Guide to 'McNeal' on Broadway starring Robert Downey Jr.
The Oscar winner makes his Broadway debut in Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar's world-premiere play about a writer obsessed with artificial intelligence.
A new Ayad Akhtar play directed by Bartlett Sher for Lincoln Center Theater is already a major draw for theatre enthusiasts, but Robert Downey Jr.’s Broadway debut in the starring role makes McNeal a must-see event.
The Academy Award-winning actor, best known for his seminal portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man, will star as Jacob McNeal, a lauded novelist who struggles with family issues — and a new obsession with artificial intelligence — as he writes his next book.
McNeal marks Pulitzer Prize winner Akhtar’s fourth project with Lincoln Center Theater and begins on September 5 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. So get away from your screens and see actors and writers process human language in real time.
What is McNeal about?
McNeal centers on Jacob McNeal, a celebrated writer who, like all great writers, borrows from other scribes. McNeal is a repeat candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature and has an upcoming new novel, an estranged son, and a fascination with artificial intelligence, which has an outsized influence on his work.
Where is McNeal playing?
McNeal is at Lincoln Center Theater’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, located at 150 W. 65th St. between Broadway and 10th Avenue in the Lincoln Center performing arts complex. It’s the only Broadway house not located in the Theatre District surrounding Times Square. The Beaumont opened in 1965 with a revival of Georg Büchner's Danton's Death, starring James Earl Jones and Stacy Keach. Recent productions include Uncle Vanya, starring Steve Carell, and Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot.
Learn more about Lincoln Center, including the various theatres and pre-show eateries in the area.
How long is McNeal?
The run time for McNeal is not yet available. This article will be updated when the run time is released.
What days is McNeal playing?
McNeal has seven performances a week at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, with two performances on most Saturdays and no performances on Mondays. Visit the McNeal page for a complete performance schedule.
When did McNeal premiere?
McNeal's world premiere production begins performances on September 5, 2024. Here is a brief overview of McNeal’s journey to Broadway.
- 2022: Playwright Ayad Akhtar began experimenting with the first publicly available artificial intelligence chatbots that use natural language processing.
- 2024: In August, Theatre Communications Group awarded McNeal with an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, a grant program that provides funds to extend the rehearsal and development time of world-premiere plays.
- 2024: McNeal has its world premiere at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, kicking off Lincoln Center Theater’s 40th-anniversary season.
Who wrote McNeal?
McNeal was written by Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar, known for his acclaimed works including The Invisible Hand, Disgraced, The Who & The What, and Junk. The latter three of these plays had productions at Lincoln Center Theater, the same organization producing McNeal. Akhtar’s dramas are thought-provoking explorations of complex issues and social critiques.
Who is in the cast of McNeal?
McNeal stars Robert Downey Jr., best known for his Academy Award-winning performance as Lewis Strauss in 2023's Oppenheimer and for playing Iron Man/Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films from 2008 to 2019. He makes his Broadway debut with the show.
The large cast also includes The Office star Melora Hardin, A Star Is Born's Rafi Gavron, and Broadway favorites Andrea Martin (Noises Off, Pippin), Ruthie Ann Miles (Sweeney Todd, The King and I), Peter Bradbury (Patriots), Nancy Lemenager (Chicago), and Benjamin Wheelwright (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time).
Cast members making their Broadway debuts, along with Downey, include Brittany Bellizeare, Saisha Talwar, and Janiah-Camile François.
The show's understudies include Peter Bradbury (Patriots), Nancy Lemenager (Chicago), Benjamin Wheelwright (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), and Janiah-Camile François.
Has Robert Downey Jr. ever done theatre?
While McNeal marks Downey’s Broadway debut, he’s no stranger to the stage. As a teen in 1983, Downey appeared in Alms for the Middle Class at the Geva Theatre in Rochester, New York. He made his Off-Broadway debut the same year in the musical American Passions at the Joyce Theater.
What awards has McNeal won?
McNeal received the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award from the Theatre Communications Group. The award provided playwright Ayad Akhtar with funds to develop and refine the play to ready it for a major production.
McNeal will be eligible for Tony Awards and other theatre honors in the 2024-25 season.
Major productions of McNeal
The September 2024 production of McNeal on Broadway marks the play's first major run, and Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher will direct. Ayad Akhtar’s plays have been produced at some of the top regional theatre companies in the country, so McNeal may continue to thrive beyond Broadway.
Fun facts about McNeal
Get a little more (non-artificial) intelligence about McNeal with these fun facts.
- Alongside the real Robert Downey Jr., a "highly realistic Metahuman Digital Likeness" of the actor will also appear on stage.
- McNeal is Akhtar’s fourth play produced by Lincoln Center Theater. The others include Disgraced, The Who & The What, and Junk.
- Akhtar’s 2014 play The Who & The What is also about a writer, but McNeal is his first play about artificial intelligence.
- While writing McNeal, Akhtar experimented with various language models like ChatGPT, but he didn’t use them to draft the play.
- Jacob McNeal, the title character, is obsessed with Shakespeare. In an interview for Lincoln Center Theater, Akhtar drew parallels between Shakespeare’s linguistic processes and large language models like ChatGPT.
- A majority of the play's characters are women, and one the play’s themes is Jacob McNeal’s relationship to women.
- In 2016, the magazine American Theatre recognized Akhtar’s Disgraced as the most produced play in the 2015-16 season across the U.S.
How to get McNeal tickets
Don't miss your chance to see Robert Downey Jr. live in his Broadway debut.
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