A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York City NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (142)
See it if this is less a dark comedy than snapshots of those moments when we, despite ourselves, laugh nervously in the face of impending tragedy
Don't see it if you don't appreciate lightheartedness around the issue of terminal illness and parent child disfunction.
See it if You like funny plays w/ heart. It's a well constructed & acted. You understand why the characters are the way they are. Emery is excellent
Don't see it if You are looking for something serious or deep. While the show does tackle some serious themes it's done with a joke or a smile.
See it if You enjoy quirky comedies with unusual characters who are at odds, improbable romances, endearing performances
Don't see it if You don't like absurd situations, difficult to like characters, discussions of cancer and its impact on loved ones
See it if /for hilarious opening, later side-splitting sex scene, good ensemble/kick-a** performance by Beth Behrs/2 Broke Girls
Don't see it if /since play eventually slips into old tropes (my wife/mother/son doesn't love me); ultimately however shows healing power of humor
See it if you want to see a dark comedy that is more than the title suggests and you like great acting.
Don't see it if any of the following make you queasy: hospital rooms, disease, emotional frailty, the need to connect with others.
See it if you want to see Lisa Emery give one of her usual fine performances. Also, if you want to see Halley Feiffer take a tumble with this play.
Don't see it if your taste rises above the sit-com level.
See it if I was pleasantly surprised by this. I always worry when I TV or movie star tries to act on stage but she did great. She was matched with a
Don't see it if great actor and held her own. My only issue is she did not hold for laughs. Very funny and now what I expected
See it if U know the uncomfortable, sad feelings when a close relative has cancer, Estranged, distant family emotions arise New friends become family
Don't see it if U had a heartbreaking experience with cancer Do not like explicit sex or profanity See no reason to use "rape" as a joke topic
Critic Reviews (20)
"'Funny Thing' makes a convincing case that hard laughter is an absolutely appropriate response to those moments when life seems like too bad a joke not to respond otherwise...For its intermissionless 85 minutes, 'Funny Thing' abides by the rom-com rules that a couple who meet antagonistically have to be attracted to each other. But to render 'Funny Thing' in synopsis doesn’t do justice to Ms. Feiffer’s exposed nerve of a script, or to the open-wound performances."
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"Well, the title is funny. It is hard to know what else to make of Halley Feiffer’s 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City,' a play ravaged by central miscasting...There is good writing in the play, and one can only wonder how it might work with a different actor in the lead role...Loaded with jokes about death and rape, the play aims for very dark comedy but gets no farther than dim."
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"'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York City' only sporadically lives up to its strained title...Other than the abundance of raunchy one-liners, this play has little to recommend it. Neither the characterizations nor situations ring true; practically everything feels forced...For all the performers' efforts, the play ultimately feels as artificial as its derivative, overlong title."
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"A disappointing thing happened on the way to this MCC production. The talented Halley Feiffer takes a step backward as a writer. She earns points for audacity. But otherwise she obeys rom-com conventions and lets this black comedy peter out. Karla is a struggling millennial comedian. Don is a shaggy middle-aged mogul. They meet in a hospital, where their mothers fight for their lives. Karla and Don hate each other at first. No surprise — that changes."
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"Raunchy and fearless, bound to delight some audience members with its audacious mix of crude humor and deep feeling, while displeasing others for the same reasons...Under Trip Cullman's perceptive direction, Feiffer's funny and moving script is presented with a beautifully recognizable naturalism...The weakest aspect of the script is its predictability...Still, her distinct voice is on fine display throughout, in all its uniquely unsettling glory."
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"The playwright and director soon make it clear that these are two very troubled people whose social ineptitude and downright nastiness is a defense against acquiring new wounds, and that's when 'A Funny Thing...' turns interesting and, yes, funny....Reaching the possibility of a romance between the two does not appear to be the playwright's point. 'A Funny Thing...' is more about surviving the first baby steps of emotional healing and feeling safe enough to try one more."
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"The author is a master at switching between a killer laugh line and a moment of exquisite pain, often in a matter of seconds...If the later scenes of 'Funny Thing...' seem a little pro forma, even sitcom-ish, it's partly because Feiffer's skill at writing scenes of tentative reconciliation isn't as distinctive as her knack for invective and shock tactics...Still, under Trip Cullman's nimble direction, the actors traverse the high-wire script with remarkable agility."
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"As a result, the only thing about this play that's truly funny or insightful is its title…The action (a term I use quite loosely) putters around until the expected, or several variations on it, occurs, and things reach a sufficiently tidy arbitrary point to collapse back into the theatrical ether. There are moments along the way that almost qualify as entertaining…And there are occasional jokes that earn, perhaps, a mild chuckle."
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