Ben Brantley, The New York Times:

"Whether fat, skinny, short, tall, young or old, each of the cast's 16 actresses is a knockout of sorts...and floating in this ocean of estrogen, looking like an especially sweet pussycat who has fallen into the cream, is Antonio Banderas...you get the feeling that most of the women in the audience would happily join the lineup of actresses and wait their turn for Mr. Banderas's attention...

He is a bona fide matinee idol for the 21st century - a pocket Adonis who suggests a more sensitive, less menacing variation on the Latin lovers of yore...an appealingly easy stage presence...he disarmingly summons the childlike side of a man who at 40 is still, as he says, a 10-year-old within...

I talked to one middle-aged woman after the show who said she had loved, loved, loved 'Nine'. 'Those costumes,' she exclaimed, 'those hairstyles, that makeup!' I asked her if she had trouble following the plot or understanding the characters. 'Well, yes,' she said, as if I had asked the most unimportant question in the world. 'But Antonio Banderas is so-o-o-o melt'."
Newsday:
"Charming Banderas is a 10...Antonio Banderas is absolutely crazy with charm. What was not as self-evident before Spain’s gift to Hollywood made his Broadway debut...is that the man also is a magnetic stage creature, a savvy combination of humility and pizzazz. He can sing, maneuvering the highs and lows...with accuracy and occasional abandon."
New York Daily News:
"Banderas avoids the cliches of Broadway leading men. His sensuality is effortless, and he can heighten it by being vulnerable. Neither does he strut or swagger vocally. His singing is smooth, soft and sexy. When he sings 'Unusual Way'...with Laura Benanti...they both caress the gorgeous song. It is absolutely melting...he makes the difficult role entirely believable and moving...'Nine' has been impressively reborn."

Marc Miller, TheaterMania:
"With Antonio Banderas as the lightning rod that strikes sparks off every woman onstage and in the audience, plus more than a few men... 'Nine'...isn't a revival: It's a revelation...in terms of star quality, it's overpowering. These past several seasons, the boards have sagged and groaned with movie stars who sign limited contracts and feel like they're doing Broadway a favor by deigning to drop in for a few weeks. But this time, folks, we're getting much more than a mere star turn. Banderas has done his homework: He sings like Broadway has always been his home, he inhabits Guido with more conviction than the part deserves, and he's a smoldering stage presence besides."
Peter Marks
Washington Post:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Signore Antonio Banderas!...He sings with a deep, booming vibrato and moves with a crisp vulpine grace. You can tell he's a movie actor; there's a minimalist quality to his performance."

Clive Barnes, New York Post:
"The 1982 musical 'Nine' was from the beginning a brilliantly flawed success. Then came Antonio Banderas...a superbly realized and tightly focused performance... he wraps the role around his little finger and challenges us to accept him. He sings wonderfully, and acts with the shaky Italianate bravura of Mastroianni. In short, he couldn't be better."

David Patrick Columbia, New York Social Diary.com:
"'Nine' knocked me over. Fabulous is the word. Fabulous. First of all Antonio Banderas we already know is a star, but wait...this is a different star. This is a big, bigger than life star. I think the last time a film star came and took the town with the magnitude of Banderas was the late great Richard Burton when he did 'Hamlet' almost 40 years ago...

Banderas and Chita Rivera in a tango is worth the price of the ticket. You've just never seen sex and style, wit and wisdom (and sex) like that anywhere, on any stage. And that was just a moment in this fabulous show...an extraordinary show with an extraordinary star."

Michael Sommers, NJ.com: Banderas "dazzles in his Broadway debut... cunningly invests Guido with a boyish quality that makes him irresistible."