Review Roundup: Manhattan Theatre Club Presents KING JAMES, Starring Glenn Davis And Chris Perfetti

Manhattan Theatre Club and directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Fences), opens tonight starring Glenn Davis (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Downstate) and Chris Perfetti ("Abbott Elementary"), read reviews for the production!

"King" LeBron James was just the hero that Cleveland needed. One of the greatest NBA players to ever hit the court, his influence on the whole city loomed large for the dozen years of his reign. Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph's (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) wonderfully funny and remarkably moving new play chronicles the unexpected friendship between two men whose intertwined fortunes are tied to those of their idol. This highly anticipated, adrenaline-paced New York premiere about the power of connection is directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Fences). Also in the company is Khloe Janel as the DJ.

The creative team for King James includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Samantha C. Jones (costume design), Lee Fiskness (lighting design), Michael Bodeen & Rob Milburn (sound design), Gigi Buffington (vocal coach), Richard Hodge (production stage manager), JC Clementz (Casting), Caparelliotis Casting & Kelly Gillespie (Additional Casting).

---

Juan A. Ramirez, The New York Times: When tension does bubble up, during the play's final encounter, it appears inevitable and is astutely observed without feeling writerly, showcasing Joseph's mastery over the way everyday conversation can belie or reveal social realities. His work here is a strong analysis of friendship dynamics built along, but not hinged upon, the issues that divide them.

Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast: All the play's themes of privilege, ambition, and vulnerability are sown in the first section. This is a quiet play about heterosexual men's friendship and intimacy, and how deep-or how shallow-those gruffly forged bonds are. You find yourselves reading between all the lines about LeBron James and basketball to decode what the men not only mean to each other, but what they are willing to express about what they mean to each other. If King James feels a little too tentative and rambling, both Davis and Perfetti are excellent bringing as much sharpness and focus to its set-pieces, speaking their feelings about the world and each other through sport nerdery and rumbling trash talk.

Robert Hofler, The Wrap: Kenny Leon directs, following his far more exciting work in last season's "Topdog/Underdog" and "Ohio State Murders." In what is fast becoming a cliché, a DJ (the very ebullient Khloe Janel) provides entertainment before the curtain and during the intermission and scene changes. The robust music is odd here, because the two realistic settings, by designer Todd Rosenthal, are a wine bar and a curios shop, both of which are devoid of customers.

Melissa Rose Bernardo, New York Stage Review: Among Davis' most memorable roles: a tough-talking sex offender in Bruce Norris' Downstate; a thickheaded U.S. soldier in Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. And while Perfetti is currently best known for the award-winning sitcom Abbott Elementary, he's a theater pro; his last off-Broadway appearance was as the melancholy Masha in Halley Feiffer's contempo-Chekhov comedy Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow. It's a thrill to watch these two guys face off in Joseph's theatrical game of one-on-one.

Frank Scheck, New York Stage Review: The dialogue is fast and funny, enlivened by the actors' different styles. Perfetti here specializes in low-key, sardonic deadpan, while David imbues his performance with such emotional energy that he resembles a force of nature. Under Leon's pitch-perfect direction, you fully believe in their characters' friendship that periodically threatens to crack under strain. Scenic designer Todd Rosenthal also makes a terrific contribution with his two sets, one depicting a would-be trendy wine bar and the other an overstuffed antique shop filled with quirky knickknacks.

Brian Scott Lipton, Cititour: Intriguingly, while "Summer 1976" struck me as too static, "King James" could have been treated with a little more delicacy. The use of an in-house DJ (Khloe Janel) before the show and at intermission (which I think is meant to substitute for a basketball game's halftime) struck me as both superfluous and irritating. Moreover, the intermission really interrupts the play's flow; we've just begun to really know -and like - these two characters when we're asked to leave them for 15 minutes, which proves to be enough time to almost forget why we care about them at all. That said, the intermission may be necessary to fully create one of the greatest set changes currently on any New York stage: Todd Rosenthal has created a wonderfully detailed re-creation of a ritzy wine bar for the show's first two scenes, only to top himself by the reveal of the cluttered bric-a-brac shop owned by Matt's parents (which is referenced earlier in the play), where the final two pivotal scenes take place.