Meteor Shower NYC Reviews and Tickets

“Mr. Martin is peerless at crafting tiny wit bombs...But unless you’re Oscar Wilde, tiny wit bombs do not make a satisfying play…It would be more satisfying if Mr. Martin had found a way to maintain character integrity while developing his bigger ideas and also remaining funny...Mr. Zaks tries, turning out a production so bright and chipper you can hardly stop to worry about its contents. In the process, though, he sets the wrong tone — a sitcom tone, with everything but a laugh track.”
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“Martin’s writing veers in and out of realism—scenes sometimes stop, restart and go in different directions—which lets the playwright throw in some gutsy twists...The show zigzags across lanes with relentless speed with help from an expert cast...Despite a somewhat strained attempt to explain itself at the end, ‘Meteor Shower’ never quite coalesces into a convincing whole. Its entertaining moments blaze, then disappear into an empty sky.”
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“A blithely wackadoodle new comedy...A fizz of naughty, good-natured absurdity...Schumer’s the bubbly, blinking heart of the show...Keegan-Michael Key is as brazenly entertaining...May not be groundbreaking, but comedy doesn’t have to be revelatory to work. And Martin’s particular brand of humor is loopy enough to keep us interested...You could do far worse than spend 80 minutes chuckling and groaning in the company of this game foursome of actors."
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“Schumer is one of four terrific performers who juice the entertainment of this high-sheen production...But neither director nor cast can disguise the lack of substance in the padded sketch material...More like improv-comedy fodder than grist for a full-length play...There are plenty of laughs here — just no credible basis...that go beyond loopy absurdist parody...The production's chief reward is its deluxe cast, whose infectious energy helps fortify the flimsy material.”
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“A very funny play. Keening-like-a-howler-monkey funny. Design-a-new-cry-laughing-emoji funny. What it is not, however, is a substantial play...The night belongs to Schumer, her timing, her mugging, her deftness with some extremely ridiculous gags...Her delivery makes the play feel of this moment...Even as it hurdles towards its abrupt, if sentimental, ending, ‘Meteor Shower’ burns brightly with laughs.”
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“Schumer’s choice delivery of Martin’s one-liners prop up this endearingly gawky comedy about mirror-image married couples...Martin has a flair for surreal comedy — a style that suits ‘Meteor Shower’...Clever lines and canny body language only get you so far, and there comes a point when this lightweight comedy just gives up and implodes on itself from lack of thought and direction...‘Meteor Shower’ could use a few more scenes to get its head together.”
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"Mr. Martin isn’t a bad playwright, but he isn’t a good one, either, and 'Meteor Shower,' a pseudo-surrealistic four-hander...is no more than very mildly amusing...Zaks, who’s been directing on Broadway for three decades, could have staged this one in his sleep, but he didn’t: He makes sure that every gag detonates on the nose, thus making the script seem somewhat sharper than it is."
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"Dated and stupid, this weak excuse for humor is about…well, nothing, really. It has no point and no plot, but the surreal collection of moronic one-liners takes place in Ojai, California...All of it is pointless babble, signifying nothing...Even veteran director Jerry Zaks is lost at sea. The best thing about 'Meteor Shower' is that it only lasts one hour and 20 minutes, without an intermission, so the agony is mercifully brief."
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“One of the funniest, and wildest, games of social and sexual one-upsmanship...Every element in Zaks’ production is working at full throttle...Schumer exhibits flawless comic timing in this quartet of master practitioners under the assured direction of Zaks, a funny businessman nonpareil...There’s method in Martin’s madness, which is to set you off-kilter while drawing you into this brief, satisfying lunacy. Resistance is futile.”
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“’Meteor Shower’ comes across as oddly, even merrily, flat-footed...It’s just a weird concoction. Martin is determined to keep us guessing as to where it’s going. The more pressing issue is, you’re never really sure where it’s coming from, either...Feels a bit fraudulent, the work of an artist who is sort of patterning off someone else’s easel and can’t quite get it right...The plot mechanics are so flimsy that you have to conclude at times that the playwright is having us on.”
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“I cannot imagine anyone here thinks the tollway really can hold this A-list vehicle barreling down the mountain...It is being steered in so many directions at once. Which is not to say it does not achieve something worthwhile: an updating of absurdism for Gen Xers…I don’t think I’ve ever seen farce collide so messily with satire, while at the same time lurching honorably if haplessly for a moment in which the world has changed so drastically that no one knows her place. Interesting. And quick.”
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“The daffy non-sequiturs are delivered with lunatic aplomb...But the play is still the play, which is to say it’s barely a play at all...The enjoyment of the actors compensates (to a degree) for the deficiencies in the writing...The deeper significance of the work may have to do with the superficiality of our celebrity culture, which normalizes theatergoers paying top dollar for the privilege of having no artistic experience whatsoever."
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“Schumer’s deft and daffy performance is a bright spot in ‘Meteor Shower…The play is heavy with absurdity and modestly laced with laughs. But it has the lightweight feel of an extended, if not overextended, skit…The cast of Broadway rookies, including Schumer and Key, who aces his blowhard Alpha-male role, and stage vets click…Director Jerry Zaks keeps the show moving lickety-split. Even so, by the time “Meteor Shower” runs its course, the laughs have pretty much dried up.”
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“Unfortunately, ‘Meteor Shower’ turned out to be a nonsensical and tedious skit that is simultaneously starry and substandard, flimsy and overstuffed. I’m even tempted to call it a ‘trainwreck’...Martin unsuccessfully attempts to take the 90-minute, four-character play beyond the limits of the traditional sitcom with absurdist twists and turns, nonlinear stops and starts and theoretical propositions...The cast and audience alike would be better off if the script was tossed out entirely.”
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“Steve Martin's quirky script is enhanced immeasurably by director Jerry Zaks's comic brilliance. He's whipped the fine cast into a laugh riot combining physical humor and expert timing that recalls the best of Martin's own sketches. And it's a visual treat…Don't expect to find any big message here; ‘Meteor Shower’ is best appreciated as a deliriously nutty 80-minute sketch featuring a starry collaboration of some of our finest comedic talents.”
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“Probably wouldn't be on Broadway without all the celebrities involved...Not only does it have a famous author, but it features a cast of four big names...Never pretends to be brilliant (and it's not), but it will make you laugh...It's like a Will Eno play, but funny. A lot of that has to do with the performances. Martin's humor is mildly amusing on the page, but hilarious onstage...An undercooked play, much of which feels like a live staging of Martin's ‘funny ideas’ notebook.”
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“Under the guidance of Zaks, this four-person laff-riot eschews sentiment for undiluted surrealist vaudeville...The quartet of comic experts are just sensational together, and Zaks' fast and funny staging keeps us from unnecessarily lingering on vague philosophical points...From sound designer Patton’s opening blast of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony to the uproarious predicament presented by the play's final clinch, ‘Meteor Shower’ lights up Broadway."
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“Hardly the stuff of great comedy. While many of the jokes land by virtue of their eccentricity and delivery, the play as a whole suffers from...milking its premise past its ‘sell by’ date. Despite the excellent quality of the performers and the direction by Zaks, the play is hard-pressed to get beyond the sketch comedy roots...Martin's writing lacks the discipline of, say, Yasmina Reza, whose 'God of Carnage' is the model of the kind of comedy 'Meteor Shower' strives to be."
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“A scattershot – and even scatterbrained – comedy of bad manners...The play’s shaky tonal shifts, pileup of non sequiturs and lurches from naturalism to absurdity render it strangely weightless...The actors, to their great credit, keep the mostly aimless proceedings at least watchable...Feels like a jumble of scenes, jokes and gags that haven’t been properly assembled into a cogent play. The laughs erupt, but there’s little aftereffect, as with meteors streaking across a blank sky.”
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“Steve Martin's old/new wonderful comedy, ‘Meteor Shower,’ is about two California couples getting together for the first time--again, and again, and again. Like ‘Groundhog Day,’ it keeps starting all over again, with ensuing variations. And in the course of its brief, 80-minute, intermission-less duration, the couples have exchanged more than just words and ideas. By the end, they seem to have exchanged their personalities as well.”
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"A zany absurdist comedy that keeps repeating over and over again in varying scenarios that release the different personalities living beneath the surface...They are all over the edge in this madcap comedy to the nth degree, and it’s a little confusing until you get the pattern...It’s 80 spinning minutes of roller coaster, and you can’t help being taken with the twists and turns as new characterizations emerge from these four comedic pundits who meld so perfectly together in impeccable timing."
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“Schumer backs her star wattage with a nicely relaxed performance, and the other three actors do everything they can with their two-dimensional roles (Shamos is best)...But with all due respect to the actors, the script's abundance of jokes and clever twists and turns, even with Beethoven several times accompanied by Ms. Benanti's sexy dancing, can't compensate for the lack of real sizzle and sophistication — and, most importantly, a meaningful, coherent theme.”
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“What does one say about an entertainment this lightweight, this pointless, this short? I could start with an observation about the splendid cast and design team assembled by Zaks and the surprising amount of theatrical talent...Or, I could just jump right into the issue of high expectations and low return...The collection of funny bits and silly pieces of action that comprise this short evening in the theatre do not, at the end of the day, a whole play make.”
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“The play provides a lot of laughter...Martin includes several funny lines as well as physical humor and visual humor...The dialogue and plot get a bit raunchy at times and might be offensive to some...At first, the comedy is a bit puzzling...Quite frankly, I don’t think most of the audience cared. They just seemed to have a good time...Perhaps the lesson is that if a ‘Rain of Fire’ attacks a marriage, a couple can withstand it together or with a lot of laughter.”
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“To no one’s surprise, Benanti sparkles, as does the play, and like the stars, comets, and meteors shooting through space above us reflecting back brilliant light, ‘Meteor Shower’ is creating a dazzling display nightly. Don’t miss the chance...Everyone wins in Martin’s play...The cast delivers hilarious line after line in this trippy new play. But in actuality, we are the true winners of this night, happily taking in each deliciously wicked moment and playful asides.”
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"Just when the plot starts to serve the characters with a faint inkling of depth, it falters...Director Zaks moves the piece along at a quick pace and certainly provides a sleek production that is pleasant enough to watch...The stellar cast is fine and probably makes the evening palpable by adhering to the slick direction...They are able to overcome the erratic and implausible script by Martin. It is merely an evening of amusement where the jokes are forgotten as fast as they are delivered."
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“No one on stage ever acts like a real human being. What they say and what they do always feels simply in service of Martin’s seemingly unquenchable desire to make the audience roar back their heads or cover their mouths...Fortunately, director Zaks has cannily cast four performers who are able to accomplish this task...Still, like the meteor shower we witness, Martin’s play is always in danger of crashing to the ground."
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“The sharply contrasting couples spend the evening in a series of ludicrously absurdist encounters, made even odder by their being repeated in different variations, with a worm-turns twist ending the proceedings…In all design respects, the production displays a patina of…Broadway polish…That polish, though, is dimmed not only by the innocuous script but by the exaggerated acting…which operates on the principle that more is more, encouraging the actors to milk their shtick to the last drop.”
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“Martin enlists four phenomenal performers...for a joke-filled, overlong, trickster comedy sketch about marriage that is an uneasy stew of Neil Simon and Edward Albee, but falls short of either...A cloudburst of laugh lines lasting only about 80 minutes, but its non-sequiturs and silliness turn tedious in a remarkably short time...The four talented comic actors make sure that every joke that can land does land, even when it wouldn’t in other hands.”
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“Steve Martin’s lump of sight gags, one-liners and situation comedy streaks toward Broadway...Jerry Zaks, the director, angles for yuks throughout, cold-shouldering sense or consistency...Sure, there are laughs to be had, some of them wonderfully raunchy, but there’s an incessant sense that while 'Meteor Shower' may occasionally be a hoot, it is never really a play. It’s a comedy sketch that resets when it doesn’t know how to end, flaming out long before it hits the Booth stage.”
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“Though its just 80 minutes long, the play’s comedic amusements become intermittent — even bordering on the unappealing. The audience might wince at some of the credulity-testing moments and events. Credit the actors for never resisting Martin’s demands...’Meteor Shower’ doesn’t arrive from outer space. Despite its stars, however, the play still somewhat burns up in the atmosphere.”
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“An attenuated, forgettable vignette...A draggy, shaggy eighty minutes in which four excellent actors try to wring laughs from a space rock...The story is just an excuse for Martin the author to noodle about...To call this theater of the absurd would be an insult to the genre...If the characters or situations were truly inspired or demented, you could overlook the lack of depth or narrative logic and simply enjoy the anarchy.”
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“Martin has taken what might have made a good story for one of his New Yorker ‘Shouts & Murmurs’ columns and turned it into a full-length play...Would be consistently hilarious if the comedy could be watched in the time it takes to read one of his New Yorker columns. The other 60 or so minutes of Martin’s new play is little more than set-up and filler, often repeated...Zaks has no choice but to direct his ensemble of four to deliver very broad performances.”
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"As substantial as a soap bubble. At 75 minutes, it feels skimpy for a high-priced Broadway attraction, but that one hour and 15 minutes is packed with hilarity...'Meteor' takes a slight idea and stretches it as far as possible without snapping it. Jerry Zaks’ zippy direction mines extra yuks from Martin’s brief but gut-busting script...Don’t waste any brain cells trying to search for hidden meaning, messages on marriage, or satire on the Theater of the Absurd, just sit back and guffaw."
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“The structure of the play, confusingly and unnecessarily, shifts between unspecified time zones and perspectives...The play's problem is that every character is not that likable...The deeper potential emotional beats of the play are diluted because everything is a jape...'Meteor Shower' quickly becomes a breezy charade, or game of laugh chess...If you love absurdity and farce as ends in themselves, then ‘Meteor Shower’ will merrily entertain you.”
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"Thanks to razor-sharp direction from Zaks, and the comedic mastery of its four stars, the leap is worth a ton of laughs. But the play’s crash landing is more head-scratching than illuminating...Martin delivers a new comedy that’s comfortably old-fashioned. Even his pat twist on the form feels distinctly nostalgic...Whether Martin successfully achieves anything new-fangled here hardly seems the point. When a cast like this assembles on stage, the jokes write themselves."
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“With a bit more slapstick and plot, ‘Meteor Shower’ could have been a half-decent farcical romp. Instead, Martin and director Zaks display Pinterish pretensions as repeated variations on the same two scenes are performed with increasingly strenuous doses of camp...Somehow the show, which is only 75 minutes long, staggers on until Norm and Corky are left clasping each other like two characters who’ve given up looking for an author...One good sketch does not a play make.”
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“One of the funniest disappointing plays I’ve ever seen. The eighty-minute trifle is like an insane, extremely sexual Carol Burnett sketch told multiple times from different points of view, growing more and more absurdist and ridiculous with each iteration. Yet even as the setups get more and more annoying and unbelievable, I couldn’t stop laughing...Feels only half-brewed...The story goes all over the place...Ends up being all punch line, no setup, fizzling out as a Broadway production.”
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“A charming example of the eighty-minute soufflés now offered up as ‘full length plays’...Martin’s method is to avoid any semblance of the linear in structuring his play, and there are breaks in the timeline which expose various ways in which some key scenes are played out...I enjoyed much of ‘Meteor’; but it’s a clever trifle and easily dismissible...A shrunken version of ‘Virginia Woolf’...More an extended sketch than a full-length play...I’d call ‘Meteor Shower’ an appealing almost.”
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“Martin is clearly a comic genius, but following this absurdist take on marital chaos requires some effort...With a less-talented cast, this would be a hot mess not worth the effort...What Martin is trying to get across is a bit of a mystery, though the sense is that it’s all about a couple coming to terms with their long-repressed desires. But really, best to leave the psychological musings alone. You’ll have a great time if you just go for the laughs.”
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"The cast of 'Meteor Shower' are an incandescent light streaking through a twisted, muddled play by the great Steve Martin...While it gives Schumer opportunities to be her vulgar and vulnerable best, she’s stifled by material that doesn’t have the edginess of her own stand-up and sketch comedy...Martin can’t seem to decide whether he’s writing a wild farce or a marital comedy with existential elements, a series of sketches or a full-fledged play."
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“Thank God the show has star power. If it wasn’t for that, there isn’t a single reason why anyone would want to see this wisp of a marginal ‘comedy'...You have to really stretch to find a plot here. Other than one-liners strung together, you’ll be grateful that it is only 80 minutes long...Schumer has a larger-than-life persona. I give her credit for wanting to stretch her acting chops, but the poor thing has nothing to bite on to make her character be realistic.”
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“An experimental comedy that sometimes feels like an extended sketch show in which the same scenes are replayed again and again with different outcomes...The result is an occasionally brittle but seldom biting comedy, a not exactly subtle piece of writing about domestic relationships and the games people play with each other, given a cosmic edge by a spectacular meteor shower...The show feels paper-thin, but director Zaks keeps things bright and fast.”
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“Underwhelming new comedy...The production, competently helmed by veteran director Zaks, is most noble for introducing superstar comedian Schumer to Broadway audiences...She’s wonderful in the play, as are her accomplished co-stars... Schumer’s ingratiating yet irresistible brand of humor translates well to the stage...I only wish that Martin’s confounding, half-baked wisp of the play was more substantial...But, alas, ‘Meteor Shower’ is ultimately a dud.”
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"All three of us laughed our asses off through the whole show, and you should totally go see it so that you can laugh your ass off, too. Just don't expect to encounter an actual play at any point during the process...Sometimes a whizzing series of not-especially-connected one-liners, short bits, and sight gags that only kind of resolve at the end of a fleetingly satisfying seventy-five minutes is absolutely heavenly."
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“80 minutes of nonsensical fun...Since the play doesn’t quite work, I can only comment on the actors...the two woman, especially Benanti...are the most interesting and easily the funniest. Shamos is fine but when that meteor gets in his way, he becomes more than silly. Key isn’t quite ready for fast-moving comedy...So do you spend the big bucks to go see ‘Meteor Shower’...Well, yes, if you’re an Amy fan and like Martin’s sense of humor but for me, the shower should have been hotter.”
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“Perfectly cast and great fun, but it's not much of a play. The nonlinear plot makes little sense, the characters aren't compelling - except in their quirks, which are fascinating...'Meteor Shower' is like a really good Saturday Night Live skit - one that meanders on longer than it should (even at 80 minutes) but, at least, it keeps you laughing...Without this star-studded array of talent this show would languish. The cast makes ‘Meteor Shower’ work...at least well enough for a few laughs.”
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