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
Donuts Fills Fall Hole On Broadway?Great news for theatre fans eagerly awaiting
Tracy Letts' follow-up to
August: Osage County, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Best Play from 2008.
According to
Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones, Letts'
Superior Donuts -- which
I loved when taking in its world premiere last summer at Windy City's
Steppenwolf Theatre -- will likely be coming to Broadway this fall with most of its original cast intact.
Tina Landau apparently is set to return to the helm of a somewhat evolved incarnation of the show.
Superior Donuts originally starred an astonishing and nearly unrecognizable
Michael McKean opposite a wonderfully cocksure
Jon Michael Hill, along with
Kate Buddeke,
James Vincent Meredith and
Yasen Peyankov.
I for one can't wait to see this heartwarming play yet again. Should this become a reality, Broadway audiences are in for a very pleasant surprise.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: First Word On New Show, James Vincent Meredith, Jon Michael Hill, Kate Buddeke, Michael McKean, Play, Steppenwolf, Superior Donuts, Tina Landau, Tracy Letts, Transfer, Yasen Peyankov
The Diary Of Anne Frank (The SOB Review) - Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre, Chicago, IL
***1/2 (out of ****)
While the current Steppenwolf revival of
The Diary Of Anne Frank begins rather melodramatically and with a surprising minimum of urgency, director
Tina Landau ultimately succeeds in building this play into an engrossing, near pitch-perfect production.
Of course, the play is based on the eponymous journal kept by the
German-born Jewish girl whose family stole her and her sister away in hidden rooms adjacent to the Amsterdam workplace of her father, just as Jews in Nazi-occupied Holland were being rounded up and sent to death camps during the Holocaust.
The source material may be already be 63 years old, but Landau brings a haunting brilliance to the time-honored dramatization by
Frances Goodrich and
Albert Hackett, thanks in part to its current adaptation by
Wendy Kesselman. Landau also takes chances by enabling the story to move beyond the play's previous conclusion in such a striking fashion that there were audible gasps from the audience. Landau triumphs in proving why this timeless classic deserves to be retold yet again.
This extraordinary production is also blessed by an exceptional ensemble, each of whom turns in a profoundly moving performance. Chief among them are the absolutely astounding
Claire Elizabeth Saxe in the title role and a spectacularly measured performance by
Yasen Peyankov as her father.
The amazingly youthful-looking Saxe begins with all the spunkiness one would expect from a precocious twelve year old, but gracefully transitions to the height of pubescence apropos of a teen on the brink of realizing a heartfelt crush. Right before your eyes, her maturation, physically and emotionally, is palpable. You won't believe you're watching a current high school senior -- she's that good.
Peyankov offers perhaps the most stunning achievement of all with the steady reassurance and hope he offers as Otto Frank, not only for his family and fellow hideaways, but by extension for his fellow Jews and humanity. By scaling his performance so astonishingly, Peyankov becomes the heart of this production.
Fortunately, the harrowing account remains the biggest star of this retelling, but it is aided tremendously by an eerie lighting design (
Scott Zielinski) and downright alarming sound design (
Rob Milburn and
Michael Bodeen).
This is a production that deserves to be seen, not only by those who don't understand the extent of the Nazis' savageries, but also for anyone who yearns for a deeper appreciation for the galvanic capabilities of the young Anne Frank's words that remain as vital today as ever.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Chicago, Play, Revival, Steppenwolf, The Diary Of Anne Frank, The SOB Review, Tina Landau, Yasen Peyankov
