The Broadway revival of musical Bye Bye Birdie has been panned by New York’s theater critics – who have dubbed the John Stamos and Gina Gershon-starring revenue “boneheaded.”

Ouch.

The musical was a huge hit on stage in the 1960s, starring Dick Van Dyke in the lead role, but the new show opened a savage reception on Thursday’s opening night.

Stamos and Gershon were singled out for particular criticism from the New York Daily News, whose reviewer called them “surprisingly robotic.”

The New York Post’s Elisabeth Vincentelli branded the pair “both look half-paralyzed by stress. Stamos’ face is frozen in a strained mask…and Gershon… is at sea as the feisty Rose Alvarez.”

The New York Times reviewer Ben Brantley, predicts the show will turn audiences off: “Theatergoers may feel an empathetic urge to rush home and bury their heads in their pillows.”
Bye Bye Birdie is scheduled to run at the Henry Millers Theatre through January.