I Need that. Theater Review.

"I Need That" at American Airlines Theatre involves the life of Sam (Danny DeVito), his best friend, Foster (Ray Anthony Thomas) and his daughter, Amelia (Lucy DeVito). Sam is a hoarder and a hermit; he hasn't cut his lawn for eight months and the inside of his house looks as bad as the outside. Theresa Rebeck who wrote this play brings into question about how a man chooses to live his life. Sam has no TV, no phone and he seems happy living his life; nothing seems to outwardly bother him. He misses his dead wife Ginny, she too hated to throw anything away.

In Rebeck's writing and Moritz von Stuelpnagel's direction we see really good banter between Sam and Foster. They talk about life and growing old. Some of what Rebeck wrote in the plot hits well; some, not so much. The army scene where Sam talks about being in the army and his friend who gave him a valuable guitar is the evenings weakest, and is pointless. The scene where DeVito is playing the board game, Sorry, is the evenings funniest. For one hour forty five minutes without intermission, both the direction and writing vary greatly, it leaves the audience somewhat up in the air in its likeability.

Alexander Dodge's set design is excellent. Dodge has a turntable stage so that we can see towards the end of the play what the outside looks like. Most of the play is in Sam's family room. The overload of collections over the years eventually gets dwindled down to nothing. Rebeck has Sam getting rid of things he collected over decades and there is no particular reason as to why he has had this epiphany. There is also not a clear understanding as to why Sam does the things he does. He doesn't seem to be over emotional about Foster leaving to go to Cleveland, nor does he seem to be close to his only child either. Rebeck never gives us any insight as to what makes this man tick. It is only towards the end of the play that we discover that Sam has seven brothers and sisters, all of whom were nasty to him. Was it this that made San rather unemotional? Rebeck never takes us there, we don't get a clear understanding.

When the three actors are onstage it is Lucy DeVito that is the weaker of the actors. She never really puts forth a good performance. She is mundane and unemotional throughout. At the end of the play where her emotions should be wild and heartfelt, we get a dud. Whether it is the direction, the writing or Lucy DeVito herself, we never feel anything one way or the other about her. The same can be said about the writing, it never takes us emotionally on Sam's journey. When Foster admits to stealing from Sam for years, Sam has no emotional reply other than he asks Foster if he wants something to eat. When Lucy begs him to clean up his house because the fire department wants to evict him, his response is mildly dismissive. Rather than taking the audience somewhere, Rebeck instead takes us in circles.ia

Coming up next is Harmony and then Spamelot. I am interested in The Wasp Woman at The Actors Temple. Its plot seems very appealing and I hope it works well at the theater. Acadia makes its revival on the Upper West Side later this month. Last time it played at Lincoln Center it had the benefit of a big stage.

The Lion King, Broadway, Harry Potter, Some Like it Hot, Aladdin, The Tony Awards.

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