Dinner with the Boys NYC Reviews and Tickets

"A taste for shtick is all but required to enjoy 'Dinner With the Boys.' And since this cast is eager to mug, an appetite for ham wouldn’t hurt either...'Dinner With the Boys' has its best moments late in the play, when plot secrets are revealed and the humor finds its rhythm. Until then, the actors work hard on that big stage, with only a little to show for it."
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"The first act spans tales of horrendous executions and ends in a gusher. It’s after intermission that the taste level lurches way off the charts: Abruzzo’s alternate role, that of Jewish mafioso “Uncle Sid” is exaggerated-unto-offensive, and the choice to add the Exodus theme to his dispatch is enough to sicken any holdouts."
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"The engaging performers do what they can with the material...But their efforts are not enough to make the proceedings palatable, with the abundance of gory violence on display leaving a sour aftertaste...While that dream cast would certainly have enlivened the tired material, the play's current incarnation mainly swims with the fishes."
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"At last, the crypto-gay, cannibal Mafia comedy we haven’t been waiting for! 'Dinner With the Boys' is all that and less: Ineptly written, directed and acted, this is one hell of a bad show."
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"Lauria capitalizes on this crowd-pleasing archetype of murderous men with delicate taste, conjuring the lovable mafiosi of Goodfellas or The Sopranos as his protagonists Charlie and Dom shoot the breeze while chowing down on home-cooked meals. Unfortunately, after two hours of empty calories, we find that archetype is where these characters end."
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"This is one of the most repellent plays I have encountered in many a year. Under ultra-broad direction, the actors mug so ferociously, you'd think they were playing in Radio City Music Hall, not the intimate Acorn Theatre. Somebody should call the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League."
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"Lauria has put as friendly a spin as possible on the traditional mob plot. Certainly the result, 'The Odd Couple' by way of 'Goodfellas,' is not a bad idea. And thanks to his amiable writing and performance, which is choked with excitement but never by it, 'Dinner With the Boys' maintains throughout the warm nature that's by far its best feature. That's something. Unfortunately, it's also the only thing. This is, at the most generous, a Saturday Night Live sketch stretched out to nearly two hours."
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"There you have it – – they reminisce about their past days as hit men, with lots of laugh lines, gags and one-liners...some that make it, others that fall kinda flat. It’s certainly an interesting and eerie premise for this mob-inspired play, and the cast is top of the line, so if Soprano-style is your style, you’ll really get a bang out of this one."
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"It all seems awfully dull and distasteful to me, but then so does the script’s tiresome Italian and Jewish character stereotypes and its sophomoric gags about food and cooking...Joe Orton it ain’t. These crude and silly doings are enacted with broadly emphatic performances."
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"'Dinner With The Boys' is writer/actor Dan Lauria’s romp through the characters of these two affable, warm-hearted and completely wild and crazy hit men for whom nothing is impossible. The production, ingeniously directed by Frank Megna, is full of wit and superb ironic touches. It is a frenetic lark and in-your-face dark comedy."
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"This show’s recipe for success: Take three parts excellent actor, take one mob theme, mix in laughs liberally, add wit as sharp as a kitchen knife, sprinkle with musical language refrains, spice it all up, add a twist, and another twist, and...you have a raucous comedy that makes a serious point about senseless violence and the value of kindness. You have to see it once, to see why it’s worth seeing twice."
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"There is a mix of dark humor and drama here that has the makings of a great production. And that is where the show feels like a let down. It is in the category of good, but it should have been great...'Dinner with the Boys' had its world premiere last fall, and therefore, it is surprising that this production feels like a work that still needs work. It’s a diamond in the rough, but without some cutting and polishing, it isn’t the sparkling show it could be."
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"The problem lies herein; both acts are constructed similarly and parallel each other too much. As a result we lose interest and focus as the act progresses...There is potential for this to be a very funny piece. But Lauria must decide on where he wants to take us. Right now, its only half way there."
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"There’s no drum in sight. But you can almost hear the ba-dum-bum following the jokes in “Dinner With the Boys,” a hokey comedy that’s far more enjoyable than it really should be...A friendly, big lug of a play, the 100-minute “Dinner With the Boys” exists solely to please its audience, and more often than not it succeeds. Yes, you can see some of the jokes coming from a mile away. But they’re still quite funny once they arrive."
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"The Corleones join forces with Sweeney Todd in Dan Lauria's farce-scented dark comedy "Dinner With the Boys". Neither the demon barber nor the cinephile's favorite mob family actually make cameos in the new play, but the delightful collision of these two worlds suggest that a collaboration could have spared both parties a fair amount of grief."
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"It's thumbs up for the World Premiere of Dinner With The Boys...Friendship, food, and fiends are all part of this dark comedy. The unsavory themes in 'Dinner With The Boys' work well because, above all else, the show is a true parody of the violence that we consume...If you have the chance, don't miss it."
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"An old fashioned, wacky and likeable Mafia comedy...The funniest moments in the show involve murder and cannibalism. However, this production is very timid in presenting the delightful ghoulishness and splatter. If director Frank Megna would supplement the character driven comic dialogue by broadly and inventively fleshing out the macabre aspects of the play with lots of shtick, Dinner With The Boys could be a real crowd pleaser."
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"Dinner With The Boys, under the abetting direction of Frank Megna, is, despite its few grisly episodes and inherent crudities, a tasty morsel of comedy and crime. Regional theaters, in particular, are likely to have fun with this caper. "
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"Here is the recipe: take three parts excellent actor, take one mob theme in which we have all been so well-schooled, take at least a dozen dishes so deliciously described that we can almost taste them, mix in laughs liberally, add wit as sharp as a kitchen knife, sprinkle with musical language refrains, spice it all up, add a twist, and another twist, and…you have a raucous comedy that makes a serious point about senseless violence and the value of kindness."
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"Director Frank Megna nicely balances the violence with the comedy, which is essential to the success of Lauria's play. Perhaps in order to steer away from sitcom banality, Megna occasionally inserts surreal theatrical moments. There's also a “Sleuth”-like surprise that never pays off. While these touches don't entirely work, they are a mere speed bump. The overall enjoyment of this “Dinner” is watching the boisterous banter of goodfellas Charlie and Dominic."
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"Charlie and Dominic are amusing company. Cooped up together, they constantly fight and make up, but we can see clearly by the excellent acting and direction, that they truly love each other in an Odd Couple fashion...There is onstage and offstage bloodshed. Accept the invitation, but watch your hosts and fellow guests carefully. Remember the little old ladies of Arsenic and Old Lace and their elderberry wine before savoring Dominic’s delicious little white meatballs and his cheesecake."
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