Robert Downey Jr. and His Digital Likeness Take Their First Broadway Bows in McNEAL Tonight

McNEAL, the new play by Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar starring Robert Downey Jr. in his Broadway debut, begins its run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on September 5. Directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, the show opens officially September 30 and runs through November 24.

The Lincoln Center Theater production features a realistic digital likeness of its star, reflecting the high-tech concerns of Akhtar's play. The Robert Downey Jr. "Metahuman" is created by AGBO, an independent studio owned by the Russo brothers—known for their work as directors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—and Downey. The production promises "a fusion of technology and theater" and that Downey will take on a "new, innovative form." 

Good writers borrow, great writers steal. Jacob McNeal (Downey) is a great writer, one of our greatest, a perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But McNeal also has an estranged son, a new novel, old axes to grind and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence. McNEAL is a startling and wickedly smart examination of the inescapable humanity and increasing inhumanity of the stories we tell.

The Broadway cast also features Brittany Bellizeare (Flex), Rafi Gavron (Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born), Melora Hardin (The Office), Tony winner Andrea Martin (Pippin), Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles (Sweeney Todd, The King and I) and Saisha Talwar. 

McNEAL's design team includes sets by Michael Yeargan and Jake Barton, costumes by Jennifer Moeller, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Justin Ellington and Beth Lake and projections by Jake Barton.