The Iceman Cometh (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (250)
See it if Wolfe brilliantly humanizes/brings out humor; sets/lighting turn scenes into virtual paintings; best Bdway ensemble w fine Denzel as lead
Don't see it if at 4 hours play is overlong & repetitious; 2nd act/party scene could be omitted/truncated Read more
See it if you want to see a modern American classic directed by one of Bway's most accomplished directors & performed by a stellar ensemble cast.
Don't see it if you'll be daunted by the 4-hr length (cut down from O'Neill's original 5-hrs); you're only in it for Denzel; you expect a definitive revival
See it if You love classic O’Neill plays despite their length & wordiness, or you’re a theatre lover who’s wanted to check this play off the list.
Don't see it if You’re just going for Denzel. He’s very good, but this isn’t an end-all-be-all role for him, & you’ll likely tire of the four-hour slog.
See it if You want to see a classic play performed by an amazing array of well-trained stage actors.
Don't see it if You want a contemporary play. You're daunted by the play's run time. Read more
See it if you appreciate O'Neill's storytelling and character portrayals. The book is brilliant. Large cast with most actors at the top of their game
Don't see it if you are going for the star power alone. This is a long, meaty play with four hours of talking to focus on - at times difficult to hear. Read more
See it if Denzel makes the show worth watching. It begins sleepy until he enters ~45 mins in, then the stage is lit! About facing the reality of life.
Don't see it if You want to live in denial with your shortcomings. Can't sit for almost 4 hours (2 intermissions + 1 break). Don't care for Denzel. Read more
See it if You are an O'Neill fan and want to see a great ensemble cast led by a dynamic Denzel Washington. David Morse as the fading anarchist.
Don't see it if You cannot sit through 4 hours of conversation. Only want to see Denzel on stage. Do not know anything about Eugene O'Neill and his life. Read more
See it if you love O'Neill and Denzel and a powerful ensemble cast, with a great set.
Don't see it if you want female characters who aren't prostitutes or mindless saints, you have a problem with 3.5 hours, and you don't like being depressed. Read more
Critic Reviews (43)
"Who’s going to feel like nodding off, or slump into terminal angst, when Mr. Wolfe has filled the stage with such delectably seasoned hams...Watching this latest incarnation, I laughed more often than I teared up. But this 'Iceman' acquires its own poignant lyricism...With its heightened performances and tone-poem visuals, this production also clearly elicits the musical nature of 'Iceman.'"
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"The language is stiff with dated slang; key terms like 'pipe dream' recur literally dozens of times. Yet the cumulative effect of this handsomely decrepit production is bracing. Director George C. Wolfe keeps things moving at a quick clip; not all of the bigger character choices pay off—and some of the actors are hard to hear or understand—but there are performances to savor...It is Washington’s show, and he seizes it with both hands in Hickey’s climactic monologue."
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"The kind of production that puts prospective audience members off 'classics' for good...You’d be within your rights to run screaming from the theater by the first of the show’s two intermissions. If, however, you decided to stick around for the whole moribund, infuriating ride, you might find yourself wondering why this play is considered a classic at all...Wolfe, despite his long and lauded directorial career, doesn’t seem to have something specific to say about the play."
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"George C. Wolfe's revival feels on some levels like it's still cohering, the underlying despair remaining muted for too much of the three-hour-45-minute running time. But it comes together in a powerful final act driven by the searing confessional monologue of Denzel Washington's Hickey...Wolfe has assembled a talented ensemble, almost all digging deep into their characters...In those closing scenes, the play finally achieves its full tragic grandeur."
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"'The Iceman Cometh' is in good hands with this latest creative team led by director George C. Wolfe...Yes, the play is long and the dialogue often repetitive...And yet it can be repetitive in the way music is, coming back to themes that the cast riffs on neatly under Wolfe’s orchestration...Washington’s Hickey proves a transfixing storyteller, a salesman who knows how to close."
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"Helmer George C. Wolfe has trimmed the play to a reasonable length without losing the nuances in the various life histories of the boys in the barroom. But this is still a long play with a lot of moving parts. The first act, in which all the characters are introduced and roughly defined, is the most attenuated. Everyone lightens up – a bit too much, actually – in the second act, which shoots for comedy. But everything comes together in the third act, which spells Drama with a capital D."
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"Washington's performance, not at all surprisingly, lacks depth and inner tension: You can feel the momentum of the play go slack every time he enters. In all other aspects, though, this 'Iceman' is a production of high distinction...He’s taken a cast full of familiar faces and welded them into a true ensemble...He’s also cut 'Iceman' by roughly an hour, and the play is the better for having been pruned so rigorously."
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"Though certainly built around mega-star Washington, this 'Iceman' is so well-cast and performed that Washington’s late, happy-dance entrance almost seems a worry. Is something delicate about to be knocked off balance? And in some ways, it is. Washington is at his best here when he’s mixing with the rabble...An ensemble as outstanding as it is large."
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