October 26, 2009

'Brighton Beach Memoirs' Broadway review roundup

The revival of Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” opened on Broadway on Sunday night, drumming up several rave reviews from the critics.

Set in 1937 Brooklyn, the semi-autobiographical play is staged as much for drama as the laughs in this production directed by David Cromer. It stars Laurie Metcalf and Dennis Boutsikaris as the parents of the Simon character, played to raves by 19-year-old Noah Robbins. They share the stage with Santino Fontana, Jessica Hecht, Gracie Bea Lawrence and Alexandra Socha.

“Brighton Beach Memoirs” has an open-ended run at the Nederlander Theatre, 208 W. 41st St., map. Regular tickets are priced from $63.50 to $98.50. Premium seats are $148.50. Student rush tickets are $30.

The “Brighton Beach Memoirs” on Broadway reviews:

Variety - “The first installment of a Simon double that continues with ‘Broadway Bound,’ opening Dec. 10, the revival strikes an exquisite balance between comedy and pathos, its impeccable ensemble landing every laugh while exploring every emotional nuance to build a tremendously moving portrait of family life.”

New York Times - “In trying to subvert the cliché of the screaming Jewish family dinner, Mr. Cromer hasn’t come up with an alternative connective sensibility. I was often aware of a host of individual performances — some of them very artful — that didn’t necessarily link into the others. And there were times I felt an intellectual distance between the performers and their roles.”

Daily News - “Neil Simon’s ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ is back on Broadway 26 years after its original run in a production that’s warm and funny (which was expected) and uninspired (which wasn’t).”

Newsday - “‘Brighton Beach’- the Depression-era memories of a teen named Eugene and his extended family in 1937 - is the first of an audacious coupling of two of Simon’s four substantial plays from the ’80s. ‘Broadway Bound,’ about many of the same people after World War II, opens Dec. 10, after which both will run in repertory for what deserves to be - oh, I don’t know - maybe forever.”

USA Today - “As a precocious, sweetly mischievous nerd, this kid is spot-on, so natural and funny that you’ll leave the theater wishing you had seen his Max Bialystock.”

Associated Press - “You could call ‘Brighton Beach’ a comedy-drama, a play peppered with amusing, often jokey dialogue alternating with poignant moments of personal confrontation and reconciliation. Yet the disconnect is not as disruptive as it could be thanks to David Cromer’s smooth, seamless direction and an accomplished cast.”

Hollywood Reporter - “This mainly well-acted production is a more sober rendition than the original 1983 Broadway staging, which starred Matthew Broderick and ran for more than three years. While not neglecting the laughs, this is a harsher, darker version that might not prove as crowd-pleasing.”

NY1 - “The Depression-era struggles of this Brooklyn family certainly resonate today and the combined pathos and pitch-perfect humor will have audiences laughing and crying.”

Bloomberg - “John Lee Beatty (fine two-tiered set), Jane Greenwood (spot-on costumes) and Brian MacDevitt (splendidly realistic lighting) deliver their customary compelling best. Cromer’s direction, casting aside, keeps things moving. But all this is merely cosmetics, where surgery is called for.”

Post - “If this revival works at all — and mostly it does — it’s largely thanks to director David Cromer and his cast.”

New York magazine - “But that broadness, like a persistent jack-in-the-box, can’t be tamped down for long, and the result is a wearying evening of squeezed-out laughs.”

Steve on Broadway - “Through Brighton Beach Memoirs, Cromer further cements his reputation, burnishing his credentials as a brilliant, visionary master at breathing vigorous new life into classic material. But unlike his mind-blowing, stripped-down revival of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town — still playing New York’s Barrow Street Theatre — the director stages Brighton Beach Memoirs with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a Broadway show, which is Cromer’s first.”

Chicago Tribune - “In his distinguished and, frankly, very moving Broadway directing debut, David Cromer mostly does what he has been doing for years in little theaters all over Chicago. He tackles a tired, second-tier play — Neil Simon’s autobiographical ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ — that has become clouded with contrivances, cliches and the stamps of star actors, and, in this particular case, expectations over the efficient deliveries of iconic one-liners.”

Washington Post - “The scenes between them radiate such a natural intimacy, it’s almost as if you’re listening through the keyhole. Much of what they talk about has to do with sex. Shocking, I know. Yes, we’ve been there, done that on a hundred nights of theater- and movie-going. Good acting, however, persuades you that you’re hearing such an exchange for the first time. “

Image source: Official website for “Brighton Beach Memoirs” on Broadway.

October 26, 2009 8:40 AM in Broadway

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