Between Riverside and Crazy (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets

85%

(472 Reviews)

Positive

95%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Absorbing, Entertaining, Funny, Great writing

About the Show

A former police officer and his parolee son attempt to hold on to their rent-controlled apartment.

City Hall wants more than just his signature, the Landlord wants him gone, the liquor store is closed — and the Church won’t leave him in peace.

For ex-cop & recent widower Walter 'Pops' Washington and his recently paroled son, Junior, the struggle to keep hold of one of the last great rent stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive clashes with old wounds, suspicious new houseguests, and a last ditch ultimatum.

Written by Stephen Adly Giurgis, this play won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Broadway premiere production is directed by Tony Award winner Austin Pendleton, and features performances by rapper Common, Victor Almanzar, Elizabeth Canavan, Rosal Colón, Liza Colón-Zayas, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Michael Rispoli.

Member Reviews (472)

100

Must see, Great writing, Great acting, Funny, Entertaining

See it if If you like great acting and writing.

Don't see it if Not a family friendly show. Read more

100

Great staging, Great acting, Funny, Entertaining, Clever

See it if you like stories that reflect life with a sense of loving humor.

Don't see it if you are looking for a drama and can't laugh at life.

100

Quirky, Profound, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you want to grapple with tough questions and see excellent perfomances from the cast, but especially Stephen McKinley Henderson!

Don't see it if you are looking for a straightforward play

100

Absorbing, Riveting, Masterful, Intelligent

See it if Everything! The acting and writing phenomenal!. Flawed characters who we actually care about is rare. Excellent writing and acting. Fab set!

Don't see it if If you don't like people recovering from drugs, prison gigs and grief, don't go. This play is real.

Must see, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you like a layered story told by excellent actors. Common and Stephen McKinley Henderson are gifts from the theatre gods.Great acting.

Don't see it if you are looking for a fluff piece.Powerful story, exceptional writing and acting.Set is a gem.As good as the original.Women's roles are weak

Crazy good.

See it if you like to laugh.

Don't see it if profanity upsets you and simulated sex embarrasses you. Read more

Insightful, Funny, Excellent acting, Well written, Clever

See it if You like well written drama that is well directed and well acted

Don't see it if You only like Cats and Phantom Read more

Great staging, Great acting, Exquisite, Clever, Absorbing

See it if You a great lover of masterful writing and stories about families.

Don't see it if You are looking for something not too complex.

Critic Reviews (22)

CRITIC'S PICK "At any moment we can choose to be something better, or worse, than we are — or, in Guirgis World, most likely both."
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"Although 'Between Riverside and Crazy' is often bitingly funny, a shadow of violence hangs over it."
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"...Guirgis’s play is speckled with his customary wry humor and genuine strangeness that lifts it from straight issue drama into something lovelier and weirder."
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"Under the direction of Austin Pendleton, most of the cast from the Atlantic Theater Company production returns with as much ease and richness as if they had lived inside the characters for as many years."
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"...how buried wounds, both physical and spiritual, as well as comforting self-delusions, can leak poison into once-healthy souls, and keep them from receiving or giving the love they desperately need but cannot admit they want."
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"In the spate of shows that ring out Broadway in 2022, Henderson and 'Between Riverside and Crazy' provide the deepest satisfaction."
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"Guirgis’ compassionate play, directed with great care by Austin Pendleton, is also wildly funny — actually more hilarious than many recent flat-out comedies — and devilishly inappropriate."
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