Sure, there are actors so good you would pay to see them read the phone book. But how many are there that you would pay to watch them play a board game? Off hand, I can think of only one: Danny DeVito, who turns a solo game of Sorry into the comic highlight of Theresa Rebeck’s new play I Need That, now receiving its world premiere on Broadway courtesy of the Roundabout Theater Company.
If you don’t know what the play is about beforehand, you’ll figure it out as the soon as the curtain goes up on Alexander Dodge’s awe-inspiring set that must have required him to empty out every thrift shop and Housing Works in town. It depicts the living room of a suburban home…well, at least we think it’s a living room, since every square inch is covered in tchotchkes, bric-a-brac, paraphernalia, and what can only charitably be described as junk. This is indeed the tale of a hoarder, Sam (DeVito), and the desperate efforts of his daughter Amelia (Lucy DeVito, the actor’s real-life offspring) to get him to change his ways, especially since his neighbor’s protests might result in his losing his home.
Sam finds endless ways to justify his condition, claiming that he’s simply “organizing” and that nearly everything in sight, including a sixty-seven years old bottle cap, is valuable. His best friend Foster (Ray Anthony Thomas), who stops by periodically with day-old croissants, largely indulges Sam’s compulsion, and for good reason; he periodically steals various items to sell in pawn shops or on eBay when Sam isn’t looking.
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★★☆☆ review here.]
Amelia also drops by often, urging her father to clear out his possession and bringing packing supplies with her in the unlikely event he finally agrees. We eventually learn that Sam has been living alone since the death of his wife, who suffered from dementia, and that holding on to everything is his way of keeping her memory alive.
Unfortunately, that’s about the only psychological insight to be gleaned from the play, which otherwise leans heavily on sitcom-style one-liners — “It’s like Sophie’s Choice,” Sam cries about having to decide what to keep and what to throw out — and physical shtick revolving around Sam’s hoarding disorder. The latter include Sam waving a TV antenna around like a crazed conductor to receive a signal on his vintage television and falling off a ladder while trying to reach for something high. Noel Coward, it’s not.
Fortunately, DeVito is such a skilled performer that he makes the play watchable from beginning to end despite its frequent slow spots. The actor, last seen on Broadway in his Tony-nominated turn in the revival of Arthur Miller’s The Price at the same theater, brings the expert chops honed to perfection on such television shows as Taxi and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to his performance, making every line reading and sputtering reaction hilarious. And as previously mentioned, he turns a lengthy scene in which he angrily plays Sorry by himself into a comedic tour de force.
Thomas gives excellent support as the best friend whose impending move to Cleveland (the way DeVito exclaims “Ohio?” with such derision is worth the price of admission alone) provides some not very compelling drama. And Lucy DeVito proves endearing as the daughter with a secret of her own. While her tendency to shriek her lines proves irritating, the obvious warm chemistry she displays onstage with her dad provides some amelioration.
And then, of course, there’s that virtuoso set design, which delivers a fun reveal late in the play. If the show’s producers don’t know what to do with it when the run concludes, they could hold one hell of a garage sale.
I Need That opened November 2, 2023, at the American Airlines Theatre and runs through December 23, 2023. Tickets and information: roundabouttheatre.org
