Review Roundup: LIGHTS OUT: NAT 'KING' COLE at New York Theatre Workshop

New York Theatre Workshop is now presenting Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole, written by Tony and Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo and NYTW Artistic Director and Usual Suspect Patricia McGregor, and directed by McGregor. Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole runs through June 29, 2025.

On December 17th, 1957, it was LIGHTS OUT on "The Nat ‘King' Cole Show.” Despite being the voice that built Capitol Records, Nat “King” Cole's groundbreaking television show was rejected by Madison Avenue, unwilling to sponsor one of America's first black television hosts. Now, on the night of his final broadcast, Nat must grapple with the complexities of his psyche, personified by his best friend and alter-ego, Sammy Davis Jr., and decide whether to quietly step out of the spotlight or go out with a bang.

The cast of Lights Out includes Krystal Joy Brown, Kathy Fitzgerald, Christopher Ryan Grant, Emmy Award nominee Dulé Hill, Ruby Lewis, Elliott Mattox, Kenita Miller, Mekhi Richardson, Walter Russell III  and Tony Award nominee Daniel J. Watts.

Let's see what the critics are saying about the new play...

Brian Scott Lipton, Cititour: Despite the show’s occasional frivolity, the piece can be terrifying as Cole lets loose with his anger through a letter Davis “encourages” him to write or as he is forced (alongside a teenaged Natalie, who was actually seven at the time) to recite the copy of a potential commercial that is downright racist and condescending. “Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark,” Cole is told repeatedly. Even “Mad Men” wasn’t this damning.

Thom Geier, Culture Sauce: The biggest scene-stealer is Watts, who so dominates whenever he takes the stage that you may wish that Sammy Davis Jr.’s name was in the title. Watts flashes a feral energy that’s truly magnetic, and he moves with a catlike grace around the stage — and occasionally the auditorium. His tap duet with Hill on “Me and My Shadow” (tap choreography by Jared Grimes) is a burst of percussive performance art. Lights Out is a showcase for some wonderful song and dance, but the luster dims whenever the band stops playing.

Kyle Turner, New York Theatre Guide: Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole seems to yearn for more space to figure out what it wants to do and how. It wavers between the pleasure of its entertaining, simple variety numbers and its energetically strange and fever dream-like approach, yet it mostly occupies some middle ground of not being strange enough. But Hill and Watts, conjuring the coolness and the fire of Nat and Sammy, are enough to keep the show’s lights on.

Elysa Gardner, New York Sun: Daniel J. Watts is a shinier, more buoyant presence as Sammy Davis Jr., who cajoles and haunts Nat throughout the taping, which grows more and more surreal, evolving into a sort of fever dream — or more of a nightmare, with David Bengali’s video design and Stacey Derosier’s lighting conspiring to create a hellish atmosphere. “Lights Out” nonetheless proves uplifting, delivering a message of resilience as much as defiance. And while not technically a musical, it offers some of the most delightful music, and singing, available on New York’s stages at the moment.

Frank Scheck, New York Stage Review: That blunt messaging proves endemic throughout the 90-minute show, resulting in a serious bummer of an evening. Which is why, when Cole and Sammy Davis Jr. (a tremendous Daniel J. Watts) engage in a fabulous tap-dancing duet, choreographed by Jared Grimes, on “Me and My Shadow,” the joy of their terpsichorean skills provides a badly needed lift and becomes the highlight of the show. (It doesn’t help that the Davis character, who acts as a sort of Greek chorus, is so dynamic compared to the glum Cole that you wish you were watching an entire show about him instead.)

David Finkle, New York Stage Review: Are there any other mitigating attractions? There are Hill’s vocals. He sings several of Cole’s signature chart-toppers, delivering entirely his 1949 winner, “Nature Boy.” (A better play might have followed how Cole came to record the mystic Eden Ahbez song.) Sadly, he doesn’t get through the entire “Mona Lisa” (Ray Evans and Jay Livingston), which won the 1950 best song Oscar but might not have if Cole hadn’t sung it to Top 40 acclaim.

Average Rating: 61.7%