The Boys in the Band (Broadway)
Closed 1h 50m
The Boys in the Band (Broadway)
89

The Boys in the Band (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets

89%
(503 Ratings)
Positive
97%
Mixed
3%
Negative
0%
Members say
Great acting, Funny, Absorbing, Entertaining, Thought-provoking

About the Show

Two-time Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello brings Mart Crowley's groundbreaking 1968 play to Broadway in a production starring Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, and Andrew Rannells.

Read more Show less

Show-Score Member Reviews (503)

Sort by:
  • Default
  • Standing in our community
  • Highest first
  • Lowest first
  • Newest first
  • Oldest first
  • Only positive
  • Only negative
  • Only mixed
485 Reviews | 92 Followers
100
Absorbing, Delightful, Entertaining, Funny, Edgy

See it if taking a trip back in time to the "gay days" of the 1960's and experience an typical gay party and all its delicious mayhem. Ready? Good!

Don't see it if you have no personal reference, interest, or insight into the gay experience, because this play will blow your socks off - sexually speaking Read more

95 Reviews | 47 Followers
100
Entertaining, Intense, Masterful, Profound, Riveting

See it if you like being a fly on the wall, watching a friend group implode at a party. Outstanding performances from a well known cast. Shame to miss

Don't see it if that sounds like too much conflict for you or dislike gay themed shows or you want to see women on stage. All characters & actors are male.

97 Reviews | 63 Followers
100
Absorbing, Great acting, Must see, Resonant, Riveting

See it if you want to see a surprisingly still relevant and resonant classic performed flawlessly. This cast in dynamite, and the script feels fresh.

Don't see it if homosexuality makes you uncomfortable, not interested in seeing humans annihilate each other verbally, or only want happy, light fare.

65 Reviews | 8 Followers
100
Absorbing, Entertaining, Great acting, Relevant, Funny

See it if You like campy gay theme

Don't see it if You are a homophobic

180 Reviews | 54 Followers
100
Funny, Entertaining, Great acting, Great staging, Must see

See it if fantastic cast to play out this story. funny sad realistic of gay life at that time.

Don't see it if cant think of a reason not to unless gay themed play not your thing

712 Reviews | 401 Followers
100
Riveting, Masterful, Intelligent, Great writing, Great staging

See it if Powerful drama with Tony Awards written all over it.

Don't see it if If you can not deal with the gay topic, it is not for you.

88 Reviews | 30 Followers
100
Great acting, Hilarious, Relevant, Resonant, Absorbing

See it if you love a thought provoking play that resonates with you once you leave the theatre. Outstanding acting. Relevant story. Don’t miss it!

Don't see it if you are not fond of watching gays being themselves. Some themes and imagery may not be suitable for everyone.

138 Reviews | 38 Followers
100
Extraordinary, Great acting, Hilarious, Honest, Great writing

See it if Shocking in closeted 1968, this Off-Bway play comes back to 2018 life on Bway with a stage-full of famous, gifted, out-gay talent. Go!

Don't see it if "Camp"; affection between men; depiction of the vicious gay self-hatred that preceded Stonewall & the emergence of a gay community.

Critic Reviews (43)

The New York Times
May 31st, 2018

"A starry but disconnected revival...I wish I could report that this charismatic and capable team transported me vividly and uncompromisingly into the dark ages of homosexual life in these United States, and that I shuddered and sobbed in sympathy. But...the show left me largely impatient and unmoved...There is one superlative performance, however, that provides the show with its most genuinely moving moments. That comes from Mr. de Jesús."
Read more

Time Out New York
May 31st, 2018

"It has mostly aged well: It has resonance and snap. While the star casting is not completely effective—Quinto is too knowingly attractive to play Harold, and Bomer’s marble-god physique seems wrong for the bookish Donald—the cast meshes convincingly, and there are many fine, small moments...At its most effective, Mantello’s 'The Boys in the Band' moves beyond the gay past and stares the present straight in the face. We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the mirror."
Read more

New York Magazine / Vulture
May 31st, 2018

"A strange, somewhat removed experience...There are surely things to be enthusiastic about in Joe Mantello’s glitzy, solidly acted revival...Given that there’s something still alive, and still painful, at the heart of 'The Boys in the Band,' how does one explain the museum-piecey-ness that still overwhelms this production?...The whole thing feels like a carefully packaged luxury item, from the casting to the necessarily limited run."
Read more

The Wall Street Journal
June 4th, 2018

"There isn’t much to like about this emotionally evasive revival, which disserves Mr. Crowley’s beautifully, fearlessly wrought play in so many ways that I went home not merely disappointed but angry...The result is a staging that is too funny, one that gets its laughs at the expense of the raw, heartfelt anguish that is the whole point of the play. I have a feeling, though, that Mr. Mantello is at least as much to blame for this problem as are the actors themselves—maybe even more so."
Read more

Deadline
May 31st, 2018

"A play that for all its imperfections throws a party at the Booth Theatre that shouldn’t be missed...Bernard, even as well performed as he is here, shows the play’s not inconsiderable seams...Those are imperfections that the best direction and most appealing performers can’t hide. They lock 'The Boys in the Band' just outside the major works of its era, even if they can’t keep us away from the party."
Read more

New York Daily News
May 31st, 2018

"Crowley does the torching in his fanged, furious and frequently laugh-out-loud funny landmark 1968 dive into gay men’s lives. It’s messy stuff — and all too human...It still packs a wallop — even with slow patches and plot devices as old as the hills...Through it all, the ensemble filled with out-and-proud actors is uniformly terrific. They deftly hug the curves of the script as it goes from barbed humor to bile-spewing."
Read more

Variety
May 31st, 2018

"Festivities are certainly in order for this superbly mounted 50th anniversary production...If there’s one thing this staid theater season is more than ready for, it’s a motley crew of gay friends getting together to celebrate...Crowley is a master of the bitchy one-liner, so the play is littered with quotable bon mots...Happily, a lot about the play now seems dated — but not everything, and not in all circles of society, which makes this anniversary presentation doubly welcome."
Read more

The Hollywood Reporter
May 31st, 2018

"What might have been another bulletin from the distant queer past is transformed into a scintillating portrait of the self-loathing that festers in ghettoized subcultures, perhaps as much now as then...The production is sharpest when the zingers are flying back and forth, but the anger coursing through the play's veins still scalds...There's unapologetic ownership and humanity in the incisive characterizations, which banishes any simplistic perception of the play as a voyeuristic pity party."
Read more