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...
And the show anchored by a tour-de-force, star-is-born performance by Walker, whose Patrick is much more human and oddly endearing than either Christian Bale's smirky, scenery-chewing version in the 2000 film adaptation, or Ellis' wholly vile original creation. 'American Psycho' still has ice in its veins - Patrick spews his venom at gays, women and pretty much anyone who didn't go to Harvard - but Walker (best known for 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson' and the film 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter') also allows you to feel the faint stirrings of a beating heart within. He makes the convincing case that Patrick is as much a victim in this story as the people he brutalizes.
As it is, only the point of the show is invisible. Everything else, including lots of ripped hardbodies in underwear, is on vulgar display...the physical design, especially the interlocking sets and video by Es Devlin and Finn Ross, is as neat and tucked-in as aTurnbull & Asser poplin double-cuff contrast-collar shirt...But the structure and tone are a lazy mess...changes that may have worked on film are undermined by the musical format; what the camera registers sardonically feels silly and cartoonish when rendered onstage...Jean, played touchingly by Jennifer Damiano...The only numbers that consistently nail down the dramatic moment, the mood, and the period are the five interpolated from the '80s pop charts...Patrick Bateman, though played with unnerving verve by Benjamin Walker, is no Sweeney Todd; he's a cipher who never develops. He's thus a bore....
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 |
Videos