Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Danny DeVito leads I NEED THAT, the prolific Theresa Rebeck’s perfectly pleasant Main Stem comedy for Roundabout

• By drediman
• November 9, 2023
• No Comments

Theresa Rebeck continues to be one of the most prolific working playwrights in theater business. This fall alone, she’s unveiled two new plays – the fantastic Dig for Primary Stages (which just concluded its Off-Broadway run at 59E59 Theaters; you can read my review of the production here), and now Roundabout Theatre Company’s world premiere production of I Need That at Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre. Led by beloved film star Danny DeVito, Rebeck’s comedy tells the story of Sam, a widowed hoarder, and the impact his fascinating condition has on his loved ones, particularly his daughter Amelia and best friend Foster.

If the play seems a tad lightweight when compared to Rebeck’s finer recent plays like the aforementioned Dig and her previous Roundabout outing Bernhardt/Hamlet (starring the great Janet McTeer), so be it. I Need That is perfectly pleasant fare, a feel good comedy drama that Broadway audiences will likely find heart-warming and often very funny. And even if the playwright’s insights into hoarding fail to shed new light on it, the characters are lovingly drawn, and I found myself rooting for them as they sorted through the mess (pun intended, of course) in their respective lives. Ever the savvy dramatist, Rebeck has a few revelations up her sleeves later on in the play with regards to both Amelia and Foster (no spoilers here). However, these seem oddly tacked on to add more meat to the three-character play than anything else.

That’s because the show’s raison d’être is undoubtedly Sam, or rather, Danny DeVito’s performance as Sam. Fortunately, DeVito – whose previous outing on the Great White Way was at the same theater in Roundabout’s 2017 revival of Arthur Miller’s The Price – is a natural onstage, and he gives a generous, brashly lovable performance that audiences are eating up. Indeed, I think we all would have been content simply watching him in a solo show rummaging through Alexander Dodge’s convincingly cluttered set. As Amelia and Foster, Lucy DeVito (yes, Danny’s daughter) and Ray Anthony Thomas give solid, endearing performances. As with Bernhardt/Hamlet, Moritz von Stuelpnagel directs I Need That with a sure hand.

RECOMMENDED

I NEED THAT
Broadway, Play
Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through December 30