Present Laughter
Closed 2h 30m
Present Laughter
80

Present Laughter NYC Reviews and Tickets

80%
(668 Ratings)
Positive
87%
Mixed
11%
Negative
2%
Members say
Great acting, Funny, Entertaining, Delightful, Clever

About the Show

Tony and Oscar-winning actor Kevin Kline returns to Broadway in Noël Coward's classic comedy about a famous and self-obsessed actor whose comfortable life quickly spins out of control.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (668)

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79 Reviews | 9 Followers
92
Great staging, Great acting, Hilarious, Masterful, Refreshing

See it if you love great ensemble acting & want to see Kevin Kline in this Tony-winning role! I'm not normally a Noel Coward fan but LOVED this show!

Don't see it if you're either a stuffed shirt or only go to hit shows with lots of music but not much intellectual challenge!

224 Reviews | 42 Followers
92
Delightful, Entertaining

See it if Great theatre with a wonderful cast. A Noel Coward classic.

Don't see it if A long show 2 3/4 hours. If you restless and not interested in a comedy from the 1940's.

184 Reviews | 30 Followers
92
Clever, Delightful, Exquisite, Great acting, Great writing

See it if a classic Noel Coward comedy. Wonderful cast with a bravo to Kevin Klein who can steal a scene merely by moving his facial muscles.

Don't see it if you don't enjoy great theater!

74 Reviews | 10 Followers
92
Delightful, Entertaining, Funny, Fluffy, Great acting

See it if You like Noel coward and Kevin Kline. He's incredible, funny, at the top of his game. Plus Kate Burton and Kristen Nielsen. So wonderful

Don't see it if You don't have any sense of humor

239 Reviews | 198 Followers
91
Great writing, Great acting, Hilarious, Entertaining

See it if you are looking for a light hearted funny show. Kevin Klein's performance is exquisite and will be remembered for a long time.

Don't see it if 3 act plays are not for you. The 1st act has a lot set up which can cause people to get impatient.

203 Reviews | 49 Followers
91
Clever, Delightful, Quirky, Intelligent, Great acting

See it if you enjoy a tour de farce for actor, Kevin Kline, who channels his finest John Cleese in a semi-autobiographical comedy.

Don't see it if you dislike British comedies, and wacky interpersonal relationships. British accents and sensibilities are the order of the day. Read more

336 Reviews | 46 Followers
91
Entertaining, Hilarious, Great acting, Great writing, Must see

See it if you enjoy laughing until your face hurts

Don't see it if you can't stand the sound of continuous laughter

110 Reviews | 16 Followers
91
Entertaining, Funny, Great acting, Must see, Hilarious

See it if Like a laugh out loud hysterically play, done by some great actors.

Don't see it if Dont like a person, lying, cheating, and trickery, disguise as truth to your significant other.

Critic Reviews (56)

Broadway News
April 5th, 2017

“Mr. Kline is so compulsively watchable, so utterly and consummately in control of the proceedings that we simply surrender to an actor at the top of his game…Attention is paid here to anchoring the farcical frivolity in a way that allows us to believe that real things are happening to real people in real situations…Marred only by a couple of moments of curiously awkward staging, Stuelpnagel deploys his ensemble throughout this clockwork comedy to generally excellent effect.”
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TheaterScene.net
April 23rd, 2017

“As originally written, Noel Coward's ‘Present Laughter’ is an entertaining but old fashioned drawing-room comedy with juicy roles for actors. With Kevin Kline in the leading role, the play is elevated to the next level and plays like a comedy masterpiece. Kline's performance is one you will not want to miss. Some of his co-stars like Kate Burton and Kristine Nielsen also give indelible performances.”
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CurtainUp
April 5th, 2017

“The show, overall, doesn't really go full sizzle until the second act…Kline’s delivery and timing are impeccable...Both Burton and Nielsen are at the top of their game and this production soars whenever they're on stage…The reason to go to the St. James Theater is to escape from reality for a few hours and enjoy a significantly stylish but thematically insignificant farce in an age weighed down by significantly weighty issues handled with neither wit or wisdom.”
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Theater Pizzazz
April 5th, 2017

“I have to think brisker pacing in the current revival could have saved Coward’s hoary farce from itself, at least in part…'Present Laughter' is dated, and it wears its age on its sleeve. Still, it’s got its share of bon mots and sophisticated repartee...Leisure is all well and good, but when you’re dealing with a play as light as a soufflé, with considerably less substance, you really don’t want to give the audience too much time to think...It’s just not as light and quick as it needs to be."
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Front Row Center
April 11th, 2017

“The best of the best…A cast of exceptional actors keeps this farce moving with buoyant focus and attention to detail…However, it is Kline who anchors the production, in a performance of exceptional clarity...Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel has deftly guided the action without imprisoning his actors. Of course, he has been handed a gift in Kevin Kline, who with his prodigious talent and experience carries a show that sparkles. Don’t miss it.”
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Front Mezz Junkies
April 5th, 2017

“Does it make for a great night at the theatre? Or a hilarious one? I wouldn’t say that. It is quite good though, without a doubt, funny, but somehow the piece overall is lacking…Kline nails his role as the self-centered actor…Nielsen gets the balance just right, along with the formidable Burton’s grounded comic turn...This troupe of pros doles out all of Coward’s charming dialogue with finesse, but the madcap fun or hilarity...isn’t quite there.”
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Broadway Blog
April 6th, 2017

"A brilliantly fine-tuned comedy of style and substance...An ensemble of actors that truly embodies the very best of Broadway...Kline creates a character that is broadly comedic, yet with an underlying authenticity that makes you adore him in spite of his bloated ego...Von Stuelpnagel keeps things moving at a brisk pace and though the action-packed staging is meticulously choreographed, 'Present Laughter' remarkably feels as though it’s unfolding for the very first time."
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Theatre's Leiter Side
May 3rd, 2017

“The production wouldn't be half as enjoyable were it not for Kline's exceptional charm...The laughs, though, aren't as frequent as one might expect, and, too often, they come not so much (or just as much) from Coward's dialogue or situations as from Stuelpnagel's staging or from the clownish behavior of the show's more gifted comic performers…The already colorful characters…are occasionally pushed to cartoonish extremes in arduous grabs for the gold ring of laughter.”
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