MCNEAL Previews

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MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/4/24 at 12:00am

Iron Man tries his gauntlet at the Great Bright Way.

Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr. makes his Broadway debut as the titular novelist in Ayad Akhtar’s new play McNeal, beginning previews tomorrow night (September 5) at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater. Downey leads a company that also includes Brittany Bellizeare, Rafi Gavron, Melora Hardin, Andrea Martin, Ruthie Ann Miles, and Saisha Talwar — as well as a “metahuman digital likeness” of Downey. Opening night for McNeal is September 30 and the limited run is set to conclude on November 24; Bartlett Sher directs.

A $48 digital lottery is now active at LCTlottery.com; entries are accepted and winners drawn a day before each performance.

“Jacob McNeal is a great writer, one of our greatest, a perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But McNeal also has an estranged son, a new novel, old axes to grind, and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence. Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar’s new play is a startling and wickedly smart examination of the inescapable humanity — and increasing inhumanity — of the stories we tell.”

Who’s going?

“I am furious, but I am sailing.”

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/4/24 at 10:38am

I'll be there on Saturday! Looking forward to it. I don't know how the stage door is gonna be. I sincerely doubt Robert will come out. Even if he does, he likely won't stop to sign but I could be wrong. Either way, this will be my last show in NYC for a while. Hope it's good!

The idea is to work and to experiment. Some things will be creatively successful, some things will succeed at the box office, and some things will only - which is the biggest only - teach you things that see the future. And they're probably as valuable as any of your successes. -Harold Prince

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/5/24 at 10:33pm

Did anyone here go tonight to first preview?

Also, does anyone know the running time?

“I am furious, but I am sailing.”

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/5/24 at 10:59pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Did anyone here go tonight to first preview?

Also, does anyone knowthe runningtime?"

In the other thread someone reported the running time as being 90 minutes, no intermission

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/5/24 at 11:00pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Did anyone here go tonight to first preview?

Also, does anyone knowthe runningtime?"

Also, content warning please

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/5/24 at 11:10pm

Dylan Smith4 said: "I'll be there on Saturday! Looking forward to it. I don't know how the stage door is gonna be. I sincerely doubt Robert will come out. Even if he does, he likely won't stop to sign but I could be wrong. Either way, this will be my last show in NYC for a while. Hope it's good!"

Here’s a hint by way of Twitter

https://x.com/itsrainingben/status/1831876885967671476?s=61&t=mVlu1-Vlv8FQ0xTiz8SQeg

(Update: No Andrea or RDJ)

Check out my eBay page for sales on Playbills!! www.ebay.com/usr/missvirginiahamm

Updated On: 9/5/24 at 11:10 PM

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/6/24 at 12:07am

not one person here saw a first preview?

is that a first in and of itself?

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/6/24 at 1:54am

RUkiddingme said: "not one person here saw a first preview?

is that a first in and of itself?"

I am seeing it September 22

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/6/24 at 2:57am

RUkiddingme said: "not one person here saw a first preview?

is that a first in and of itself?"

LOL. No posted comments mere hours after the first preview ended doesn't mean no one here saw it.

#10

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/6/24 at 7:12am

Show Score reviews

#11

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/6/24 at 8:35am

JasonC3 said: "RUkiddingme said: "not one person here saw a first preview?

is that a first in and of itself?"

LOL. No posted comments mere hours after the first preview ended doesn't mean no one here saw it.

"

I mean, it is surprising.

#12

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/6/24 at 9:21am

What's surprising is the stage door and anyone in the world thinking he would ever risk his safety by ever appearing. Wild.

#13

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/7/24 at 1:42am

So no one saw this!
Unheard of on this board!

Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist. Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino. This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more. Tazber's: Reply to Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian

#14

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/7/24 at 3:56am

It's possible they haven't got around to posting yet. There are a few posts on reddit - I've just skimmed very lightly because I'm trying to avoid spoilers but reaction seems positive.

Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.

#15

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/7/24 at 3:25pm

I saw last night's show. Watching the opening scene, I started thinking that the author of the play was almost certainly inspired by the opening scene of Norman Mailer's Prisoner of Sex. So, it wasn't a surprise when the fictional author in the play (Robert Downey Jr.) later said that he was inspired by Norman Mailer. And that's kind of emblematic of the whole show, I think -- it's very "meta" and focuses on the way artists steal from other art and from life to create something that's maybe a little different or maybe a lot but, in any case, probably wouldn't exist if not for the theft.

As another example, people sometimes ask each other if they are quoting somebody else (and, whatever the truth, sometimes they say they are and sometimes they say they're not). In that regard, I thought, for instance, that I heard in the dialogue at least one unacknowledged line from Bruce Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia.

Given this emphasis on artifice, and a lot of Brechtian distancing (often in the form of instructions to an AI program printed on large screens), I found it hard to get involved on an emotional level. Still, the show was often entertaining and far more substantial than most of Downey's movies (that I've seen).

The performances are generally good at this early stage and will no doubt get better (which might end up eliciting more of an emotional response from audience members like me, but I wouldn't count on it).

#16

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 12:08am

It's an interesting play. Not what I expected.

Singleticket's MCNEAL review

#17

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 12:32am

Are there any loud noises or gunshots in this production?

#18

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 1:15am

I didn’t like the play tonight but the actors are fine, even RDJ. One awkward moment when he seemed to forget his lines, started to walk off stage (leaving AM), but then quickly turned around and came back muttering, “And we’re back.” Made me wonder if he was wearing an earpiece. The show largely concerns plagiarism and AI but these are almost separate issues. Zero emotional investment in the characters. Guns on stage but no gun shots.

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

The other triggers would be the weird incest content and suicide discussion/depiction with an obvious double (lol, I was like, “Does RDJ not do his own stunts?”).

#19

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 10:54am

I have absolutely no doubt that he is wearing an ear piece. He uses them for his films as well.

#20

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 11:04am

Obviously execution matters most, but I'm looking forward to seeing more responses, because if nothing else I'd like to see how this board reacts to a weird, original play being headlined by a major star, given how many here lament that that sort of thing doesn't happen anymore.

#21

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 12:32pm

willep said: "I have absolutely no doubt that he is wearing an ear piece. He uses them for his films as well."

Lazy. This seems like a cash money grab to make up for the bombs LCT has had since it reopened in 2021.

#22

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 1:07pm

You'll be surprised how many actors use earpieces. Not surprised, especially in a wordy show like this.

Anyway I was there for first preview. I thought the show was fine. It felt like a first draft. RDJ was great with a thick script. Wish I could've seen more of Ruthie. Hated Bart's direction.

I'm just here so I don't get fined

#23

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 1:53pm

Sutton Ross said: "willep said: "I have absolutely no doubt that he is wearing an ear piece. He uses them for his films as well."

Lazy. This seems like a cash money grab to make up for the bombs LCT has had since it reopened in 2021."

Downey is onstage for the entire performance performing what is basically a ninety-plus minute monologue. He's working his ass off and doing a more than decent job in my opinon.

Updated On: 9/9/24 at 01:53 PM

#24

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 2:04pm

In any event, LCT has closed off new memberships for the first time since 2022, and no doubt sales for RDJ had something to do with that.

Updated On: 9/9/24 at 02:04 PM

#25

MCNEAL Previews

Posted: 9/8/24 at 8:50pm

If he gives good performances and isn’t hurting anyone with his process, what can you possibly care? So he uses an ear piece, what does it matter?

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