off to legitimately earn $200 to save it. Worried for their safety on the road, Tallulah hands them a gun, telling them, "You gotta be prepared," according to the review. The sisters soon put the weapon to more aggressive use, holding up a train full of white passengers and, per the review, targeting a chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy as well.

Who Wrote and Stars in Wanted?

The production is directed by Stevie Walker-Webb. Solea Pfeiffer plays Mary and Liisi LaFontaine plays Martha, while Ledisi plays their mother, Tallulah, the Post reported. The show opened at the James Earl Jones Theatre, the Broadway venue named for the late actor.

How Long Is the Wanted Broadway Show?

According to the Post listing, "Wanted" runs two and a half hours with one intermission. The story is set in Texas during the late 1800s and is credited to two writers, Baum and Chéri, working from a real family history that stretches back more than a century before the show's 2026 opening.

What Does the New York Post Review Say?

Oleksinski's review opens by comparing the musical to "Thelma & Louise," writing that "Wanted" "drives off a cliff," but adds a pointed distinction: "at least Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis waited until the end." He argues the creative team — Baum, Chéri and director Walker-Webb — "squanders what's good about it — namely an enticing premise and a cast of powerful singers," producing instead "a gaudy, uninvolving slog in which plot movements are at the same time bonkers and blasé."

The critic also faulted the writing of the central characters, asking under his own subheading whether the show offers "Some Character Development?" He described Mary and Martha as "thinly drawn," even while acknowledging their mother's ultimatum gives the sisters "a strong initial thrust to their motivations."

Oleksinski wrote that the source material promised "a delicious combination of pieces: a classic Western; R&B, blues and gospel music; and the Harlem Renaissance sensibility of Nella Larsen's novel 'Passing'" — the novel adapted into a film starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga. Instead, he wrote, the show's elements "collide into a stodgy wannabe Frank Wildhorn show, in both aesthetic and attitude, as it garishly, loudly and routinely stomps through history."

How Does the Reaction Compare to Other Broadway Musicals?

Oleksinski placed "Wanted" against two recent productions he has praised in prior columns, writing that stage shows sometimes "turn out to be much better than their plain descriptions would suggest," citing "Maybe Happy Ending" and "Oh, Mary!" as examples. By his account, "Wanted" does not follow that pattern: "But 'Wanted' is far, far worse," he wrote.

The Post review is the only published assessment of the production referenced in reporting available at this time. The show's opening came the same week the Post's theater desk also reviewed another new musical, "The Heart," an EDM-themed production the critic described more favorably in a separate column linked from the same review page.

For readers tracking the fall Broadway season, "Wanted" now joins a crowded slate of new openings at houses along Manhattan's theater row, with the James Earl Jones Theatre serving as its home for the run that began Nov. 8.