EVERY BRILLIANT THING Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 6:21pm

Reviews drop at 9 PM.

Will this be brilliant thing #1,000,001?

 

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 9:15pm

Adam Feldman now says the embargo is at 11 est

[blug]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 10:18pm

Feldman's is out.  A bit clammy.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/broadway-review-daniel-radcliffe-brings-his-shine-to-every-brilliant-thing-031326

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 10:18pm

Three stars from TimeOut

Broadway review: Daniel Radcliffe brings his shine to Every Brilliant Thing

The audience takes many parts in an interactive play about gratitude and grief.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/broadway-review-daniel-radcliffe-brings-his-shine-to-every-brilliant-thing-031326

 

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 10:36pm

Most of Feldman's criticisms seem to come from the practicality of staging an intimate show based around audience participation at a venue as big as the Hudson.

But he does also make an interesting point about how previous productions with an unknown actor at its center made the material come across as more genuinely autobiographical than it does with a star as big as Radcliffe. I saw a production of this in the town where I live a few years ago where the performer was a notable community theatre member, and for a while I thought it was autobiographical, because I wasn't familiar with the show as a preexisting entity.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:00pm

NY Stage Review

Every Brilliant Thing: Daniel Radcliffe Performs Magic of an Emotional Kind

By Frank Scheck

★★★★★ The "Harry Potter" star headlines this Broadway revival of Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe's poignant one-man play about a man who makes a list of reasons to live for his suicidally depressed mother.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:01pm

Critic's Pick from Helen Shaw in NYT

Theater

Daniel Radcliffe Makes ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ Shine

The actor’s fondness for the audience radiates outward in this delightful interactive play about naming and noticing the good in the world.

"And something more is happening here, too. Radcliffe makes himself extraordinarily available to us — his fondness for the audience radiates outward from wherever he is onstage. When participants make tiny errors (say, Mrs. Patterson’s joke is a dud), he laughs with unguarded delight. He thanks those yelling out their brilliant things with a courtly nod. Radcliffe doesn’t just do away with the fourth wall, he manages to expand his magical aren’t-people-wonderful optimism to include the whole orchestra, mezzanine and balcony."
 

 

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:01pm

Variety calls it "Thrilling" and "Deeply moving"

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:01pm

NY Stage Review 2

Every Brilliant Thing: A Lustrous Evening with Daniel Radcliffe

By Steven Suskin

★★★★★ Duncan Macmillan’s play is an unexpected Broadway treat

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:02pm

Three stars from The Guardian

Every Brilliant Thing review – Daniel Radcliffe sells tricky Broadway transfer

Hudson Theatre, New York

The hit one-man show about depression suffers from plain and often corny writing yet is saved by an exuberant turn from the Tony-winning Harry Potter star

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/mar/12/every-brilliant-thing-daniel-radcliffe-broadway

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:03pm

Variety

Critic's Pick

‘Every Brilliant Thing’ Broadway Review: Daniel Radcliffe is Warm, Funny and Deeply Moving in a Thrilling One-Man Show

https://variety.com/2026/tv/reviews/daniel-radcliffe-every-brilliant-thing-broadway-review-1236685975/

"In turn, the play requires a certain type of performer to carry the story through its 70-minute run time. Radcliffe lends himself beautifully to the material, while simultaneously allowing the crowd to curate the experience for themselves. He is energetic, earnest and sincere from the moment the production begins right up until his final line. As an actor, he delivers a beautiful comedic sensitivity that might not land as eloquently in different hands. It’s clear the “Merrily We Roll Along” and “Harry Potter” actor cares deeply about the play and its themes, so the tone never feels too light, nor does he drag the audience into a dark hovel of despair."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:03pm

WSJ

‘Every Brilliant Thing’ Review: Daniel Radcliffe’s Spirited Solo Show

The actor stars in an oddly but infectiously upbeat production on Broadway, full of inventive audience participation, about a man shadowed by his mother’s depression.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/every-brilliant-thing-review-daniel-radcliffes-spirited-solo-show-107f4d40

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:04pm

Slant

‘Every Brilliant Thing’ Review: Daniel Radcliffe Performs an Audience-Participatory Magic Trick

The mightily famous can, it turns out, use their powers for good.

https://www.slantmagazine.com/theater/every-brilliant-thing-review-daniel-radcliffe/

[1 Minute Critic]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:06pm

1 Minute Critic - 3 out of 5 stars
Daniel Radcliffe high-fives the entire Hudson Theatre, and that's kind of the problem

What brings you joy? And how interested are you in sitting in a theatre full of strangers shouting out playwright Duncan Macmillan's answers to celebrated stage and screen actor Daniel Radcliffe? Your response may serve as the temperature gauge on whether Every Brilliant Thing is your cup of comfort tea, or a sip more tepid. Full Review Here

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:06pm

Chicago Tribune

Review: Daniel Radcliffe is the best thing yet for ‘Every Brilliant Thing’

This simple, warm and generous play by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe gets a lift on Broadway from some remarkable celebrity casting.

"When you think of all the questionable celebrity casting to be found on Broadway, the choice of Radcliffe for this piece really stands apart. That’s not just reflective of his ticket-moving celebrity and engagingly vulnerable stage presence, although both of those things are true.

It’s also much to do with how an audience remembers him, which would mostly be as Harry Potter, a comparison that is very shrewdly in play. Yet more fundamentally, that shared memory likely is from when both they and he were children."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:07pm

The Wrap

The ever contrarian Hofler is negative

‘Every Brilliant Thing’ Broadway Review: A Deluge of Audience Participation Buries Daniel Radcliffe

Theatergoers upstage the star in this well-traveled play

https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/theater/every-brilliant-thing-broadway-review-daniel-radcliffe/

"Imagine a PSA on suicide prevention if it were staged in Vegas with lots of audience participation.

That accurately describes the international stage phenomenon titled “Every Brilliant Thing,” written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe, which opened in 2013 and now has hundreds of productions around the world to its credit. “Every Brilliant Thing” finally came to Broadway, where it opened Thursday at the Hudson Theatre with Daniel Radcliffe being the only credited actor.

Unfortunately, there are lots of uncredited non-professional actors in “Every Brilliant Thing.”"

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:07pm

A- from EW

Daniel Radcliffe casts a spell on Broadway in Every Brilliant Thing

The "Harry Potter" star works his magic on stage in a show about the simple things that make life worth living.

https://ew.com/every-brilliant-thing-review-daniel-radcliffe-casts-spell-on-broadway-11921829

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:08pm

AMNY

Review | Daniel Radcliffe shares the spotlight with the audience in ‘Every Brilliant Thing’

https://www.amny.com/entertainment/review-daniel-radcliffe-every-brilliant-thing/

"Radcliffe proves an ideal guide for the evening. His approachable persona — earnest, slightly self-effacing, and quick with a joke — suits the show’s participatory format well. He approaches the role with enthusiastic sincerity while maintaining a light comic touch, ensuring that the play’s sentimental premise never becomes overly precious."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:09pm

Theatrely

Daniel Radcliffe Crowd-Sources Community in EVERY BRILLIANT THING — Review

https://www.theatrely.com/post/daniel-radcliffe-crowd-sources-community-in-every-brilliant-thing-review

"The actor is a revelation, though I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that someone who could have retired a multimillionaire at 22 but keeps pushing himself into new challenges really does love what he gets to do for a living. Beside Radcliffe’s magnetic charisma, it’s his palpable joy in the project that shines brightest. There are a few reactions carefully calibrated for maximum fawning, sure, but his demeanor throughout suggests that he, too, is working through the meaning of performance; of engaging strangers through the one-way mirror through which they’ve grown accustomed to seeing him."

 

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/12/26 at 11:40pm

I’m finding these to be pretty much what I expect. The play is definitely going to be a case of “Your mileage may vary”, but there is no denying that Radcliffe is working every muscle, bone, and piece of his soul to maximum effect and the community he creates makes a 1000 seat theatre feel like communal group therapy. Considering other sub-90 minute celebrity driven duds in recent years, this one more than stands apart.

I’m quite curious now if this is going to enter Radcliffe into the Tony race. The play itself was a gamble, but he’s doing “Oh, Mary” levels of theatrical athleticism and it’s paying off. I think that might be the big surprise nomination, even with a large pool of viable candidates (Lane, Bernthal, Brody, Lithgow, Smallwood, Harrison, and Strong, just to name a few of the likelier options). 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/13/26 at 12:12am

DTLI Consensus: #1,000,001: Daniel Radcliffe's ebullient, generous, and highly physical performance in Every Brilliant Thing (moving if occasionally banal in its Broadway iteration).

11 positive (including the NYT), 5 mixed, 1 negative. 

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/every-brilliant-thing-2/

 

 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/13/26 at 12:15am

Going forward, I will also be giving the consensus from the new Broadway Scorecard for opening night reviews. A much more comprehensive source. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/13/26 at 10:34am

80 on Broadway Scorecard, recommended (strong choice).

“Radcliffe charms in this interactive solo show about depression and life's small joys, with critics praising his warmth and audience connection. Most find it touching and life-affirming, though some question its depth.”

https://broadwayscorecard.com/show/every-brilliant-thing