I NEED THAT Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 3:49pm

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 8:59pm

Theatremania is overall positive, but calls it "lesser Rebeck"

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:04pm

Green in NYT is complementary toward the Devitos; mixed on the play.

‘I Need That’ Review: It’s Always Messy in New Jersey

Danny DeVito returns to Broadway in a Theresa Rebeck comedy about a lonely old man lost in a houseful of junk.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/theater/i-need-that-review-danny-devito.html

"But because whatever will happen cannot do so until the last few of the play’s 100 minutes, most of what Rebeck offers is filler. Both Amelia and Foster are given grudges and secrets to pass the time. At least Amelia’s feel real enough, perhaps because Lucy DeVito, in her Broadway debut, is no nepo baby; she’s a fine comic actor, hitting every joke and clapback with a clean thwack. But Thomas is unable to make Foster more than a codger-comedy contrivance, despite or because of a tacked-on sad story and a not-very-credible interest in Sam’s trash."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:05pm

Three stars from TimeOut

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/i-need-that-broadway-review-danny-devito

"The most interesting moments of this good-natured but threadbare comedy, which Rebeck wrote during the pandemic lockdown, touch on the relationship between physical objects and memory. To Sam, each knickknack is a time machine to a meaningful moment; his inability to let go of the past is a major factor in whether or not, in the end, he can bring himself to take out the garbage. DeVito is a star for a reason: His vulnerable, hilarious performance is a certifiable gem. If only this treasure weren’t so often lost in the piles that surround it."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:06pm

Deadline: ‘I Need That’ Broadway Review: Danny DeVito Steals Laughs From A Junk Pile

https://deadline.com/2023/11/danny-devito-i-need-that-broadway-review-1235589573/

"Admittedly, many in the audience that night seemed happy to overlook the shortcomings, and the reason was obvious: It’s hard to imagine a comic actor better equipped to handle seat-of-the-pants exasperation than the beloved Danny DeVito. This is a man who got one of the night’s biggest laughs with a single, improvised muttered “Broadway!” when the large junked-up-house refused to swivel on cue. He earned every last ovation that night."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:07pm

Daily Beast:

Broadway Review: Danny DeVito Gets Lost in the Clutter of ‘I Need That’

MESSY

Danny DeVito needs a better Broadway canvas than “I Need That.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/broadway-review-danny-devito-gets-lost-in-the-clutter-of-i-need-that

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:09pm

Chicago Tribune Review: An always funny Danny DeVito double-teams with his daughter in Broadway’s ‘I Need That’

https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/broadway/ct-ent-danny-devito-broadway-need-that-review-20231103-oyeb6akghnhxpi47yvhzy5jnxe-story.html

"Overall, this piece doesn’t land at the top of Rebeck’s impressively diverse oeuvre, and I’d wager you’ll see some things coming far faster than any fire department. But I’m partial to plays that deal with experiences almost everyone shares and throwing stuff out is far higher on the list of life traumas than you might think."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:10pm

Two three-star reviews from NY Stage Review

I Need That: Danny DeVito’s Got the Goods

By Melissa Rose Bernardo

★★★☆☆ Theresa Rebeck’s new play delves into the concept of trash, treasure, and throwing it all away

https://nystagereview.com/2023/11/02/i-need-that-danny-devitos-got-the-goods/

I Need That: A Play About Hoarding Not Cluttered by Nuance

By Frank Scheck

★★★☆☆ Danny DeVito stars in Theresa Rebeck's play about a compulsive hoarder, also featuring his daughter Lucy DeVito and Ray Anthony Thomas.

https://nystagereview.com/2023/11/02/i-need-that-a-play-about-hoarding-not-cluttered-by-nuance/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:12pm

Slant: I Need That Review: Buried by His Past

I Need That is a vehicle built for two that mostly just spins its wheels.

https://www.slantmagazine.com/theater/i-need-that-review-danny-devito-theresa-rebeck/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:13pm

The Wrap:

‘I Need That’ Broadway Review: A Lot of Junk Buries Danny DeVito

Theresa Rebeck’s new comedy plays cute with a chronic hoarding disorder

https://www.thewrap.com/i-need-that-danny-devito-broadway-review/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:14pm

2 stars from NYP

‘I Need That’ review: DeVito is a hoarder in a messy Broadway play

https://nypost.com/2023/11/02/entertainment/i-need-that-review-devito-is-a-hoarder-in-messy-broadway-play/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:16pm

Observer:

Review: Danny DeVito Hoards Laughter And Tears In ‘I Need That’

Performing with a raffish panache, DeVito plays a grumbly shut-in sorting through possessions and memories in this tale of grief and release.

https://observer.com/2023/11/review-danny-devito-hoards-laughter-and-tears-in-i-need-that/

"Rebeck’s 100-minute tale of grief and release is the sort of middlebrow crowd-pleaser that used to be common fare on Broadway 60-plus years ago but has long since migrated to small screens. Neil Simon would have slapped on a second act and mopped up the box-office dough. Efficiently if not too sturdily assembled from punch lines, family trauma, and credibility-straining twists, I Need That goes down easy and leaves scant trace. Its pleasures are mostly due to an endearing and frisky performance by DeVito, last seen at the Roundabout in its 2017 revival of Arthur Miller’s The Price. Decades in TV comedy have endowed the beloved actor with impeccable timing and a ready-made persona: the crusty, shambolic imp from many a season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:21pm

Theatrely is negative

I NEED THAT Hoards Up Drama — Review

https://www.theatrely.com/post/i-need-that-hoards-up-drama-review

"Very little of the dialogue is of particular significance and, whether made to feel improvised or simply under-rehearsed by the cast, has a meandering quality that quickly becomes grating. The elder DeVito performs his cantankerous shtick well, and his daughter does what she can against a character who, even when objectively correct, is written with a shrillness that renders her arguments moot. Thomas is a calming presence, though his character must gesture towards two inane thematic attempts at exploring class and race which seem like a second-draft attempt at introducing drama."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:24pm

Washington Post:

Even relatable Danny DeVito can’t rescue this play about a hoarder

“I Need That” is among a new crop of shows presenting tough challenges to splendid stage actors. They don’t all pay off.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater/2023/11/02/devito-turturro-fontana-rebeck-wholesale/

"Danny DeVito is so likable he could turn an irascible hoarder into a cuddle toy. Which is fortunate, because that’s precisely his assignment in playwright Theresa Rebeck’s sugary misfire, “I Need That,” a Broadway comedy that posits a stubborn shut-in as the most well-adjusted person in town."

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:34pm

DTLI Consensus: It’s always mediocre at the American Airlines (for now).

8 mixed (including the NYT), 2 positive, 1 negative. 

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/i-need-that/

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:54pm

It wasn't Roundabout, of course, but Fat Ham was the last show at the American Airlines, so, not always mediocre.

Updated On: 11/2/23 at 09:54 PM

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 9:58pm

So the overall consensus seems to be that the actors are doing good work with a fairly insubstantial script.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 10:38pm

TaffyDavenport said: "It wasn't Roundabout, of course, but Fat Ham was the last show at the American Airlines, so, not always mediocre."

It was a lame pun on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 11:10pm

Holden for Vulture is negative:

I Need That Does Not Spark Joy

Danny and Lucy DeVito, as an almost-hoarder and his daughter, are trapped in a play full of junk.

https://www.vulture.com/2023/11/theater-review-i-need-that-danny-lucy-devito.html

"There’s a cynicism at work when a show doesn’t do more than outline its characters, then dares you to notice or care by putting a total real-life character, like Danny DeVito, smack-dab in its center. It’s clear the audience is here to have a good time with a star who’s turned Zhlubby Eccentric Rascal into a personal art form. And, yes, DeVito is — true to that form — an appealingly weird-while-being-familiar presence as he grouses and whines and shuffles around in his boxer shorts, pulling faces and pronouncing “water” with approximately three syllables (“woo-aw-tuh”). But no actor can make a show work when a play is so set on phoning it in. When Sam is describing his time as a military file clerk, he sums it up succinctly enough: “boring but better than getting shot at.” Sometimes a play reviews itself."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 11/3/23 at 12:22am

Variety: ‘I Need That’ Review: Danny DeVito Earns Broadway Laughs in Theresa Rebeck’s New Play

https://variety.com/2023/legit/reviews/i-need-that-review-danny-devito-broadway-1235778734/

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 11/3/23 at 4:22am

Nepo baby gets her start.  Thanks, Dad.

[FirstRowBalcony]

Posted: 11/5/23 at 9:29am

Anyone know how the view is from the HIPTIX seats (side Orch rows J-L)?

Just want to make sure they're not partial view before I buy.

Thanks!

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/5/23 at 9:54am

Impeach2017 said: "Nepo baby gets her start. Thanks, Dad."

Although this is her Broadway debut, she has an extensive career in off-Broadway and regional theatre, as well as film and television (including 3 years on "Melissa & Joey") - the "nepo baby" argument is a bit reductive here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_DeVito

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/5/23 at 10:03am

FirstRowBalcony said: "Anyone know how the view is from the HIPTIX seats (side Orch rows J-L)?

Just want to make sure they're not partial view before I buy.

Thanks!"

I sat in K24 (right orch) last night. It's partial view in the sense that you may not be able to see the set of upstage left, but you aren't going to miss any action.

As for the play itself - I found it cute and some of it hit close to home for me as a  person who has issues with throwing things away due to sentiment and the review that described the elder DeVito as an "irascible hoarder cuddly toy" is dead accurate. Unfortunately, the play itself is a casualty of it's own disorganized and wandering mind. There is A LOT of unnecessarily dramatic plot contrivances and, just when you think the play ends, it goes on about 15 minutes too long and ends on a weird note. It's diversionary enough if you aren't looking for the next great Simon-esque comedy.

[Kad]

Posted: 11/5/23 at 10:06am

KevinKlawitter said: "So the overall consensus seems to be that the actors are doing good work with a fairly insubstantial script."

Which is something that can be said about basically every production of a Rebeck play for... twenty years, I'd say?

Updated On: 11/5/23 at 10:06 AM