Ayad Akhtar's McNeal opened at Broadway's Vivian Beaumont Theater via Lincoln Center Theater September 30, and the reviews are in. See what critics are saying below.
Film star Robert Downey Jr. leads the cast in his Broadway debut, with Tony winner Bartlett Sher at the helm. The run is currently scheduled to continue through November 24.
The cast also includes Ruthie Ann Miles as Sahra Grewal, Andrea Martin as Stephie Banic, Saisha Talwar as Dipti, Rafi Gavron as Harlan McNeal, Brittany Bellizeare as Natasha Brathwaite, and Melora Hardin as Francine Blake. Understudies Peter Bradbury, Nancy Lemenager, Janiah-Camile François, and Benjamin Wheelwright round out the company.
Downey stars as Jacob McNeal, a celebrated author fixated on artificial intelligence—and the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Read the reviews below.
The Chicago Tribune (Chris Jones)*
CitiTourNYC (Brian Scott Lipton)
Digital Journal (Markos Papadatos)
Entertainment Weekly (Emlyn Travis)
The Front Row Center (Stanford Friedman)
Los Angeles Times (Charles McNulty)
New York Magazine/Vulture (Jackson McHenry)*
The New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski)
New York Stage Review (Roma Torre, Frank Scheck)
New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)
New York Theatre Guide (Joe Dziemianowicz)
The New York Times (Jesse Green)*
The Wall Street Journal (Charles Isherwood)*
The Washington Post (Naveen Kumar)*
*This review may require creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
READ: McNeal—and Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Metahuman Digital Likeness'—Want to Talk About A.I.
Speaking of A.I., the cast also includes a "highly realistic metahuman digital likeness" of Downey (as per press notes), developed by film production company AGBO.
Sher leads a creative team that includes scenic designers Michael Yeargan and Jake Barton, costume designer Jennifer Moeller, lighting designer Donald Holder, sound designers Justin Ellington and Beth Lake, and projection designer Jake Barton. Jennifer Rae Moore is stage manager.
Lincoln Center Theater is producing McNeal in association with Team Downey.
Tickets are available at LCT.org.
Robert Downey Jr. and Rafi Gavron in McNeal
Company of McNeal
Robert Downey Jr. And Brittany Bellizeare in McNeal
Ruthie Ann Miles and Robert Downey Jr. in McNeal
Robert Downey Jr. in McNeal
Melora Hardin and Robert Downey Jr. in McNeal
Andrea Martin in McNeal
