"Wanted," a new musical billed as the "mostly true" story of two Black twin sisters who passed as white outlaws in 1890s Texas, opened on Broadway on Nov. 8 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, drawing reviews that praised its cast while questioning how the show tells its story.
Solea Pfeiffer and Liisi LaFontaine star as Mary and Martha Clarke, with Ledisi and Luke James among the rest of the Broadway cast. The production, formerly titled "Gun & Powder," began previews in mid-October before its official opening.
In Variety's review, critic Aramide Tinubu called the leads, including Ledisi, "phenomenal" as performers while arguing the show's narrative never quite catches up to its voices. Deadline's review described the musical as "spirited but uneven," a judgment echoed in reviews that found the show's gospel- and country-inflected score stronger than its book.
Audiences have responded more warmly than critics. User reviews collected by Broadway.com have averaged well above four stars, with reviewers singling out the vocal performances and the novelty of a Western musical built around two women passing for white to survive on the frontier — a premise the show's marketing frames as grounded in historical record, though independent verification of the Clarke sisters' story was not available ahead of publication.
The show arrives in a crowded fall for new Broadway musicals, competing for audiences and awards-season attention with established hits and other recent openings. Its commercial fate over the coming weeks, as word of mouth catches up with reviews, will determine whether "Wanted" settles in for a run or becomes one of the season's shorter-lived productions.
