Marvin's Room NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (445)
See it if you enjoy emotional stories with great acting.
Don't see it if you want an escape from real-life issues.
See it if You like well-acted drama with moments of comedy
Don't see it if You want spectacle or fancy staging.
See it if You want to have a good cry, watching a family go through one of the hardest things a family can go through, masterfully written/acted
Don't see it if You want something cheerful, you can't sit through something slow and quiet, you'll be triggered by storylines about cancer Read more
See it if you appreciate the difficulties that family problems initiate.Sensitively written and acted
Don't see it if You have problems confronting family difficulties
See it if You want to see great acting, and want your family drama with a little comic relief. Great writing, crisp direction and interesting sets.
Don't see it if Dysfunctional family dramedy is not what you're looking for. Or if the subject of a parent or sibling dying is not for you.
See it if You want to see a well written play and are fine with a show that has no music numbers but is really smart and creative and well though out
Don't see it if If you don't like plays or topics that deal with cancer
See it if you want a view of a real family with real-life problems and a touching story that resonates in many families.
Don't see it if you want a "light" evening. Read more
See it if you like good acting and writing
Don't see it if if you don't like dramas
Critic Reviews (49)
"Unfortunately, this first Broadway production of 'Marvin’s Room' never quite justifies its trip back to the early ’90s. While not a conspicuous period piece, it resists updating, and yet lacks the emotional power and resonance to move us from its long-ago vantage...While director Anne Kauffman’s take on 'Marvin’s Room' is frequently funny, it is merely serious when you wish it would be moving."
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"An uneven production...Staging the play is deceptively difficult, as its slow pace and confessional mini-monologues can easily become tedious, and that is often the case with this production...'Marvin’s Room' stands out compared with so many other family dramas because of its refreshing optimism and love of life (even despite serious illness, physical disability, estrangement and the need to make major personal sacrifices), but its emotional reach mostly gets lost in this production."
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"This is not a morbid play; it's a very human one, told with humor, resignation, and greats gobs of empathy...A most gentle and obviously personal story of the power of love to transcend life's dark turns. Under Anne Kauffman's sensitive direction, the pacing is slow at times, though McPherson's wonderfully low-key humor, particularly in the first act, enlivens the sad story line. And the cast is excellent."
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"It's unfortunate that more of the play's humor doesn't come through in Roundabout Theatre Company's production. Director Anne Kauffman paints this small, intensely intimate family drama with broad strokes that sometimes obscure the comic moments that lighten the darkness...This intimate play about terminal illness at times gets lost on the large American Airlines stage...The performances help compensate for the outsize production."
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“Emotionally rich…Garofalo's knack for flat, unemotional humor is well-utilized…Despite its sparks of quirky humor, ‘Marvin’s Room’ is a small piece that intends to draw audiences in with its gentle approach to emotions. But instead of pushing the production forward and framing it tightly, designer Laura Jellinek's set takes up the far reaches of the stage, shrinking the impact of the fine ensemble's performances. But this is one misstep in an otherwise satisfying production."
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"The sanity and understatement of 'Marvin's Room' feels like a cool breeze blowing across Broadway...A work that could have succumbed to all sorts of excess miraculously never puts a foot wrong...It comes at you low and outside, landing quietly, yet with devastating force…Thanks to Kauffman's assured direction, nothing is overstated and nobody presses for laughs...Taylor captures Bessie's extraordinary goodness without surrendering her broken humanity. The rest of the cast is solid.”
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"A staging that's eminently praiseworthy but for one major, surprising flaw...The production could scarcely be bettered in terms of its cast...It's hard to imagine why set designer Laura Jellinek decided to use virtually the entire width, depth, and height of the American Airlines' large stage...A considerable amount of intimacy is needlessly sacrificed, despite the actors' noble efforts to maintain it under direction by Kauffman that's strong and sure in every other respect."
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"An achingly lovely revival...Director Anne Kauffman’s delicately hued but big-hearted production seems as mordantly and ruefully truthful as ever...Not all of McPherson’s tart-but-sweet humor...has aged perfectly...And the play’s small scale...can sometimes feel a bit lost on the wide expanse of a Broadway stage...Kauffman and her flawless cast manage to make the play’s steady accrual of small moments of wry humor and undeniable pathos add up to a rich emotional payoff."
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