House of McQueen at the Mansion at Hudson Yards

This is a new theater created in a warehouse, and the sight lines were not good. The railing at the steps was so high that it was in the field of vision once seated.

The play itself was a whole lot of nothing. It’s a shame that it’s about someone so dynamic, and it completely fizzles. Performances were good, but a thousand things happen so quickly that none of it makes any impact. Working on Savile Row, getting hired by Givenchy, getting married and even losing the most important person in his life just…happens. It was the first preview of a brand new play in a brand new venue, so I hope they can work on it and find something with more of a voice and purpose.

Started at 7:15, had an intermission that was 20 min and was outside by just about 9:45.

Updated On: 8/19/25 at 10:49 PM

I’ve processed this more now and am not sure if it’s the bad writing that makes nothing stick or Luke Newton’s sweetness that makes nothing stick. Newton seems like a really lovely guy and he had lots of Bridgerton fans in the audience (who were on their phones because they were really only there to stage door), but he didn’t have any gravitas or grit. This was a man who took the fashion world by storm, but this version just floats through it. Again, could be the writing or maybe the combination of both.

As mentioned, many people were on phones, an alarm went off and a phone rang for a bit. The play started without a reminder to turn them off, so they should add that. Ushers should also address it when they see it.

Talked to some cast on the show. They are working on the show making a lot of changes daily over previews. It's a new show so previews are going to all be different the cast said.

We should have asked who is replacing Luke Newton after September 28th .

Birdie Boy said: "This is being papered lol. Has anyone else seen it? Wondering if it’s worth the 5 bucks and the commute"

The first post is literally a review of this play. What’s wrong with you?!

Birdie Boy said: "This is being papered lol. Has anyone else seen it? Wondering if it’s worth the 5 bucks and the commute"

It’s not a dig at a show if they’re papering. It’s the smart thing to do for shows (especially new shows) to get people in and get word of mouth out. Post Covid, shows have seen papering as a bad thing and I just can’t understand that. It’s a fantastic tool for both theater goers and the folks on stage, so they’re not playing to empty houses.

What I saw was bad. Surprised nobody else on here has gone.

ooblogway said: "I'm curious about the venue. Do we think it's a pop-up for this show only or actually a new venue?"

Based on its appearance, I could see it going either way. As I mentioned in my original post, I didn’t think the height of railings was not beneficial to views of the stage, and the sound in the back wasn’t loud enough. It seems like a venue that would be easy to transform back, but time will tell. This probably isn’t the show they thought it would be to get people in the doors.

Getting home from the matinee and gotta say, I kind of adored this but also understand why someone else wouldn't. The entire thing from start to finish plays like a dream, maybe even a memory of a dream. It's very surreal in a lot of it and shrouded by what I can only say is this profound sadness the entire time. I was reminded a lot of a queer "American Psycho" and just completely gave myself over to it.

The show needs to lose the intermission, though. Like I said it feels like you're kind of wafting through someone's head and that intermission breaks the spell. When the show starts back up you're in one of the most obvious "dreamlike" segments of the play and it takes a bit to get back into it and we shouldn't have to. Losing the intermission would make it so much better, I feel.

Amazingly also, this is one of the most "British" things I've ever seen in New York. Like, I felt I was at the Almeida (where it should definitely play at some point) watching a new play. Accents were all generally good - a few could use a little work but nothing egregious - and performances across the board were stellar, I thought. Luke Newton's McQueen was devastating and truly just left me speechless. Again, I feel like I could/will be in a minority on this one just judging by the response from the audience. 2/3 of the house seemed to be like the matinee crowd at City Center while the other part was 30 and under. When the show ended, the applause was tepid but then suddenly about half the house stood (mostly the "younger" audience) and applause really got louder and that made me very happy.

As you leave the auditorium, you're guided to an exhibit room where a collection of McQueen's designs are on display and I gotta say I was not expecting that at all or how incredible it is to see that art right in front of you. But much like a through-line in this play being about how people view art differently, that's how this play will be received.

A friend of mine was also there today (didn’t even know until he posted online) and he absolutely hated it. Just makes me know I was right that I’d be in the minority lol

Unfortunately, the naysayers are the winning team here.

While it tried to have style, it came at the high, high cost of having absolutely zero substance. I got very little insight into McQueen as a person other than he was someone who had a perpetual chip on his shoulder and an unending fascination with the macabre. It feels as if his life was written as just entirely joyless and motivated by spite. He is drowned in a sea of too many different characters, some that are so underdeveloped that they add nothing to the proceedings, while others are so overwhelming that they have a case of main character syndrome (When Isabella’s arc ended, I was so happy because it felt like a Madeline Ashton knockoff in stranger clothing). To that end, the play ran about 2:15, and with an extended intermission. (The men’s dressing room toilet broke from what I heard from my friend working there.), but it felt much longer because there is no real emotional ebb and flow to the proceedings - just a collection of scenes that lack cohesion and seem to operate as a confusing, ongoing fugue state.

I really can’t fault the performers here. They are tasked with doing so many things that don’t drive the play anywhere. Newton is fine but nothing to write home about. I think he’s playing the role as it was written, which gives him very little wiggle room to explore McQueen other than a continuously simmering level of agitation. Emily Skinner gets it slightly (used very loosely) better with the mother character, but is still saddled with just saddled with leaden material and a wig reminiscent of a moderately severe schoolmarm.

I think the biggest crime here is that the play does not make any use of his fashions beyond archival footage and maybe 2 or 3 actual pieces. Surely within the budget, the director could’ve had the costume designer for a show like this recreate some of the designs and put on at least ONE actual runway show that wasn’t just an exercise in imagination using the ensemble as stand ins for dead-eyed fashion models. But boy did they have money for a set that was at least five giant screens (I think the stage deck just had projections) and two multipurpose box platforms that just rose and fell.

Like Jordan Catalano said - It’s like American Psycho, but make it fashion

Jordan Catalano said: "2/3 of the house seemed to be like the matinee crowd at City Center while the other part was 30 and under. When the show ended, the applause was tepid but then suddenly about half the house stood (mostly the "younger" audience) and applause really got louder and that made me very happy."

Jordan, just curious - did you get the impression than any significant part of the audience was there largely due to the Bridgerton connection, like with Kit Connor in Romeo and Juliet?