The Imaginary Invalid Broadway Reviews

I hesitate to lessen the enchantment by telling you that it’s relevant, too. I do think you could very easily enjoy “The Imaginary Invalid” as a hilarious, champagne-light bagatelle and never think about what it suggests about the predatory wel...

I hesitate to lessen the enchantment by telling you that it’s relevant, too. I do think you could very easily enjoy “The Imaginary Invalid” as a hilarious, champagne-light bagatelle and never think about what it suggests about the predatory wellness industry, or about what it means to be ruled by a self-obsessed paterfamilias, who must be duped into thinking of anyone in the younger generation. But Irwin will not entirely let us leave without thinking.

While the antics can get shrill and devolve into shrieking (Ava Lalezarzadeh gets especially screechy as daughter Angelique), Brandon J. Dirden’s crisp direction keeps this revival from becoming mere period satire. Irwin’s adaptation includes sly...

While the antics can get shrill and devolve into shrieking (Ava Lalezarzadeh gets especially screechy as daughter Angelique), Brandon J. Dirden’s crisp direction keeps this revival from becoming mere period satire. Irwin’s adaptation includes sly references to primary care physicians and other anachronisms for comic effect.

The ensemble ambles around in search of its contemporary parallels, forgetting to animate the moment the characters are already in. Despite its relevance and potential for loony chaos, this Invalid, much like its protagonist, might need a second opin...

The ensemble ambles around in search of its contemporary parallels, forgetting to animate the moment the characters are already in. Despite its relevance and potential for loony chaos, this Invalid, much like its protagonist, might need a second opinion.

If this production fails to amuse, except in spurts, it isn’t the fault of Molière in general or even this play in particular: Off Broadway’s Red Bull Theater mounted an excellent account of it just last year, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and star...

If this production fails to amuse, except in spurts, it isn’t the fault of Molière in general or even this play in particular: Off Broadway’s Red Bull Theater mounted an excellent account of it just last year, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and starring Mark-Linn Baker. The problem is that Irwin and director Brandon J. Dirden try to extend the play’s metatheatrical resonance into an organizing principle, and a message that, paradoxically, takes its own comedy very seriously indeed.

But the best actor in the play is the person who does the least. That’s Rachel Bloom as Toinette, Argan’s overworked and mistreated maid. Simple and with crystalline diction, the “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” star is witty and cutting as she buzze...

But the best actor in the play is the person who does the least. That’s Rachel Bloom as Toinette, Argan’s overworked and mistreated maid. Simple and with crystalline diction, the “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” star is witty and cutting as she buzzes around annoyed by all the nonsense going on in this house of loons. Can’t blame her.

And, after the thickets of complications have been cleared away to allow for the happy ending comedy requires, Mr. Irwin rises to offer us a final lagniappe to finish the feast, a delicate soft-shoe that brings down the curtain on an endearingly unex...

And, after the thickets of complications have been cleared away to allow for the happy ending comedy requires, Mr. Irwin rises to offer us a final lagniappe to finish the feast, a delicate soft-shoe that brings down the curtain on an endearingly unexpected note.

The most surprising thing about this production: Irwin isn’t playing the clown. (He does, however, manage to work in a nod to commedia dell’arte and a brief soft shoe.) His Argan is the butt of all the jokes, but he’s not part of the controlled...

The most surprising thing about this production: Irwin isn’t playing the clown. (He does, however, manage to work in a nod to commedia dell’arte and a brief soft shoe.) His Argan is the butt of all the jokes, but he’s not part of the controlled chaos swirling around him. Speaking of chaos—and I mean that in the best sense—someone let costume designer Karen Perry run wild and the results are amazing: a crazy-quilt collection of corsets, flouncy overskirts, beribboned breeches, brocade waistcoats, and all kinds of multicolored baroque fabulousness. Smartly, Beowulf Boritt kept the set simple and let the clothing shine.

Oh, yes, the offstage flushes and noises related to the enemas and flatulence of this imaginary invalid’s regime are neatly provided by sound designer John Gromada, whose lightly Baroque music is far more elegant. A deluxe affair, Roundabout’s re...

Oh, yes, the offstage flushes and noises related to the enemas and flatulence of this imaginary invalid’s regime are neatly provided by sound designer John Gromada, whose lightly Baroque music is far more elegant. A deluxe affair, Roundabout’s rendition of Moliere’s comedy is just what the doctor ordered to brighten autumn in New York.

And, yes, Moliere’s reference to himself is in the original script. Astonishingly, Moliere was acting in the title role of this, his last play, when he collapsed on stage, and died a few hours later. But Moliere gets the last laugh, because the ...

And, yes, Moliere’s reference to himself is in the original script. Astonishingly, Moliere was acting in the title role of this, his last play, when he collapsed on stage, and died a few hours later. But Moliere gets the last laugh, because the persistent appeal of Moliere’s plays can allow Bill Irwin to append in his name, a memorable verse of medical advice:

Styles that might butt heads in most contexts fall loonily into place in Irwin’s puckish universe, a place wherein characters can seem possessed by the slapstick-happy ghosts of dead vaudevillians one moment and recite the pointed social commentary...

Styles that might butt heads in most contexts fall loonily into place in Irwin’s puckish universe, a place wherein characters can seem possessed by the slapstick-happy ghosts of dead vaudevillians one moment and recite the pointed social commentary of truth-telling jesters the next. Does it always work? More than you’d have a right to expect.

In other words, this revival of “The Imaginary Invalid,” which opened Thursday at the Roundabout’s Todd Haimes Theatre, has a bad case of anemia despite Brandon J. Dirden directing the Moliere classic as if it were a screwball comedy. The extra...

In other words, this revival of “The Imaginary Invalid,” which opened Thursday at the Roundabout’s Todd Haimes Theatre, has a bad case of anemia despite Brandon J. Dirden directing the Moliere classic as if it were a screwball comedy. The extravagant costumes, by Karen Perry, would be considered excessive for even the silliest of Rossini’s comic operas.

How you feel about this show will, in the end, be a question of how you feel about Irwin, surely the conductor of this particular comedic symphony as much as the director. Some who consider medical matters as not being their first choice for a big Br...

How you feel about this show will, in the end, be a question of how you feel about Irwin, surely the conductor of this particular comedic symphony as much as the director. Some who consider medical matters as not being their first choice for a big Broadway night out might feel like they left 42nd Street and got trapped in the seventh circle of hell, Molière edition. So be warned. And warn any guest.

At the center of this whirligig sits Irwin, often literally. Argan hardly ever leaves the stage, and while he’s there he mostly keeps up his sick shtick and sticks to his big comfy chair. There are a couple of moments in the show in which adaptor-I...

At the center of this whirligig sits Irwin, often literally. Argan hardly ever leaves the stage, and while he’s there he mostly keeps up his sick shtick and sticks to his big comfy chair. There are a couple of moments in the show in which adaptor-Irwin has clearly elaborated on opportunities to move his rangy, lazzo-hungry body, and no wonder: At the heart of the role is the irony, for a clown as vital and bendable as he is, of Argan’s performed frailty.

Irwin essentially plays “straight man” to everyone around him, also not the best use of his talents, although he scores now and then with a brief verbal interchange or physical bit of business. And yes, he comes “alive” in the final minutes o...

Irwin essentially plays “straight man” to everyone around him, also not the best use of his talents, although he scores now and then with a brief verbal interchange or physical bit of business. And yes, he comes “alive” in the final minutes of the show, when he shows us just how agile he remains (in every sense of his word) even at age 76. Finally, he stands and we stand -- but, at least in this iteration, the play doesn’t stand up so well.

High jinks and low humor abound here, and the cast seems committed to selling material that’s sometimes thinner than Perry’s gorgeously detailed costumes. Overall, it works. You may find yourself smiling in acknowledgement of the cast’s work mo...

High jinks and low humor abound here, and the cast seems committed to selling material that’s sometimes thinner than Perry’s gorgeously detailed costumes. Overall, it works. You may find yourself smiling in acknowledgement of the cast’s work more than laughing outright. That’s partly because Irwin seems more comfortable in the rare moments of clowning, including a bit of hat work performed at the show’s end, than in delivering a lead performance that relies mostly on his verbal skills. But he’s surrounded by a cast of zanies who elevate material that’s ultimately time-tested if not timeless. In the end, The Imaginary Invalid makes a mountain of laughs out of a centuries-old Molière hill.

It’s easy to understand why Roundabout chose to produce The Imaginary Invalid at this moment in America’s history. Our private-insurance system is too expensive. MAHA madness has taken hold of large swaths of our country. Backward-looking quacks ...

It’s easy to understand why Roundabout chose to produce The Imaginary Invalid at this moment in America’s history. Our private-insurance system is too expensive. MAHA madness has taken hold of large swaths of our country. Backward-looking quacks like Molière’s Thomas are now in seats of power and are influencing public health policies. So yes, this Invalid’s heart is in the right place, but its funny bone is out of joint.