Heartless Bastard NYC Reviews and Tickets

67%

(50 Reviews)

Positive

62%

Mixed

26%

Negative

12%

Members say

Great acting, Entertaining, Quirky, Clever, Funny

About the Show

HERE presents the world premiere of this drama about a commercial real estate broker who receives a heart transplant, and finds himself forever changed.

Barry Weiss is a hotshot broker: arrogant, smart, and tough. His girlfriend Janie is his take-no-prisoners business partner. They ride the big wave of ambition and wealth, self-involved and self-satisfied. But when Barry needs a new heart, he descends into a comically callous world of medically inept doctors and hard-bitten nurses. As he recuperates, he finds that everything feels wrong. What are these feelings, these thoughts, all these questions? When he shows up on the doorstep of his donor's widow, he begins a dangerous journey into the true nature of his illness and the deeper meaning of his new heart.

Member Reviews (50)

Quirky, Great acting, Great staging, Entertaining, Raunchy

See it if you are in for insane portrayals of doctors and nurses around a transplant-changing personality with some good acting and minimal staging.

Don't see it if you cannot juxtapose unrealistic sex and comedy with the seriousness of medical and psychological change among multiple characters.

Clever, Banal, Funny, Thought-provoking

See it if a compromise with partners 88 and my 70. Some Jerry Lewis type scenes A real problem re: heart replacement. Expectations play a role.

Don't see it if One of us was ready for old time comedy and one was not. One wonders though how a person with a need for a heart might view it.

Dizzying, Excruciating, Fluffy

See it if you want to see a very community theater type show here in the city

Don't see it if you are looking for anything professional. Read more

Ambitious, Banal, Cliched, Disappointing, Raunchy

See it if you have a free evening and want to be mildly entertained; a very predictable plot has been done before; over-the-top comedic performances

Don't see it if you want a show with a new twist; you don't mind sexy scenes which have no reason to be there; you don't mind stupid out-of-place comedy

Confusing, Cliched, Over the top acting

See it if you like experimental works in small spaces with low production values.

Don't see it if you're looking for a cogent plot or a message that hasn't been done many times before. Read more

Relevant, Cliched, Funny

See it if you like to ponder who we are and how and if transplanted organs may impact us.

Don't see it if You expect a mature script. Play seemed somewhat incomplete with lots of ideas not fully fleshed out resulting in trite characters.

Funny, Great acting, Edgy, Dark comedy

See it if you like dark comedy. The acting is over the top but it works.

Don't see it if the topic of heartless people mixed with heart transplants as comedy is not for you.

Disappointing, Insipid, Good acting, Uninvolving, Mildly funny

See it if you like farces, silly plots and stereotyped characters with some humor and good acting.

Don't see it if you like shows that have realistic perceptive characterizations and plots that provide substance for interesting analysis.

Critic Reviews (2)

"Initially confounding but builds to a satisfying climax...It’s meant to be overblown and not at all realistic, and at times is hilarious...Shankman has the confidence to be jagged and confusing and pulls it all off with skillfully rendered surrealistic antics. George’s staging is artfully brisk with the appropriate momentum of fast-paced comedy sketches. Flashes of raw emotion are also sharply emphasized and there are terrific performances."
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"Combines elements of farce with moments of poignancy. Lively scene changes and uptempo music ensure you don’t dose. The solid cast includes Kevin Sims, who portrays a dizzying array of male doctors...But it is Barbra Wengard who steals the show. Channeling two helpings of Marisa Tomei, she movingly conveys a widow’s torment...This actress imbues 'Heartless Bastard' with a soul."
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