Leaving A Hole In My Heart
Leaving A Hole In My HeartRegular readers will know that few plays in recent years have moved me quite the way Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts managed to grab and take hold of me. In fact, I've been a fan ever since first catching its initial mounting at Chicago's Steppenwolf a year ago last summer.
So it was with a heavy heart that I first reported via Twitter on Wednesday that the show would be closing on January 3.
Earlier, tickets had been selling through March 28, but in recent weeks, this particular show wasn't exactly selling like hot cakes. Over the last two reported weeks, Superior Donuts had been playing to less than 50% capacity. Like Brighton Beach Memoirs, this is one excellent show deserving of a much larger audience than it was able to attract.
While critics liked the show, many Broadway watchers say it suffered from not being the "must-see" even that playwright Letts' August: Osage County had been just two years ago. "They" also say that in a season where star turns seem to make the difference (including the arguably inferior one just across the street), Superior Donuts had simply been overlooked.
I maintain that with outstanding and memorable performances from a superb ensemble (Michael McKean, Jon Michael Hill, Kate Buddeke, James Vincent Meredith, Yasen Peyankov, Jane Alderman, Robert Maffia, Cliff Chamberlain and Michael Garvey), this remains the best play on Broadway. I love the show so much that I've already seen it twice on the Great White Way and had even planned to see it again in late January. So I was very saddened to learn that it would be closing.
If you haven't already had an opportunity to see it, do everything you can to get to the Music Box Theatre before Superior Donuts closes. You will thank me.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, James Vincent Meredith, Jane Alderman, Jon Michael Hill, Kate Buddeke, Michael McKean, Play, Robert Maffia, Superior Donuts, Tracy Letts, Yasen Peyankov
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Saturday, November 28, 2009
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