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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe play (and Vera especially) is roundly lampooned and lambasted, but further coaxing Vera’s ego is the musical’s animating moment \u2013 the Neanderthal emerges from the ice, fit as a fiddle! Immediately adopting the young man as a son (and delighting in the additional attention it grants her), Vera seems impervious to any comment or critique of her outlandish ways…until a series of unfortunate events turns her world upside down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would be a disservice to the play’s wild, delightful unpredictability to try to encompass its many elements, which include: Vera’s secretary, who claims to suffer from “forever menopause”; Vera’s butler, a traumatized actor forever in-character as Frankenstein’s monster; the golden-voiced Iceboy (Broadway star Grey Henson) and his burgeoning understanding of 1930s America; and of course, Eugene O’Neil himself, played with all the dry wit and twinkling eyes we expect from Nick Offerman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Goodman has a terrific track record of musical premieres \u2013 I still think back fondly to seeing Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersole in ‘War Paint’ in 2016 \u2013 and ‘Iceboy’ carries on that stellar tradition: Mark Hollmann’s music and lyrics are engaging and subversive, but never cheap and underwhelming. The book by Jay Reiss (who also provided lyrics) and Erin Quinn Purcell develops the various characters with exceptional pacing in between the songs. JoAnn M. Hunter’s choreography is sly, engaging, and fully complementary to the show’s outstanding ensemble. And lastly, Marc Bruni’s direction holds everything together just so \u2013 we all feel things could fall apart at any minute, and that unpredictability is thrilling to behold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But 24 hours removed from seeing ‘Iceboy,’ I’m most impressed with the show’s heart and sincerity. ‘Gypsy’ is a musical about one of theater’s most toxic mothers, a woman of such denial and delusion that she alienates everyone who cares about her. And while Vera certainly has plenty of Rose in her, ‘Iceboy’ distinguishes itself with a final act in which the protagonist truly does learn all the right lessons, and the audience is gifted one of the more surprisingly heartwarming found-families I’ve encountered on an American stage. And of course, there is the terrific work of Mullally, who reminds us of how vastly superior her talents are to a 1990s sitcom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
*Extended through August 9<\/p>\n\n\n\n