Marvin's Room NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (445)
See it if you like a good story that is funny and poignant.
Don't see it if you don't like a story that turns from humor to very serious at the end.
See it if you enjoy a play that centers around three great actors and a supporting cast, well written, timely and well staged
Don't see it if seeing a show about serious illness punches too many unhappy buttons for you
See it if you would enjoy a sweet play about family, caring and sickness well told with a fair bit of pathos and humor
Don't see it if you are in the mood for a razzle dazzle epic event and can't tolerate some moments that lack dramatic drive
See it if You enjoy the actors featured or if you like family dramas.
Don't see it if If you're wanting a light, happy evening out. There is comedy, but it's a difficult topic and they do well with the story line.
See it if you like family dramas or a moving and funny character study with depth. All the performers elevate each other. Terrific acting.
Don't see it if you're turned off by themes of sickness and dying.
See it if you are a part of a dysfunctional family or know one. If you enjoy a sad, yet somewhat hopeful story. A humorous drama.
Don't see it if you dislike sad, thought-provoking dramas. If you need a "Hollywood" happy ending. Read more
See it if You like dramas that also has comedy Within the play.
Don't see it if You don't like plays about illness.
See it if you have an interest in a family drama that brings levity to some of the most serious issues that face many families.
Don't see it if you want a lighthearted comedy or an epic musical.
Critic Reviews (49)
“A touching and funny production directed gracefully by Anne Kauffman…For its Great White Way bow, it has enlisted a pair of fab actresses to portray the sisters…Kauffman moves the story at a calm pace despite the occasional fireworks…‘Marvin’s Room’ is a tragicomic story that boldly addresses the question of what happens when a caregiver needs a caregiver as well as a bittersweet reminder of the weight of family responsibility and heartbreaking loss.”
Read more
"McPherson had a keen sense of family dynamics and the need for pitch-black humor in the face of tragedy—a balance that's finely maintained in the hands of director Anne Kauffman in this revival...Taylor is the rare actor who seems to shrug off her charisma while never actually letting it go...And Garofalo brings a spiky energy to her performance that’s just right."
Read more
"Gratifying and affecting...I particularly marveled at the way Taylor processed any bad news that comes Bessie’s way. She segues briskly from shock to resilience...It’s easy, as well, to empathize with Garofalo’s Lee...The American Airlines Theatre isn’t a particularly forgiving venue for a story quite so intimate, but designer Jellinek succeeds in taming the open space...'Marvin’s Room' is at its finest when reminding us that memory is a fierce, potent counterpoint to fear of the unknown."
Read more
“With leading roles played by the equally outstanding Garofalo, Taylor and Weston, the sad/funny play isn’t the downer you might expect…Neither depressing nor altogether absurdist with its assertively comical tract, ‘Marvin’s Room’ welcomes the gently empowering lift it gets from Kauffman’s unforced direction and from a cast that doesn’t miss a heartbeat of the play’s inherent poignancy or the compulsively funny sick room jokes. Taylor is wonderful.”
Read more
"McPherson’s captured them in all their tawdriness and their shining humanity...They are so specifically drawn, they become universal...Kauffman has staged it smoothly, and the eight actors are each stunningly on target. For some reason I can’t fathom, this very intimate glimpse at the interactions of eight very human beings is being played in the much-too-large American Airlines Theatre and, as a result, much of its impact is diminished...A rewarding place to be this summer."
Read more
"But what strikes me most about 'Marvin's Room' is its perceptiveness about the sick, about how we treat them and how they feel about it ... I deeply admire how it becomes demystified here, returned to the realm of the mundane and the slightly funny, where it always belonged."
Read more
"I loved Roundabout’s production of 'Marvin’s Room'...The show is about characters I care about, good people who at times lose their way because, like all of us, they are all too human...Kauffman has assembled a cast that makes these ordinary people and their ordinary lives meaningful. Taylor and Garofalo clearly get the fraught relationship of sisters. DiFalco and Padovan are gut-wrenching...It taught me lessons, not new ones, but ones we have to learn over and over again."
Read more
"The play treads well-worn family drama territory albeit with some laughs along the way. Under the direction of Anne Kauffman it’s given a fairly ho-hum Broadway debut...Kauffman avoids cloying sentimentality but she over-emphasizes each character interaction with a ponderous pace. Even with the play’s conspicuous tender moments, there’s not real heft in the material to resonate...Everyone is too still and the subtlety gets lost on a massive stage."
Read more