The Iceman Cometh (Broadway)

See it if Don’t see it. Hated it.

Don't see it if It was long and boring. Denzel Washington could not save this. It is a bunch of drunk men muttering on stage for hours on end. Awful.

See it if you hate yourself

Don't see it if you love yourself

Also Completely dated and a "safe" production. Why not go bold and attempt to make it contemporary? Predictable, dated, boring, a real snooze fest. No emotional impact either. What's the point of putting this show on?... Read more Read less

See it if You’re an O’Neill completionist and set out to see every show of his on Broadway. Also some good acting from the supporting players.

Don't see it if You want a production that brings something new to the table.

See it if You wanna see Denzel. I admit I wanted to see what he would bring.

Don't see it if You don't want to leave yet ANOTHER Broadway show disappointed and disheartened at the lack of artistry... Ugh... Just don't go.

Also If you'll not listen to me, I will quote Strindberg's Preface to Miss Julie: "The ballet that I have introduced cannot be replaced by a so-called
CROWD SCENE. Such scenes are ALWAYS BADLY ACTED, with a pack of babbling fools taking advantage of the occasion to "gag it up," thereby
destroying the illusion" [caps mine].

It pains me to say, half the actors on stage simply cannot act. So many of them mired in caricature it hurts. It HURTS to watch. Some funny and interesting moments from those who actually could, but even then it's already 3 miles below the sea...

Wolfe's staging is logical yes, but why not incorporate supernumerary actors as the opera does, to bring to life these characters, or just ANY idea! Or dummies used to create a drunken environment. Everything is just wrong here.

It's really not a play, it's a waiting game: yeah yeah... this one is talking. He'll soon be interrupted by uh, yeah, that one who's now talking. And... yeah, that one's gonna talk soon. Rinse repeat... Read more Read less

See it if See it only if you are a fan of the story and know what to expect.

Don't see it if Boring. Way too long. A bunch of drunkards in stage mumbling about their boring lives. Even Denzel couldn’t save this show. Hated it.

See it if you're a fan of Denzel who didn't get to see his way better performance in Raisin.

Don't see it if No other reason to see it.

Also Baffling how something like this still gets produced.
These are 17 separate long-winded snippets of a moment in the lives of these characters in the time before AA. 14 of these stories do not interact with any others and could easily be deleted in any combination without change to the story. Nothing really happens and little of depth is given about the characters.
Extremely indulgent writing.
The staging is simple & mediocre but it changes slightly in all 4 acts even though it is always the same place being depicted (beats staring at the same dull set for 4 hours).
Denzel's part is literally minimal until the last 45 min act when he finally gets a monologue. Unfortunately, he plays the "funny Denzel" as opposed to the "intense heartfelt" Denzel which gives the whole scene a somewhat deflated feeling.
Easy to see how Nathan Lane (recently in the same role at BAM) gave a significantly better performance.
Overall it's just a story about nothing with characters dated and unrelatable.... Read more Read less

See it if You need to see Denzel on Stage.

Don't see it if You don't want to sit through 4 hours of slow moving dialog with VERY little story between poorly developed characters you don't care about.

Also The show is overstuffed with WAY too many characters. There are 17 characters on the stage, and all of them are a slight variation on the same type of person. We watch them for four hours as they mention tiny pieces of their lives.... again, why should we care about any of these people? We don't get see enough of their stories play out to care about or feel connected to any of them.

By the final act I was hoping for something to occur to make the 3 previous acts worth it... unfortunately that never happened.

The play takes place in one setting, however in this production there is a set change between each act, where we get a new bar setting. Confused as to what the point of this is... I guess to give the audience something new to look at.... Read more Read less

See it if you are a dedicated O'Neill fan; you want to see a superb cast overcome some bad direction and fussy staging

Don't see it if you expect true insights into this period piece that is still relevant from a director who has a reputation worthy of much better work.

See it if You love Denzel Washington or Eugene O’Neill or a dialogue heavy show.

Don't see it if You want a fast paced show or uplifting storyline. This show is 4 hours.

Also Some of the actors were difficult to understand. I didn’t hear at least half of the dialogue. Hopefully this will be corrected before the show opens.... Read more Read less

See it if just don't bother.

Don't see it if you value your time. The performances are middling at best. Nothing happens and nothing changes.

See it if Not even for Denzel's small part.

Don't see it if you value your time and money.

See it if Good for the great actors

Don't see it if Bad story, boring, slow, too long, way too expensive

See it if Poor set, poor acting, poor sound, poor lighting, I could go on...

Don't see it if on and on an on.......

See it if You are a fan of Denzel Washington

Don't see it if If you respect your time: 4 hours of nothing happens.

Also Horrible acoustics. 3/4’s of the performers speak so softly that their dialog is unitelligable. Maybe that added to them being so unlikeable. I felt like I was expected to like it because it’s a classic story but it doesn’t hold up. Expected a performance similar to Of Mice and Men which was on Broadway a few years ago, sadly this was worse than the ‘90s movie Mixed Nuts. Was reminded of that movie as it had an all star cast that was placed in a horrible vehicle, just as Denzel and crew are in The Iceman Cometh.... Read more Read less