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Reviews are in for Broad Strokes, the new one-woman musical comedy from comedian Cat Cohen, now playing Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
Following a sold-out run at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Broad Strokes made its New York premiere this summer in a production directed by Alex Timbers. The limited eight-week engagement continues through September 5.
Written and performed by Cohen, Broad Strokes draws on her experience of suffering a stroke at age 30 caused by a congenital heart condition. The autobiographical show blends stand-up comedy, original songs, and cabaret-style performance as Cohen explores mortality, hypochondria, recovery, and self-discovery.
The creative team includes scenic designer Derek McLane, lighting designer Jake DeGroot, costume designer Kelsey Randall, sound designer Cody Spencer, and music supervisor David Dabbon.
Broad Strokes is produced by Mike & Carlee Productions by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
Read what critics are saying below.
Jason Zinoman, The New York Times: In a superb gag, she describes the skeleton key of her personality as being “young for my grade,” making a persuasive case that this might be more determinative than family birth order. I could see why embracing Broadway theatrics might be a way to upgrade. But there are enough tender moments in her work to make one wonder what would happen if Cohen committed to vulnerability, embracing the confessional mode of the kind of show being spoofed.
Jackson McHenry, Vulture : Cohen will bend any rule for the sake of a good joke, even and especially at the level of songwriting: Her lyrics break scansion more often than they keep it, and her melodies doodle aimlessly in order to contain her pileup of observations. The joke contained in the jokes often is that the songs are funny because they are formless, but they are indeed still formless. A touch of structure or a clean rhyme scheme would go a long way.
Caroline Cao, New York Theatre Guide: Armed with a catty drawl and versatile expressions, Cohen frames her experience as if fate has thrown her material that practically writes itself — like her cardiologist literally being named Dr. Love. But make no mistake that it’s Cohen’s tale of woe, canceled Eurotrips, a $45,000 bill her insurance might or might not pay, and a loss of existential control. Broad Strokes is an earnest and sometimes raunchy self-portrait of coping and her insatiable thirst to be loved, whether it’s by her boyfriend, her fans, or the unnamed gay male nurse trying to draw her blood.
Lane Williamson, ExeuntNYC: Cohen self-identifies as “cringe” early in the show, but even if that’s so, Broad Strokes is making cringe look cool. It’s a hilarious Millennial saga and a great way to spend sixty-five minutes laughing your ass off.
Robert Hofler, The Wrap: If Beyoncé or Taylor Swift sang about having “a hole in my heart,” it would be just another lovesick anthem. With Cat Cohen, she literally had a hole in her heart that led to a stroke just as she was about to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023. Her wonderfully performed (and titled) one-person show “Broad Strokes” opened Monday at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
Matthew Wexler, 1 Minute Critic: In Broad Strokes, Cat Cohen turns her scariest year into the tightest set of her career—proof that the best material really is the stuff you didn’t ask for.
Frank Scheck, New York Stage Review: Director Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge, Beetlejuice) infuses the hilarious proceedings with clever doses of theatricality, while a crack three-piece band, whom Cohen dramatically unveils from behind a curtain several minutes into the show, accentuate her jokes with musical flourishes. Cohen infuses her energetic performance with exaggerated physicality and vocal mannerisms that are best appreciated in short doses. It’s smart, then, that Broad Strokes runs a mere 65 minutes. Too much longer and you’d start worrying about the performer’s health.
Michael Sommers, New York Stage Review: To stage Broad Strokes, Alex Timbers, the inventive Tony Award-winning director of Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Peter and the Starcatcher, among numerous other major league events, capitalizes on Cohen’s characteristically self-dramatizing manner to present the comedian in mock-Gothic romance environs. Top of the line designers Derek McLane (scenic), Kelsey Randall (costume), Jake DeGroot (lights) and Cody Spencer (sound) showcase the raven-tressed lady grandly clad in puffy, grape-colored satin furbelows amid lurid blue, purple and green surroundings suggesting Game of Thrones more than The Pitt. A curious visual decision, perhaps, but Cohen’s humorous matters of life or death certainly deserve some other-worldly grandeur,
Average Rating: 86.3%
