The Whoopi Monologues has opened at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Whitney White, the production brings together a stellar cast of five leading performers.

First arriving on Broadway in 1984, The Whoopi Monologues established Goldberg as one of the most distinctive voices in comedy and theatre. Now, over 40 years later, this reimagined production puts a fresh spin on those stories while celebrating the legacy of the original.

So, what did the critics think? 

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The Whoopi Monologues Critic Reviews 

And really, it's this enduring legacy that is the biggest takeaway from "The Whoopi Monologues." Sure, this retelling is markedly shinier than what preceded it. (It dresses up a show created by a woman whose ingenuity was more often found in simplicity.) But it's a sincere gift nonetheless, a loving call for human compassion and a singing homage to its titular architect.
- New York Times

The question is not whether these joke-laced routines work without Whoopi Goldberg. They do, especially performed here by a first-rate cast with an innate sense of comedic timing. Instead, the issue is how well these sketches hold up four (or two) decades after their creation. (Goldberg herself dropped two monologues from the original 1984 Broadway show for the last revival, and added the one that Lewis performs.) There's a sketchiness that's built into the format. But part of the initial appeal, that Goldberg was embodying this grab-bag of wildly different personalities, is lost in the new format. But as a showcase for a quintet of gifted comedic actresses, The Whoopi Monologues still delivers.
- Culture Sauce

The individual performances in The Whoopi Monologues may be the most fortuitous update of this revival. Goldberg was able to embody each persona with aplomb when she played them all herself, but here we are treated to five top-tier talents in one evening. With some delightful banter and some fun stage craft where all five women appear together, The Whoopi Monologues have been reborn for a new generation and are not showing their age.
- Exeunt

Any of the actresses - including a humorous-to-heart-wrenching turn by Kerry Washington as a teen who takes an unwanted pregnancy into her own handswould have been formidable in tackling the entire lineup. That prospect hovers like unfinished business, despite the polish and specificity each brings to the production. The Whoopi Monologues offers a kaleidoscopic lens into the transition from girlhood to womanhood. Goldberg's knack for finding humor in the darkness of addiction, reproductive care, and racism never undermines the play's potency.
- 1 Minute Critic

The characters do a good deal of interacting with the audience - perhaps none more than Jamaican Lady (Pinnock), who ditches her life as a beachside souvenir vendor in Kingston to accompany an "incredibly wrinkled and very very tan" 85 or 90-year-old man to the States as his "companion." She calls him "The Old Raisin." And when she begins a story about their sexual encounter - "Let me tell you something in praise of the older man" - if you're a silver-haired gent seated down front, be prepared to share the spotlight. "Them old raisins zero in and go right for the money."
- New York Stage Review

Whitney White's staging is filled with only occasional bits of stage business (aided in part by Hana S. Kim's projections) that add some theatricality to the proceedings; I especially enjoyed watching the five women onstage together doing The Hustle. But being one of our smartest directors, White clearly knows that, in these ultra-capable hands, Whoopi's words speak for themselves.
- Cititour