American Psycho NYC Reviews and Tickets

"You leave both dazzled and disappointed...Sometimes it’s imaginative. At other times, boring and uncertain. And at nearly three hours, always too long. The pointless finale, in which Patrick asks the audience to like him, suggests that what we’ve just seen has been an illusion. Sterility sets in, diluting the entire enterprise. Despite my reservations, it’s worth seeing for the flamboyant effects and for Benjamin Walker’s spectacular, unflagging charisma."
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"A theatergoer might conclude that the darkest, most diabolical desire of Patrick Bateman is to bore his victims to death. No other rationale burbles compellingly to the surface to explain this slick and tedious adaptation…Goold’s shiny production, churning vapidly to the beat of composer Duncan Sheik’s surprisingly clunky, characterless songs, charts the homicidal rampage of Patrick…If the satire were more stinging, the show might stand a chance."
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“Goold's staging evidences little in the way of consistency...a tendency that, frankly, infuriated me all night long, mostly because I could see the argument for taking that very approach…It's a myopic mess, musically...‘American Psycho’ still ends up as an often cheap parody of the late 1980s rather than an in-the-moment vivisection of the time...For that, the show needs sharper edges and much more careful observation.”
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“How do you adapt a sadistically violent book for the stage? Tone down the gore and dial up the satire. And that’s how Broadway’s ‘American Psycho: The Musical’ ended up less about a serial killer than about late-’80s excess and synth-pop tunes...The second act flags but the score is strong...Duncan Sheik’s synthesizer-heavy music...delivers a worthy follow-up to his ‘Spring Awakening'...A comic 'American Psycho' you can dance to? Somehow, it works.”
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"Did he or didn’t he? That’s the question at the soulless heart of the Broadway musical centered on everyone’s favorite fictional ax-wielding ’80s antihero (Benjamin Walker, staggeringly good)...If you can resign yourself to the story’s innate ambiguity, you’re in for a perversely enjoyable experience. The script captures , and deftly skewers, all of the 1980s’ most over-the-top obsessions...Sheik’s bizarrely catchy, entirely electronic score plays like something blaring at Tunnel in 1989."
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"The emptiness at the heart of 'American Psycho' is the source of both its originality and its eventual tediousness. What succeeds as satiric comedy falters when the mood turns more serious. But when the show works, it does so with tremendous flair. This isn't another 'Sweeney Todd,' but its sharp style lifts it above the mercenary rung of most musicals spun from pop cultural ephemera."
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“Captures the designer chic milieu, materialistic attitude and dance club sound of 1980s Manhattan while adding a pervading sense of eerie unease...Notwithstanding all this, the piece has serious structural problems...Duncan Sheik’s electronic, often dissonant score has a monotonous feel, which may explain why a few ’80s pop hits have been thrown in. I came away feeling that ‘American Psycho’ works better as a drama with background music instead of a fully-blown musical.”
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"A slickly thrilling production, even as impressive as its hunky leading man - amply endowed with a set of pipes and acting chops to die for…Walker perfectly captures the novel's cynical view of Wall Street's narcissistic consumer culture...Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa does a fine job balancing the story's dark humor with its deadly serious overtones…Goold's stylized staging provides us with a uniquely compelling vision…And the performances - all spot on."
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