Written by Eugene O’Neill
Directed by Robert Falls
“Contains as many great performances as I’ve seen in a single show for years”
– THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Iceman Cometh
Apr 21 – Jun 17, 2012 in Goodman's Albert Theatre
4 hours and 45 minutes, including 3 intermissions
Eugene O’Neill’s towering masterpiece becomes a once-in-a-lifetime theatrical event, featuring Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy.
Welcome to Harry Hope’s saloon, home to a ragtag band of drunks and dreamers who today celebrate the arrival of Hickey, the charismatic traveling salesman whose raucous presence always ensures a grand good time. But when a newly sober Hickey blows in with a renewed outlook on life, his zealous attempts to fix the lives of his old friends lead to a series of events that are at once devastatingly comic and heartbreaking—and culminate with a revelation that threatens to shatter the tenuous illusions that fuel their lives. O’Neill’s monumental drama is an unparalleled theatrical journey, “as corrosive as rotgut whiskey, as morbidly funny as a funeral gone amok, as hallucinatory as an alcohol-fueled excursion into purgatory” (Chicago Sun-Times).
Critical Praise
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★★★1/2 (out of 4)
– Chicago Tribune
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“A series of sudden, breathtaking punches to the gut, with moments of piercing emotion”
– The New York Times
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“Space forbids me from giving full due to all of the worthy performances”
– The New York Times
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“No matter how far you have to go to get there, the place to be right now is Chicago”
– The Wall Street Journal
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“Extraordinary…a masterpiece”
– The Wall Street Journal
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“Mr. Lane gives a performance that will stay with you for as long as you live”
– The Wall Street Journal
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A “volcanic production”
– Variety
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Lane “brings out qualities in Hickey that perhaps no other actor could highlight as effectively”
– Variety
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“An intense ensemble of actors whose demons rage before you”
– Chicago Tribune
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“Epic”
– Chicago Tribune
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“Nathan Lane excels in Goodman’s gorgeously dark The Iceman Cometh“
– Chicago Sun-Times
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“Gorgeously realized, crystal clear [and] meticulously cast”
– Chicago Sun-Times
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“Dennehy undertakes an evening-long struggle with himself that’s riveting to watch”
– Time Out Chicago
Artists
