Arthur Miller was in the spotlight this week, because of the announcement of a Broadway run this season for “John Proctor Was the Villain,” a riff on “The Crucible,” one of Miller’s most popular plays, and the opening at the new Bushwick Starr of “A Woman Among Women,” a riff on “All My Sons,” Miller’s first hit. (reviewed below.)
This feels well-timed, fifteen days (!) before Election Day, since Miller is one of America’s most political mainstream playwrights. Although the reimagined Miller are not explicitly political plays, there are plenty that attempt to address what’s happening right now, including the recently opened Vladimir, Fatherland. and Deep History, as well as several opening later this month.
This week’s videos are political too: “Seize the Day” from Broadway Votes sung by the casts of “Newsies” and “Suffs,” “Keep Marching” from “Suffs” and “Somebody to Love” by Anne Hathaway — those last two from last week’s Broadway for Harris rally/concert.
The Week in New York Theater Reviews and Previews
Hold On To Me Darling.
Despite a fine cast and some good laughs, three hours is too long for what “Hold On To Me Darling” winds up being, which is a strange, slight if appealing comedy that strains to be pointed and poignant.
Vladimir
“Vladimir” is the second play in New York this year set in Russia decades ago at the beginning of the reign of Vladimir Putin. …“Vladimir” (like “Patriots”) is intelligently written and persuasively acted, with a seven-member cast led by the Broadway pros Francesca Faradany as Raya and Norbert Leo Butz as her editor Kostyra . But (like “Patriots”) a New York theatergoer in 2024 might wonder: Why wade through the details of this old story right now? …Knowing what the playwright had in mind, one might be able to view “Vladimir” as a cautionary tale for American democracy.
Our Town
…for better or for worse, Kenny Leon’s directorial choices do stand out, which I suppose is an accomplishment in and of itself, given how familiar the play is….Leon’s guiding directorial principle of inclusion can go just so far — perhaps by his trying to broaden the “our” in “Our Town,” he unintentionally emphasizes the limits to the “we” in the script.
A Woman Among Women
“A Woman Among Women,” the first production in The Bushwick Starr’s permanent new theater, is Julie May Jonas’s reimagining of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” from a female perspective…What matters to the average theatergoer is surely that “A Woman Among Women” is more than just an exercise in male-to-female transpositions; it takes on a life of its own– although the gestation period is considerable.
Listen to Warriors
A newly released concept album by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis adapted from the 1965 novel by Sol Yurick and the 1979 film directed by Walter Hill, features twenty-six songs over eighty minutes….sung by a starry cast.
Under the Radar Festival 20th anniversary
how Boat” gets a radical remake. Theater in Quarantine’s Joshua William Gelb comes out of his (8’ by 4’) closet. Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Robert Schenkkan takes a break from epic political drama for an outrageous political satire. These, as well as a new experimental piece by Anne Washburn (best known for Mr Burns A Post Electric Play), and new puppetry by Wakka Wakka (Made in China), are among the thirty-three works from some dozen countries that will be presented at the 20th anniversary Under the Radar Festival from January 4 to 19, 2025 at venues all over the city.
The Week in New York Theater News
The Picture of Dorian Gray gets its opening date. The stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s only novel, starring Sarah Snook (“Succession”), will open Thursday, March 27, 2025 on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre. Previews will begin Monday, March 10, 2025. The Picture of Dorian Gray will play a limited engagement for 14 weeks.
Opening on Broadway April 14: John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower making her Broadway debut, directed by Danya Taymor, and starring Sadie Sink (a young Broadway veteran who is best known for the TV series “Stranger Things.”) The play, which has made the rounds of regional theater, is about a high school English class that questions the common understanding of “The Crucible.”
“Real Women Have Curves” announces new dates (First preview: April 1
Opening: April 27) but still no venue yet.
New discounts for Tammy Faye (lottery $45, student rush $30), A Wonderful World (Digital Rush $49) and Death Becomes Her (digital lottery $40, in person rush $35). Details here.
Forbidden Broadway to close November 3, two months earlier than scheduled.
In Memoriam
Mitzi Gaynor, 93, briefly on stage as a Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, but better known roles in screen musicals like Nellie Forbush in “South Pacific”
The Week’s Theater Video
Two performances from a Broadway for Harris event
