Shit.Meet.Fan (2024) Review | MCC Theater

Language	English
Attendance Type	Offline – In Person
Event Status	On Schedule
Duration	1 Hour 45 Minutes
Performance Date	October 10, 2024
First Performance At This Venue	October 10, 2024
Opening Night Performance	October 27, 2024
Last Performance At This Venue	December 15, 2024
Venue URL	https://mcctheater.org/tix/shit-meet-fan/#book
Tickets Starting At	$40.00
Director(s)	Robert O’Hara
Writer(s)	Robert O’Hara
Theatre Name	MCC Theater
Address of Theater	511 W 52nd ST New York, NY 10019
Genre(s)	Play, Comedy, Drama, LGBT+
Scene/ Set Design	Clint Ramos
Costume Design	Sarafina Bush
Lighting Design	Alex Jainchill
Sound Design	Palmer Hefferan
Choreography (Intimacy Coordinator)	Ann James
Character’s Name	Actor’s Name
Roger	Neil Patrick Harris
Eve	Jane Krakowski
Sam	Genevieve Hannelius
Claire	Debra Messing
Brett	Garret Dillahunt
Hannah	Constance Wu
Frank	Billy Magnussen
Logan	Tramell Tillman

Summary

Roger and Eve decide to host a dinner party on the night of the lunar eclipse. It comes on a night when they are a bit riled up because of their 17-year-old daughter Sam having secrets, like her maybe having sex, and then comes their eccentric friend group. Hannah is new to the group and the youngest among them, who is married to Frank, who is a bit of a hot head. Claire and Brett have two kids, his mother, and a major lawsuit that threatens Brett’s career, and then there is Logan. He is the sole one who isn’t married, but he does have a new girlfriend, and everyone is excited to meet her.

However, what should have been a nice adult party with liquor and catching up among adults in Dumbo, NYC, ends up becoming a hot mess. Eve, who is a therapist, decides to have a game where everyone’s phone has to be on the table, face up, and any text has to be read and any phone call on speaker.

As you can imagine, secrets come out of all kinds, and there is a need to question if Eve should have left things alone.

Content Information

• Dialog: Discriminatory Language, Cursing
• Violence: N/A
• Sexual Content: Implied Nudity
• Miscellaneous: Drinking, Drug Use, Smoking

Characters and Cast

Character Descriptions

Please Note: This character guide is not an exhaustive list of every cast member, and character descriptions may contain what can be considered spoilers.

Roger

Roger is a plastic surgeon who mostly focuses on breast and butt augmentation, and he is quick to note many of his clients are members of the LGBTQ+ community.

• The actor is also known for their role in “It’s A Sin.”

Eve

Eve is a therapist who struggles with her daughter, and their issues have only intensified over the last few months as Sam is bound for college.

• The actor is also known for their role in “The Willoughbys.”

Sam

Sam is Eve and Roger’s daughter, who is 17 years old and who Eve fears is having sex.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Along For The Ride.”

Claire

Claire is Brett’s wife, who is raising their two kids and dealing with his mother and his sister, who refused to take Brett’s mother in.

Brett

Brett is a lawyer who is having some legal trouble and, honestly, some marriage trouble.

• The actor is also known for their role in “A Million Miles Away.”

Hannah

Hannah is Frank’s wife, who he just wed, is from the West Coast, is of Asian descent, and is blissfully in love.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Next Gen.”

Frank

Frank is an EMT and a bit of a hot head, who is one of the group’s youngest members.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Made For Love: Season 1.”

Logan

Logan is a coach at a private institution and the only member of the fraternity brothers who isn’t currently married.

Review

Our Rating: Positive (See Live)

Check out our Live Performance page for our latest reviews and recommendations.

Notable Performances or Moments

How Dramatic It Is

Let me tell you, from Sam and Eve going back and forth cursing at each other to one character proving they aren’t wearing underwear to every last confession or forced act to reveal their secrets? This is a dramatic play. But, as noted below, it has comedic elements.

However, despite the cast nearly being comprised entirely of comedic actors, they all show their chops as each one is given a spotlight. Be it as Hannah learns about Frank beyond the façade she has been operating on, as Claire reveals she is by no means a saint, or when it comes to Roger and Eve? Their relationship?! Oh my god!

Now, just to be clear, the dramatic performances are more geared towards entertainment than making you cry or feel, but when it comes to Logan and Hannah, there might be a chance for tears.

There Isn’t Color Blind Casting

Hannah being Asian and Logan being Black isn’t for the sake of adding some color to the play. Hannah being Asian doesn’t play a huge role in things, but it is something that bonds her with Logan, who gives her the skinny when things start. But when it comes to Logan, you see him being a Black man, which may not mean much to Brett, Frank, and Roger, but it does to him.

Yes, they are frat brothers and have been friends for nearly half of their lives, but there appear to be things said and done that have rubbed Logan the wrong way, and for anyone who has been the only one of their race or culture in an otherwise homogeneous group, Logan may make you feel seen.

Highlights

It’s Comical

The cast comprises Neil Patrick Harris, Debra Messing, Jane Krakowski, and Constance Wu, who have starred in hit sitcoms that have cemented their names in the history of scripted comedy. There was no way this wouldn’t be funny. But, the good thing about “Shit.Meet.Fan” is that no one is competing to be or pushed to be the star here.

Yes, as the hosts of the party, Eve and Rodger start and end the play, but once everyone is on stage, strangely, they aren’t competing for who is the funniest or who gets any sort of prolonged spotlight. As secrets are revealed and effort is made to keep secrets at bay, everyone just takes turns. While, admittedly, Hannah mainly gets one-liners and reactions, Wu never feels less than or secondary.

Heck, even among those whose comedic profiles aren’t as high, they get in and fit in and make it so, even if you are someone like me who can sit through a play, musical, even a stand-up show sometimes and find yourself smiling just to be polite (and not be called out), you will vocally laugh sooner or later with this play.

On The Fence

There Isn’t A Whole Lot Of Grey

You’d be right to think with the time length and talent of “Shit.Meet.Fan” that it wouldn’t just be about the comedic scenarios and the dramas but also a healthy amount of character development to give you nuanced and three-dimensional characters, and you’d be partly right. I’d submit that Logan has complexities since his secret doesn’t deal with something salacious. Everyone else? It does. If it isn’t a legal issue, it is a moral issue, and while you could push that, seemingly likable people can be despicable and see that as the grey, I wouldn’t agree.

To me, the majority of the cast plays a type, be it the newlywed, long-suffering wife, or ambivalent husband, and you get a few sprinkles of color, but most of the work is done through you knowing the actor, seeing past roles, and imprinting that onto who they are playing in this play. This isn’t to say any actor copies and pastes past performances, but more so, these characters, beyond Logan, maybe Hannah, don’t feel like they are made to be related to or understood, but to, plain and simple – provide entertainment.

Which there is absolutely nothing wrong with, but because “Shit.Meet.Fan” appears to want to get serious at times, it may push you to think, why are the conversations and scenarios serious, while the characters don’t contain too much in the way of depth? Never mind, why, by the end, does it seem like 90% of the characters, no question, are terrible people?