I Need That Broadway Reviews

Though his only previous Broadway appearance was in the 2017 revival of Arthur Miller’s “The Price,” Danny DeVito commands interest without having to do much, and rewards it with funny readings of even unfunny lines. Yet despite his likability, the only parts of “I Need That” that feel authentic are those, near the end, in which the nonissue of Sam’s hoarding is momentarily swept offstage to make space for a few minutes of real father-daughter drama. To this, the DeVitos bring a vibrant understanding — part pride, part dismay, all mess — of what it means to be related. Sometimes what’s neat just isn’t as compelling as what’s not.

Given the play’s underdeveloped feel, it’s no wonder the cast seems to flounder. Granted, the reviewed performance was early in the string of shows available to critics, and the actors’ tenuous grasp of the script – jumping lines, circling back, apparent improvisational word-grabs – might well have already tightened up (along with a tech issue that had the revolving set stubbornly refusing to move; other tech credits were fine despite some weird, Twilight Zone-ish sounds meant to signify that TV set’s age). More rehearsal time might have helped, along with a tougher hand by director von Stuelpnagel and some serious fine-tuning of Rebeck’s word-salad dialogue.

The most interesting moments of this good-natured but threadbare comedy, which Rebeck wrote during the pandemic lockdown, touch on the relationship between physical objects and memory. To Sam, each knickknack is a time machine to a meaningful moment; his inability to let go of the past is a major factor in whether or not, in the end, he can bring himself to take out the garbage. DeVito is a star for a reason: His vulnerable, hilarious performance is a certifiable gem. If only this treasure weren’t so often lost in the piles that surround it.

When appalled neighbors call the cops about Sam’s hoarding problem in “I Need That,” his friend Foster says defensively, “It’s not like… that show.” He’s referring to A&E’s “Hoarders,” the long-running reality TV series that illuminated many Americans, often viscerally, about the disorder of unsafely cramming your home full of junk and the excruciating pain of parting with it. Theresa Rebeck’s new play, which opened Thursday night on Broadway in a production starring Danny DeVito, is not like “that show” either. Not at all. It’s nowhere near as compelling, focused or human. Yes it’s a drama about someone’s mess, but it needn’t be so messy.

Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel—who helmed Rebeck’s 2018 backstage drama Bernhardt/Hamlet, also at the Roundabout—I Need That runs only 100 intermission-free minutes, but somehow feels padded. Perhaps in an effort to avoid turning the play into The Danny DeVito Show, Rebeck gives Foster and Amelia a few crises and obstacles, most of which feel contrived. Foster going to Cleveland to live right near his son and grandkids, however, does make sense, and it gives rise to Sam’s brilliant one-liner: “Ohio is the source of all disappointment and grief in America.” (If that had been on a T-shirt in the lobby, I would have bought three of them.) There’s so much substance on stage, literally—Alexander Dodge’s set is a brilliant testament to the pure emotional power of material goods; less so in the script. Sorry!

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.

Theresa Rebeck’s play about a hoarder is the slightest of comedies. Its plot is paltry. Its insights are pat. It promises more laughs than it delivers. It even promises more junk than it delivers: Before the curtain rises, there’s a tantalizing pile-up of old papers and boxes resting on the lip of the stage. But “I Need That” does deliver Danny DeVito, and for some, that will be enough.

Sam (Danny DeVito), the collector extraordinaire in question, wakes up one day to a reminder from his daughter Amelia (Lucy DeVito) that, unless he complies with a months-old government notice to clear up the overstuffed property, he will be evicted. Foster (Ray Anthony Thomas), his friendly neighbor, agrees he should start throwing out the obvious trash. So do we. And that’s about it in terms of movement in the work, which is less a play than a 100-minute cycle of scenes in which Amelia or Foster point to an item they deem worthless before Sam redeems it with a lightly emotional memory. There could be a darkly funny surrealism found in this repetition, or a chance to dive deep into the different histories each of Sam’s possessions—and, by extension, the American Dream, or something—holds, but Rebeck almost sadistically avoids mining the setup for anything more than weak comedy followed by cheap passes at sentimentality.

To match the living circumstances of its lead character, the play feels a deflating mess, with puzzling performances and staging as if no one involved quite knows what it is—comedy, whimsy, or low-key tragedy? Of course, a play can be all those things, but I Need That jerks uneasily around many registers, never finding its heart, or dramatic or thematic purpose. The play is as muddled as Sam’s home, with characters not really speaking to each other. It grouches along, just as Sam and Foster mull the world around them, but—thanks to so many similar stories and characters on TV and film—we know where this is headed

DeVito gets more mileage out of Sam than you’d expect from the page, performing with a loose, raffish panache. When Foster tells Sam he’s planning to move to Ohio to be with his son’s family, Sam reacts with visceral incredulity. “Cleveland?!” he repeats, elongating the first syllable with a gargling glottal stop slathered in phlegm and contempt. Funny pronunciation. Silly faces. Kooky obsessives behaving irrationally. It’s been the stuff of sitcoms for decades and popular for a reason. Still, when you put TV-level product on the Broadway stage, don’t be surprised if the audience talks back.

There is an attempt, near the end of the show, to add meaning and depth to the story’s otherwise surface-level emotions. Eventually we’re told that the things we’re attached to from the past keep us from living in the present, but the notion isn’t woven into the text or explored throughout the play. It arrives way too late, with the impact of a Hallmark card. Still, “I Need That” will prove satisfying for those looking to be entertained by DeVito and his daughter. He brings real joy and laughter, and there’s real value in that.

I Need That is clearly a vehicle for DeVito’s return to Broadway, coming six years after his debut in Arthur Miller’s The Price. DeVito is funny and makes the most of Rebeck’s slapstick material. Within the ensemble and alone, he brings charm and occasional devastation to Sam’s afflictions. A scene where he plays a solo game of Sorry! is arresting and hilarious, an exhibition of his considerable talents.

Absent high drama, the director, Moritz von Stuelpnagel (“Hand to God”), massages the play’s turning points effectively. An affecting and surprisingly funny passage finds Sam engaging in a solo game of Sorry!, with Mr. DeVito mustering his considerable arsenal of comic effects to depict a fiercely fought combat. A story about the provenance of an old guitar, formerly the property of a black Vietnam War veteran traumatized by his experience whom Sam once worked with, strikes another moving note.

In Theresa Rebeck’s I Need That — which makes its 100-minute run time feel as stretched out as the waistband of an old pair of sweatpants — Danny DeVito is Character B, or Sam. His daughter, Lucy DeVito, is also his daughter onstage, a.k.a. Character A, or Amelia. Sam, a big fan of old sweatpants, isn’t quite a hoarder, but he’s close. He doesn’t go outside, his house is bursting with heaps and heaps of “junk” (according to Amelia) or “treasure” (according to him), and it’s bad enough that the neighbors have called the authorities. “The fire department is coming,” says Amelia anxiously, as she says everything, “and they’re going to condemn the place and tell the health department to throw you out if you don’t do something.” A says, “Clean up!” B says, “No!” In the words of Mortal Kombat: “Fight.”

The cast, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, hugs the tonal contours skillfully. From the get-go, it’s a safe bet that Sam and his home will transform. Thanks to a late-in-the-game twist, he also gets a shot to step up as a dad. In the end, I Need That is pleasant but leaves you wanting. “Things don’t give your life meaning. People do,” Amelia declares, as if it’s a newsflash. Sorry — it doesn't take a play to know that.