The Iceman Cometh (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (253)
See it if you want to see a very fine production of an O'Neill classic.
Don't see it if you do not like somber and serious drama with little to no comic relief. Read more
See it if you want to see the best-performed version of this admittedly butt-numbing four hour drunkologue you are ever likely to experience
Don't see it if you hate O'Neill and his long-winded & fairly dated dialogue Read more
See it if you're looking for some serious old school broadway drama.
Don't see it if you can't face the dark side of human nature and the fact that we all devolve to our lesser humanity and cling to our own 'truths'. Read more
See it if You like to luxuriate in a great piece of literature. The play is a masterwork. The cast is brilliant. The direction is inspired.
Don't see it if You don't have the attention span for a 4 hour play that is slow and stationary. Read more
See it if Brilliant performances by terrific ensemble. David Morse was outstanding.
Don't see it if You can't sit through a 3 hour 50 minute dark drama. If you dislike Eugene O'neill.
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 like classic theater with large cast. A big aria for everyone - especially for central characters. Denzel’s Hickey is solid and fresh.
Don't see it if Very long at almost 4 hours. Extremely repetitive, with every point hammered home. filled with emotional misery but strangely uplifting.
See it if you love Denzel, fantastic performances from a true ensemble, and want to see an American classic on a Broadway stage
Don't see it if you get impatient or have a short attention span...it's quite long but doesn't feel that way during!
Critic Reviews (43)
"Intermittently pleasurable revival...This 'Iceman' feels rather oddly choppy, and the crucial turning point reveals comic impact but no poignant undercarriage...O’Neill’s monologues are delivered lyrically intact, but a tragic thread in the play has been shortchanged: The bond between Hickey and the others never achieves that mystical dimension that is fast to evaporate."
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"Poignant, vulnerable, and intimate, Washington's distinguished performance bobs around in a sea of circling sharks...There is more pleasure taken here in the poetic verbosity of the play, delivered without invasive subtext...Wolfe didn't forget O'Neill's tacit observation that no one yet has definitively determined alcohol to be a palliative any less valid than any other against the usual ravages of life."
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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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"Under the focused direction of George C. Wolfe, the play has been cut down from five to four hours in length — which is not an unwelcome change given that the script is lumbering and repetitious...Wolfe is often too self-conscious in his direction, fiddling with the set design and blocking. Nevertheless, the production succeeds largely on account of a terrific ensemble in great character roles."
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"It's all there in the writing, but Wolfe's production digs deep to uncover dimensions unseen before, and that's thanks to some inspired casting and a fresh new directorial eye...Everyone shines in this production...Washington tackles the role of everyone's favorite salesman Hickey with a softer edge here. And if it's not the grandstanding performance we've seen in past productions, it is a most honest one from a gifted actor breathing humanity into this super-human character."
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"Under Wolfe's brisk direction, the superb cast headed by Denzel Washington makes this 'Iceman' not only engaging and fast-moving but also knee-slappingly funny...Wolfe has thankfully approached this play as a grand ensemble piece that offers all its actors the chance to illuminate their characters' quirky personalities and delusions...This ensemble brings 'Iceman' to life in a way that illuminates the play's bleak worldview without getting bogged down by it."
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"Escaping disillusionment through the comfort of alcohol while clinging to hopeless pipe dreams is rarely depicted with such crackling energy...The huge problem is that there's already so much energy in the room when above-the-title star Washington finally arrives as good old Hickey, there's no major change in the atmosphere and the play loses an important aspect of its texture...Those unfamiliar with 'The Iceman' may find this mounting perfectly satisfying."
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"There's plenty of meat for the actor who plays Hickey, but it's a role that doesn't sit especially well on Washington...At times he seems strangely distanced...Morse is an excellent Slade...Though it was probably not intended, he occupies the center of Wolfe's production...A demanding play, but in a really good production it exerts a tidal pull...That doesn't quite happen here. Still, Morse's performance can make one look at this classic play in a new way, and that's not nothing."
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