Noises Off NYC Reviews and Tickets

"The heady, headlong and altogether hilarious farce providing generous doses of heat-generating laughter as the winter chill finally sets in…Once it hits its lively stride, Mr. Herrin’s production rollicks along with machine-tooled precision, churning out belly laughs as if from an assembly line…'Noises Off' would be a mere dissertation in clever dramaturgical mechanics, were it not for the expertly drawn characters, here embodied by a first-rate cast."
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"'Noises Off' is a precision-timed laugh machine, and director Jeremy Herrin’s ensemble is peppered with some of New York’s finest comic actors. So why did I chuckle so little? Various excuses could be made. There’s the culture gap: Good as our American troupers are, they don’t quite get the jauntily sleazy vibe of English sex comedy. Or the fault lies in the director...All due respect to the gamely guffawing audience with whom I attended, but I wanted to make more noise."
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"This cast is so well-matched that they really do seem to have been working together for months….Indeed, the astonishing thing about the contrivances is that, in a well-judged production like this one, they eventually break into yet another sphere…How something can be both nonsense and (in the context of the play) inevitable is a great and beautiful mystery, one that makes 'Noises Off' not just one of the funniest plays ever written but one of the best."
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"The performances haven't yet clicked into the tight lockstep required to make Frayn's intricate comedy run at full tilt…While there are some brilliant set-pieces and terrific physical comedy, the repetition built into the material grows tiring...Despite its wit, structural inventiveness and reputation as one of the all-time great farces, this is a tough play to pull off. Even if they're not 100 percent there yet, Herrin and his ace cast seem well on their way to mastering it."
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"“The script gives each of the stars several moments to shine, and Andrea Martin anchors Herrin’s production with a brilliant manic energy — there’s a certain athleticism to her almost graceful fumbling amidst the chaos. The direction, performances, and set design create a symphony of shouting and flop sweat, turning pure slapstick into high art.”
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"Funny lady Andrea Martin leads the nimble cast of this well-tooled revival...Martin who was born to make us laugh, is a perfect hoot in the pivotal role of the scatterbrained actress…On the laugh meter, Act I is only so-so. But as a setup for the next two acts, it’s brilliant. Act II is bust-a-gut funny…'Noises Off' seems to be always playing somewhere in the civilized world...And that’s exactly the way it should be, because this kind of comedic brilliance never gets stale."
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"The second act in particular is a whirligig of slapstick choreography for whose pristine execution Mr. Herrin deserves the highest possible marks. The secret ingredient of his production is that Mr. Herrin has gone to similar lengths to ensure that every member of the cast plays for truth, not laughs—which makes you laugh twice as hard…Complaints? I’ve got none. This show is flawless."
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"In the hilarious new Broadway revival of Michael Frayn’s show business farce 'Noises Off,' there’s noise all over the place—so much, in fact, that sometimes the din threatens to overwhelm the play...Even when it seems labored, the laughs are foolproof. Sometimes the noisiest noise in 'Noises Off' is the sound of the audience having a good time."
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"A percussive dose of slamming doors, wince-inducing pratfalls and enough suggestive tomfoolery to fill the bill at Minsky’s…Jeremy Herrin lets 'Noises Off' wind up a bit slowly, but once all the gears are in synch, the show is a dazzlement of set-pieces fit together with jigsaw perfection. Martin returns to her roots as a mistress of the comic gesture, doing more with a plate of fish or an old newspaper than you may have imagined possible."
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"The ensemble in the new Broadway revival includes some of the funniest people in the biz. And they’re having a ball, each one firing up at least one memorable scene or move...At times it seems as if the cast is so focused on hitting its marks — 'Noises Off' requires Swiss-like precision — that the actors forget to have fun. Let’s hope that with time, they’ll become as comfortable as sardines in oil, and the production should gear up into the required breakneck speed and unhinged ­lunacy."
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"This production gets about it about halfway right — so even with a soggy and slack final stretch, you’re left grinning over the show’s sly inner workings…Act I, set amid a dress rehearsal of 'Nothing On,' lands some good laughs…Act II, set a month later, rotates the perspective…This is when real show hits its stride. It’s packed tight as a tin of sardines with laughter. But Act III, set a month later, leads to diminishing returns. It strives to be madcap merry mayhem, but it’s overly long overkill."
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"For 'Noises Off' to work on a basic level, its thoroughly intricate physical activity must be staged with the precision of a ballet. But a great production, which this revival certainly is, builds the slapstick around truthful performances, thus making the chaos feel natural…Act Two is a tour-de-force of silent comedy…Jeremy Herrin has brought together a dynamic ensemble cast of stage veterans."
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"It has been said 'dying is easy, comedy is hard' and this one's among the hardest as it requires a combination of split second comic timing, physical humor and gut busting silliness...Fortunately, the cast, led by the great veteran Andrea Martin, rises - or should I say pratfalls - to the occasion...Such bad acting takes supreme talent. In farce, direction is key, and here Jeremy Herrin shows a deft hand orchestrating the zaniness, though I felt it could have been even funnier."
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"The funniest backstage comedy ever written…Director Jeremy Herrin painstakingly sets up the dominoes in a muted first act, only to knock them down in spectacular fashion in the second, and dynamite them in the third...Cheeky design, a highly talented ensemble, and perfect comic timing: This 'Noises Off' has the right combination of elements to make the perpetually funny comedy soar. If you're looking for a night of gut-busting hilarity, you can't do any better than this one."
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"An uproarious new revival solidly mounted by Jeremy Herrin, featuring a fantastic ensemble of seasoned stage actors strutting their stuff…The gifted clown Andrea Martin is just darling as Dotty…Jeremy Shamos is very funny as the good-natured, but nervous wreck Frederick, and has a bit of physical business about regaining his footing that might very well get him nominated for an Astaire Award…'Noises Off' is a night of wild, frenetic fun."
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"To work, any production of 'Noises Off' requires the most exacting direction. Happily, the director has attended to every tiny gear embedded in Frayn's comic mechanism, allowing it to function with Swiss precision...The current version is going to make a lot of people happy, for very good reason. It's the kind of show that, days later, maybe in a low moment, you think of again -- and find yourself chuckling helplessly."
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"Director Jeremy Herrin and his near-consummate cast have achieved a feat I'd previously deemed impossible: They've unlocked more complexities in 'Nothing On,' the thoroughly absurd play-within-a-play…'Nothing On' means something powerful to each and every person putting it on…It's to Herrin's immense credit that so many of the thousand jokes still hit their targets, when they never seem to be his prevailing goal."
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"Though the production is entertaining for its comic portrayals, it fails to trigger all the laughs inherent in the script or become the laugh riot it is intended to be...The stage business is clockwork in its precision but the play’s timing lacks the breakneck speed of an Acela for this farce within a farce. The fine cast, however, attuned to their specific and generically comic roles, all have their funny bits and memorable moments finding themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time."
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"They’re rolling in the aisles at the Roundabout, where 'Noises Off' is having a rollicking revival...Herrin choreographs the chaos with precision and split-second timing, and the cast is uniformly superb. Frayn doesn’t miss an opportunity to poke fun at every aspect of the theatre – down to the last detail...The flawless Roundabout production is an utter delight."
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"The Roundabout has certainly assembled a team of farceurs who handle Frayn's ingeniously constructed mayhem with zest and the required timing…Somehow, despite quite a few funny bits, the first act is more a chuckle than a belly-holding laugh fest. The actors seemed to be working a bit too hard which became obvious as they go full steam into the ever more disastrous trajectory of the 'Noises On' tour."
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"For the most part this cast has these characters buttoned down tighter than a ship’s canvas...If you don’t care a whit for meaning or purpose or terribly deep thoughts – treat yourself to a bundle of laughs."
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"This nearly perfect British farce is getting another spectacular revival…This team is perfection, making it all look so easy and seamless. All should be credited with the word, ‘spectacular’...The only complaint I have of this whole shows lies in the portrayal of love and attraction... I can’t say I ever believed in the love or the affairs, I never really saw it, nor felt it...This cast of professionals are spot on perfect, never missing a beat or failing to get the laugh.
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"An impressive nine-member cast, made up of the best of Broadway today…I can’t remember ever hearing laughter at a higher sustained volume for any show on Broadway…Such a reaction en masse is just a slightly alienating experience for those of us who can’t help viewing this three-decade-old farce as little more than 'The Three Stooges' with a British accent...Such proscenium pandemonium requires precise coordination, and director Jeremy Herrin is clearly up to the task."
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"An excellent cast, though notably undiverse, except in terms of acting styles, which is something of a problem…Is it funny? Of course it’s funny. It’s very funny. It can’t help but be very funny. Even the terrible movie version is funny. But could it be funnier? Well, yes…The actors don’t quite seem to be in the same play or even the same play within a play…The chemistry of the whole cast only crackles sometimes."
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"Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival has a lot going for it. The cast of nine populating a second-rate traveling theatrical company is uniformly strong. Andrea Martin is a delight as the well-named Dotty Otley...Director Jeremy Herrin keeps everything running like clockwork...If the play has a flaw, it is its length. Can there be too much of a good thing? Two hours twenty five minutes seemed a bit too long for something so slight."
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"This 'Noises Off' is splendidly delirious fun…A perfectly-calibrated production which brings full value to Frayn's text while adding layers of visual humor that leaves audiences hooting with delight…Herrin's production is slam-bang, knockdown funny…Director Herrin has pulled out all the stops with this 'Noises Off,' with a fair share of the credit due the insanely warped mind of Michael Frayn, who dreamed the contraption up."
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"There’s much to smile at in director Jeremy Herrin’s new revival. Truly inspired is David Furr’s performance as Garry Lejeune…As a nose bleeder, Jeremy Shamos somehow manages to make each attack different. Which is not the case with Megan Hilty’s cluelessness, Kate Jennings Grant’s gossip-mongering, or Tracee Chimo’s sobbing....A greater problem for this production is Campbell Scott, who has neither the style nor the size to play the director of 'Nothing On.'"
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"Farce requires exceptional expertise, which is certainly there in full steam in the wonderfully-cast revival of 'Noises Off.' The show is a sure-fire prescription for all who are seeking the kind of belly laughs to be heard at Roundabout Theater Company’s production under the blissful direction of Jeremy Herrin."
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"There are several surprising things about Roundabout’s revival of Michael Frayn’s 1982 madcap farce. The first is almost consistent laughter erupting somewhere in the audience over the course of three acts (with one intermission). Three acts without a slump in energy or imagination. Even if you’re not an aficionado of slapstick, masterful direction and wonderful casting will get under your skin and broadly tickle."
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"Director Jeremy Herrin gets most of the necessary split-second timing right but also slides in a bit of character development...'Noises Off' doesn’t have much on its mind other than making audiences laugh, this production does that in spades, but also gives us a group of real people falling down the stairs, slamming doors, and slipping on dropped sardines, which makes the antics all the funnier."
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"Under Jeremy Herrin’s affectionate direction, these players endure their share of pranks and pratfalls; Furr, in particular, has a stunt that makes one hope he has a good chiropractor. Still, it'a fair bet that he and his colleagues are sharing in the grand fun they provide here."
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"A cumulatively virtuosic nine-expert ensemble of smart and fearless comic actors…British director Jeremy Herrin turns out to have a shrewd silly streak…The comedy in the first of three acts feels a little forced. But Herrin soon catapults the physical and verbal humor headlong into increasingly inspired opportunities to watch characters play out their real lives while trying to perform the complications of their second-rate play."
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"This production, while looking much like the revivals I’ve seen before, brings to it a new level of physical inventiveness and comic daring, as well as one or two touches of unabashed Broadway over-acting...The second act, in which we view the action from backstage, feels looser and a bit more random."
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"Jeremy Herrin directs a pitch perfect cast and really I have no complaints. The actors are committed and create specific, real characters, which can and should make the comedy funnier. They're not just delivering broad comedy here...I certainly had a fine time and enjoyed it much more than the revival of 2001. But somehow, it left me cold."
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"The revival’s second half — what should be a prolonged, hysterical frenzy — goes off the rails. An extended pantomime of hushed backstage pratfalls lacks clear choreography to direct our gaze amidst chaos. The disastrous performance we witness in the third act unspools without the precision that might make it funnier than it is awkward. Yet, despite the production’s muddled payoff, you’d be hard pressed to stifle guffaws."
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"The ingenious 'Noises Off' is the world champion of farces, and it's nice to report it's received a very funny, properly dizzying revival from the Roundabout Theatre Company. Michael Frayn's 1982 play, which opened Thursday night at the American Airlines Theatre under the savvy direction of Jeremy Herrin – its third time on Broadway — takes farce to its extreme limit."
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"It's easy to see why 'Noises Off' is a theatrical favorite. And the current incarnation, with a superb cast hits the mark. Hilty's goofy blonde clicks, while Martin, a Broadway staple, doesn't miss a beat. Director Jeremy Herrin has assembled a sharp ensemble that delivers comedy gold."
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"An A-list ensemble, led by beloved comedienne Andrea Martin, takes classic scenes and amps them up…I don't have warm and fuzzy feelings toward farce in general, and 'Noises Off' takes its time building to full-fledged nuttiness. But director Jeremy Herrin shrewdly pulls off 'Off' with one intermission...Things here just flow…Even if you know the farce inside-out, this team ensures that some laughs will catch you off guard."
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"My negative response to this production is based largely on seeing an ensemble of expert farceurs led astray by a director who apparently didn’t believe that less is more...He succumbs to all the pitfalls in the purposefully booby-trapped script and fails to do right by the stellar cast."
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"The Roundabout has assembled a company of fine American actors who are collectively and individually hilarious…Only occasionally, particularly in the early part of the second act does the writing tread some water, but soon enough the comical chaos returns and we’re back to being beguiled by the lunacy on stage…The audience that I was part of was wildly enthusiastic, as was I."
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"Crackling new revival...As directed by Jeremy Herrin, the result hops over the contrivances of the script, balancing pure silliness with awesome precision while making you realize how important terrific actors are to this play about terrible actors."
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"The revival is directed and performed with tremendous speed, spirit and affection...The brilliantly staged second act is a tour de force; a ballet of incongruity and incompetence...Whether all of this makes the new 'Noises Off' a must-see is another question entirely…Director Herrin offers no revisionist touches to this version; makes no attempt to redress earlier staging's weaknesses...This 'Noises Off' never entirely makes a case for its own existence."
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"The cumulative accents of the actors in this production go in and out of their accents throughout the play, and you wonder why not just drop the British accent and just do it as a straightforward farce without the audience having to strain to understand what is said on stage?...All you have to do as the audience is sit back and enjoy an hysterical evening of high jinks in the theatre."
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"'Noises Off' has to be one of the funniest farces ever written…Director Jeremy Herrin has crafted a piece saturated in comic brilliance. He has utilized the comedy lurking in every available moment and has created a rollercoaster of inspired hilarity…The cast are so brilliant you want your own action figures of them…I loved everything about this show."
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"Timing is more than half the battle and tuning the characters just right is the rest. I'd say they did a great job at the first part - the timing and physicality was nifty. The set was quite literally exactly what I remembered it to be - as if they pulled it out of storage. What the production lacked, I thought, was a sense of mad-cap pace and hilarity. It was almost very deliberate and plodding."
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"Michael Frayn's farce about putting on a stage farce is breathlessly clever and funny, a staple of the contemporary theater repertoire. How can it be made even funnier? The Roundabout Theatre Company somehow has found a way...An all-star group of comedic talents allowed to run riot…Everyone onstage has to believe that the risks are real, and this new ensemble never mugs or winks. They are utterly, terribly good at being bad, which is meant as a supreme compliment."
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"A cast that is simply an embarrassment of riches…This is just fabulous. Particularly with a farce, it's all in the timing, and director Herrin gets it just right…Doors slam at just the right moment; a treacherous phone cords wraps so diabolically around a characters; an axe is caught, one-handed, in the nick of time. And this cast…The standout is the luminescent Megan Hilty…We knew she was good, but with this role, Hilty raises the bar for comedic acting."
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"In Jeremy Herrin’s splendid new production, 'Noises Off' once again inspires gales of laughter from theatergoers. Frayn’s conceit for the show couldn’t be more inspired…In what might be the show-stealing performance among a group of terrific comic performances, Megan Hilty plays Brooke to the hilt."
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"Jeremy Herrin's revival is hilarious...'Noises Off' takes a cast of superb actors who are masters at physical comedy. The play has to be choreographed as completely as a ballet. The timing has to be perfect. One could not ask for a better cast than that appearing at the Roundabout. Andrea Martin is brilliant as always. Everyone else is fine, but I have to give special recognition to Megan Hilty's screamingly funny, uncoordinated dumb blond and Rob McClure's frantic stage manager."
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"Director Jeremy Herrin's superlative staging mines Frayn's crammed script for every one of its minute details, all on Derek McLane's extraordinary set...If Act III dips somewhat, it's only because Act I is a procession of wonderfully observed mishaps while the largely wordless Act II is an unequaled display of slapstick that even the best mimes could only hope to equal...As peerless as the cast of this unmissable revival of 'Noises Off' is, Hilty provides a comedic acting class by herself."
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"Watching a good production can be a gruelling experience, so sustained is the laughter from the middle of the second act onwards...On the basis that you are unlikely to see anything funnier in New York this year, beg, steal or borrow a ticket to what will undoubtedly prove to be a highlight of the season."
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"The revival of 'Noises Off' is not only consistently funny, but a wonderment in precision acting and movement...Director Jeremy Herrin deserves special commendation for the exactitude he brings to the production and his meticulousness to detail. He guides the cast, with both nuanced, subtle performances as well as outright uproariousness, producing an always lively, very funny show."
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"Jeremy Herrin’s production features an ensemble of top-notch comedic actors, each bringing a special something that results in 2 ½ hours of non-stop laughter...Watching this show provides the second-best cardio in the city, topped only by the ceaseless energy of the actors onstage."
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"Director Jeremy Herrin achieves just the right blend of anxiety, ambition, and a combination of ego and dimness in the characters...Everyone featured in the cast in praiseworthy...It would be difficult to imagine that any production could better represent the slamming doors, absurdly broad characters, and truly breathtaking pratfalls."
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