It was a star-studded night last night for Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Broadway debut in a revival of “Other Desert Cities.”
There were just about as many stars in the audience as on the stage. And that may have been the problem.
The reviewers who did see it actually commented on both things — too many celebs everywhere.
In the audience: Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick with their son, Bryan Cranston, Busy Phillips, Mario Cantone, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, Margo Martindale, and so on. There were even two famous cast spouses: Oscar winner Amy Madigan (husband Ed Harris on stage), and Hamish Linklater (Lily Rabe).
(No one from “Seinfeld” or “Veep,” so no FOMO.) No one from SNL.
And on that stage, a murderer’s row: JLD, Janney, Harris, Rabe, Joe Keery from “Stranger Things.”
Tickets are $800 if you’re lucky for this run that goes through January. The first few weeks are sold out, but around Thanksgiving, the Hudson Theater looks pretty open if you want to spend some dough.
Last night’s reviews? Meh. Positive from the celebrity mags like People. They were wowed by JLD’s glowing presence, and were surprised that Keery pulled it off. But even they had reservations.
Some were lukewarm (NY Times), which mentioned the shakedown: “People may be ready to pay the eye-watering prices that are being charged for this production, which, to be clear, is a sometimes clever family drama, staged handsomely, but not brilliantly. Orchestra seats go for around $800, which, appallingly, isn’t the most Broadway charges these days. In the play, assigning a premium value to Hollywood stars like Lyman deranges our body politic. Celebrity worship’s not great for dynamic pricing either.”
Many were negative like New York Magazine’s Vulture: “If we’re going to turn Broadway into a machine for letting people sit close to celebrities for an exorbitant fee, can’t we at least put those celebrities in plays that feel less dated? (Perhaps even new ones?)”
A couple insistently compared this production to the 2011 original, which wowed critics with Stockard Channing, Judith Light, and Stacy Keach. That’s not fair, really. If this had been the original cast, everyone would have loved them.
But will all this sustain 13 weeks at such high prices? I guess we’ll see how the readers of reviews respond today. Otherwise, the producers — including Anna Wintour’s daughter, Bee — may be on the hook.
My advice: get in on it now. Someone’s going to go back in December and say how the cast has settled down, etc. That’s what always happens!
