Broadway Theater Review: The Iceman Cometh

David Morse, Denzel Washington, and Colm Meaney. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

The Iceman Cometh
By Eugene O'Neill
Directed by George C. Wolfe
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre 

Through July 1

By Lauren Yarger
What's It All About?

The Eugene O'Neill 1939 marathon we all used to read in high school. You can brush up, or get your first taste, bu reading the Sparks Notes. This Broadway revival stars Denzel Washington.

What Are the highlights?

Anytime Denzel washington is on stage, it's a highlight. He gives a good turn as salesman Theodore Hickman "Hickey." who makes periodic visits to a Greenwich Village dive bar (Set Designer Santo Loquasto gives us the moody atmosphere) run by, metaphorically named Harry Hope (Colm Meaney). 

What Are the Lowlights?

Four hours of 12 drunk men thinking they are important. the women in the cast, of course, are prostitutes (and perhaps lesbians as portrayed by Director Goerge C. Wolfe?)  Two intermissions and a brief pause between the "action" didn't help convince me that this much of my time was well spent on a revival of a play that should have been retired a long time ago. Is there anyone making decisions about what gets on a Broadway stage who actually cares about parity or is that all talk? Let's produce some shows that are a little bit interesting to women, who make up more than 65 percent of the ticket buyers. A cute Hollywood star who will mean good box office isn't enough.

More information:

The Iceman Cometh provides a testosterone fix at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 west 45th st., NYC through July 1. Performances are at 7 pm Tuesday-Friday; 1:30 and 7:30 on Saturday and 1:30 pm on Sunday. Tickets are $79- $209: icemanonbroadway.com.

The company also features David Morse, Bill Irwin, Tammy Blanchard, Carolyn Braver, Austin Butler, Joe Forbrich, Nina Grollman, Thomas Michael Hammond, Neal Huff, Danny Mastrogiorgio, Dakin Matthews, Danny McCarthy, Jack McGee, Clark Middleton, Michael Potts, Reg Rogers and Frank Wood.

Note: If you leave your seat, you will not be permitted back in the theater until a break.The line for the restroom is ridiculously long and there isn't enough time for everyone to get through before the short intermissions are over. The day I attended, the theater was FREEZING -- bring a sweater.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY FACTORS:

-- PG 13 content

-- Language

-- Racial slur

-- Abuse of women

-- God's name taken in vain