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Parsons, a multiple Emmy winner for his role as the nerdy
scientist Sheldon Cooper in the hit TV comedy "The Big Bang
Theory," is God in the play that opened on Thursday night for a
limited run at Studio 54.
God inhabits Parsons' body for the 90-minute minute, one-act
comedy based on the book, "The Last Testament: A Memoir by God"
by David Javerbaum, the 13-time Emmy-winner and former executive
producer and head writer of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,"
and his Twitter account.
Dressed in a white robe, jeans and sneakers, Parsons sips from a
chalice while seated on a white sofa on the celestial set as he
explains the mysteries of faith and answers questions about
evolution, homosexuality and the Bible.
"Where were you during the Holocaust? Or when they green-lit the
last five Adam Sandler movies?" asks Archangel Michael
(Christopher Fitzgerald).
A sneering Parsons replies, "I made mankind in my image, and I
am an asshole."
The trade journal Variety said the play was tailor-made for
Parsons with his "deadpan stare and droll comic delivery," while
The New York Times credits the 42-year-old actor for carrying
the comedy.
"With his sly smile and sparkly eyes, he delivers the zingers
with an easy grace, giving a nice silky consistency to shtick
that, in more aggressive hands, might grow oppressive," it
added.
The New York Post said Parsons, who is making his third
appearance on Broadway, is the reason the play made it onto the
Great White Way.
"Parsons is charming as a supreme being who's relaxed, cocky and
at times a little testy," it said.
Archangel Michael roams the audience taking staged questions
from the audience. His co-wingman, Archangel Gabriel (Tim
Kazurinsky), reads from the Bible as Parsons reminisces about
creating the universe; takes digs at singers Kanye West, Justin
Bieber and the Kardashians; and reveals how he first made Adam
and Steve, not Eve, who came later.
"Being a comedy sketch stretched out to feature length, "An Act
of God" inevitably has its longueurs," said the Hollywood
Reporter. "But there's no denying that this wickedly clever
evening is both thought-provoking and anarchic fun."
(Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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