The reviews are in for Good Time Charlie, Ryan J. Haddad’s first multi-character play after a string of largely solo autobiographical shows, which opened Off-Broadway on Friday, October 9, in the Public Theater’s Martinson Hall under the direction of Danny Sharron. Haddad plays himself, staging the life of his Uncle Charlie (Jonathan Raviv), a theater-mad dentist whose parents steered him away from the stage, and of the chosen family of older gay men who shaped young Ryan. The critics are warm about its affection and divided about its length, with several finding the two-hour-15 evening sprawling, and Michael Cristofer’s Sheldon is the performance named most often.
The verdict: fifteen reviews in so far. Five outlets give the show a score: Culture Sauce 5 out of 5, The Front Row Center 4.6, 1 Minute Critic 4, and New York Stage Review and The Recs 3 apiece, an average of 3.9 out of 5 across those five. The other ten publish no rating. Most of the critics warm to the play’s affection for chosen family and for theater itself, and the dissent is about shape rather than heart: Theater Pizzazz, Talkin’ Broadway, Stage and Cinema and The Recs find it overlong, distancing or short on drama. Michael Cristofer, as the cinema owner Sheldon, is the actor the critics single out most often.
What are critics saying about Good Time Charlie?
Vulture
"Queer Eye for the Queer Guy"
Reviewer: Jackson McHenry
McHenry reads the play as a story of queer inheritance, with Charlie as the fairy godparent who hands the lore of gay life down to a theater-mad nephew. He likes the full-bloom garden that Afsoon Pajoufar has built for it.
"…Good Time Charlie develops into a warm, winking, sometimes sprawling tale of queer inheritance…"
For him the play is chiefly a study in kindness rather than family warfare, and he finds its second-act turn, as Sheldon starts to need a walker, handled with real delicacy.
TheaterMania
"Ryan J. Haddad’s Tribute to a Favorite Gay Uncle"
Reviewer: Zachary Stewart
Stewart calls it Haddad’s most ambitious project to date, a charming memory play with a shaggy streak. He rates Michael Cristofer’s Sheldon as the surest performance of the night, admires Jonathan Raviv’s Charlie, and credits Danny Sharron with keeping a talky, self-aware script moving.
"…a perfectly lovely evening at the theater that will leave you with plenty to think about…"
He does not buy Oskar Eustis’s program-note comparison with Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and does not think the play needs it.
Culture Sauce
Reviewer: Thom Geier · 5 out of 5
Geier was caught off guard by the play’s ambition and beauty, hearing echoes of The Glass Menagerie in a memory play that he says builds a world of its own. He enjoys the way Haddad lets his characters seize the script and rewrite scenes in front of the audience.
"There’s an endearing generosity of spirit to Good Time Charlie that is unique and compelling…"
His one reservation is a second act that tips toward the maudlin as illness arrives, but he judges the play a big step beyond Haddad’s earlier, more inward solo work.
The Front Row Center
Reviewer: Tulis McCall · 4.6 out of 5
McCall, who first met Haddad’s work through Hold Me in the Water, sees the evening as Ryan’s story more than Charlie’s, with Haddad as narrator, writer and actor at once. She describes a gossipy, loving circle of friends in which the jokes are never far from the hurt.
"This is a play that sneaks up on you. First you will find it charming and funny."
Her verdict is an outright recommendation to head down to the Public.
1 Minute Critic
"Ryan J. Haddad chooses joy"
Reviewer: Matthew Wexler · 4 out of 5
Wexler, who has followed Haddad since Hi, Are You Single?, treats the play as the writer’s origin story. He enjoys its dry humor, Pajoufar’s backyard set and Sharron’s sensitive staging.
"In a theatrical season of angry incels and AIDS crisis surrealism, Haddad chooses joy."
He notes that Charlie’s story loses momentum as it sticks close to real events, but thinks the warmth outweighs the scenes that run long.
New York Stage Review
"Ryan J. Haddad spins his latest show around his gay uncle and other mentors"
Reviewer: Michael Sommers · 3 out of 5
Sommers enjoys the polish of the production but finds the play patchy. In his view Haddad lingers over his own younger self at the expense of Charlie’s more compelling life, and a late strand about aging friends is left sketchy.
"…a mostly pleasant comedy-drama punctuated by showtunes, meta-theater breaks in the action, and much commentary by its characters…"
In the ensemble he singles out Michael Cristofer’s touching Sheldon, and wishes Beth Malone had more to do.
The Recs
"Coming Out x 2"
Reviewer: Randall David Cook · 3 out of 5
Cook calls it a sweet play about two very different coming-out experiences, and welcomes Haddad working on a bigger canvas after his acclaimed solo shows.
"…therein also lies the play’s largest obstacle: the need for more drama."
He also faults some basic execution at his performance, from swallowed line endings to slow cue pickups, and hopes Haddad brings more conflict next time.
Talkin’ Broadway
Reviewer: Kimberly Ramírez
Ramírez values the play’s picture of a chain of queer mentors passed down the generations, but finds the people around Ryan drawn only as he sees them.
"Danny Sharron's direction lacks momentum, the episodic structure sags, and the family pageant becomes tedious."
Michael Cristofer’s Sheldon is the performance she exempts, and she gives Pajoufar’s garden and Barbara Samuels’s lighting credit for doing much of what the script cannot.
New York Theatre Guide
"A love letter to a gay uncle and the theatre"
Reviewer: Joe Dziemianowicz
Dziemianowicz finds the play intimate and engaging even where it covers ground that earlier gay dramas have already mapped, and he enjoys its insider jokes about Mame, A Star Is Born and Fun Home.
"As it traces parallel lives divided by time and tolerance, Good Time Charlie is a flawed but heartfelt family love letter."
His main complaint is overstatement, above all a closing speech for Sheldon that spells out its message too plainly.
Read Joe Dziemianowicz’s full review at New York Theatre Guide
New York Theater
Reviewer: Jonathan Mandell
Mandell grants that the play is loosely plotted, closer to an informal family gathering than a drilled production, and is happy with that. He praises Tim Bagley’s Lou and wishes Beth Malone’s Aunt Janice had a bigger part.
"You’re likely to be charmed by Ryan J. Haddad and nearly everybody around him…"
He credits Haddad with keeping the spotlight on himself while sharing it generously with a cast of seasoned pros.
Stage and Cinema
Reviewer: Gregory Fletcher
Fletcher admires the love behind the tribute and the performances of Tim Bagley and Michael Cristofer, but notes that the staging deliberately keeps a homemade, slightly amateurish feel.
"Yet, despite all the affection onstage and the love fest in the audience, something kept me at a distance."
He reads that roughness as a risky choice, and in the end as the thing that limited how far the play moved him.
Theater Pizzazz
"A Familiar Coming-Out Story That Overstays Its Welcome"
Reviewer: Samuel L. Leiter
Leiter is the sternest of the critics. He finds the coming-out story overfamiliar, the running time of two hours and 15 minutes inflated, and one long late scene a real drag.
"Essentially, it’s a coming-out-of-the-closet play, a rather tired theme by now."
He has kind words for Haddad as an authentic presence and for an efficient, well-qualified company, though he spots the occasional touch of ham.
This Week in New York
"A Love Letter to the Theater"
Reviewer: Mark Rifkin
Rifkin sees Haddad reaching a new level with his first multi-character, multigenerational play, and relishes the running meta-jokes as the actors quarrel with Ryan over their parts.
"…the play does veer toward sentiment and melodrama in the second act, but otherwise it is a triumph."
He finds the cast so invested that they feel like an extended family, with Beth Malone a particular delight.
Cititour
"Good Time Charlie Really Means Well"
Reviewer: Brian Scott
Scott warns readers not to expect a conventional, well-made play, and suggests the direction does not always keep a firm hand on the pacing.
"…“Good Time Charlie” is frequently heartbreaking, outrageously funny, and surprisingly sentimental."
He finds it hard at times to tell whether the play belongs to Charlie or to Ryan, and calls Michael Cristofer’s Sheldon a remarkable performance.
Pages on Stages
"There Was Love All Around"
Reviewer: Mason Pilevsky
Pilevsky likes the way the play normalizes disability by showing rather than telling, and thinks Haddad shines in the role, but finds the heavy narration close to exposition overload.
"A beautiful homage to the meaning and magic of theatre…"
He suspects that without so much of it the show could be a tight one-act.
For more of what the New York critics have been saying, read our roundups for Soon at The Loft at St. Luke’s Theatre and Topdog/Underdog at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, or look back at our first look at the production.
Good Time Charlie runs in Martinson Hall at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, through October 25, 2026. The running time is 2 hours and 15 minutes, including an intermission. Production photos by Joan Marcus.
