26-year-old Patrick Bateman is sophisticated, rich and devastatingly handsome. He's got a sculpted body, a model-gorgeous girlfriend, a to-die-for apartment, and a Wall Street job in 1980s New York City. In short, his life's killer. There's just one snag in this dark vision of the American Dream... Patrick can't get the blood out of his $5000 suits.
Based on the best-selling novel by Bret Easton Ellis, and set in the epicenter of excess: 1980s Manhattan, this hit musical tells the story of Patrick Bateman, a young and handsome Wall Street banker with impeccable taste and unquenchable desires. Patrick and his elite group of friends spend their days in chic restaurants, exclusive clubs and designer labels. But at night, Patrick takes part in a darker indulgence, and his mask of sanity is starting to slip...
'American Psycho' creates another sub-genre - ersatz horror - an odd variation that fails to tingle your spine with its copious bloodletting or titillate you via the writhing bodies in its mechanical sex scenes (complete with pornographic video illustrations). Director Rupert Goold's shiny production, churning vapidly to the beat of composer Duncan Sheik's surprisingly clunky, characterless songs, charts the homicidal rampage of Patrick (Benjamin Walker) through the cash-engorged precincts of the Manhattan of the decadent '80s; Es Devlin's eye-catchingly sleek sets are the production's best asset. And then, in an odd departure from the novel, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's script pulls the blood-soaked rug out from under us, with the suggestion of a Patrick reborn, as a better man.
Well, does it kill? The answer is definitely yes, no and sometimes. In other words, success depends on what's happening in 'American Psycho,' the alternately dazzling and dull musical...in the middle is Benjamin Walker ('Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson'), so weird and nuanced as Patrick that misgivings about the vehicle feel almost churlish...I wouldn't want to lose a swatch of Es Devlin's ever-morphing box set with the amazing nonstop videos by Finn Ross...Katrina Lindsay's costumes are ideally flattering and ridiculous. The least subtle element is Lynne Page's choreography...
2016 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Benjamin Walker |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Lynne Page |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical | Katrina Lindsay |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Rupert Goold |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical | Justin Townsend |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Projection Design | Finn Ross |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Set Design for a Musical | Es Devlin |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical | Dan Moses Schreier |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Benjamin Walker |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | American Psycho |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Benjamin Walker |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) | Katrina Lindsay |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Rupert Goold |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Helene Yorke |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design (Play or Musical) | Justin Townsend |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | American Psycho |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Score (Broadway or off-Broadway) | Duncan Sheik |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Projection Design (Play or Musical) | Finn Ross |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Justin Townsend |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Es Devlin |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Finn Ross |
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