BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY Previews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 12:00am

The winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Between Riverside and Crazy begins previews tomorrow at the Helen Hayes Theatre, prior to a December 19 opening night. The play is written by Stephen Adly Guirgis and directed by Austin Pendleton. Leading the cast is Common in his Broadway debut; joining him are Victor Almanzar, Elizabeth Canavan, Rosal Colón, Liza Colón-Zayas, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Michael Rispoli. Between Riverside and Crazy will conclude its limited run on February 12.

As previously announced, Tuesday nights and Wednesday matinees will be mask-required performances. Also, the final two weeks of performances will be simulcast; $68 tickets are now on sale.

“City Hall is demanding more than his signature, the landlord wants him out, the liquor store is closed — and the Church won’t leave him alone. For ex-cop and recent widower Walter ‘Pops’ Washington and his recently paroled son Junior, the struggle to hold on to one of the last great rent stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive collides with old wounds, sketchy new houseguests, and a final ultimatum in this Pulitzer Prize-winning dark comedy from Stephen Adly Guirgis. For Pops and Junior, it seems the old days are dead and gone — after a lifetime living Between Riverside and Crazy.”

Who’s going?

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 12:51am

I LOVED this off-broadway, while I look forward to seeing what Common brings to the role, it is sad Ron Cephas Jones ended up being the only cast member from that run not returning. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 4:33pm

Was at the theatre buying tickets for a future performance and it appears Victor Alamanzar is out and Erick Betancourt will play Oswaldo at tonight’s first preview

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 11/29/22 at 4:38pm

First preview is tomorrow.

[Robstriker]

Posted: 11/30/22 at 1:42pm

I was notified by TDF that tonight's performance has been cancelled

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 11/30/22 at 2:41pm

Was just confirmed canceled through my P.o.S and on social media. 
 

Cast illness, wishing them a Speedy recovery!

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 11/30/22 at 11:55pm

Surprised at how many tickets are available for the first few weeks, I really thought Common would be a big enough name to move tickets

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/1/22 at 12:12am

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Surprised at how many tickets are available for the first few weeks, I really thought Common would be a big enough name to move tickets"

Eh - for some reason, most the non-profit theatres (2ST, Roundabout, and MTC - LCT the notable exception) seldom have complete sell-out hits, even with huge stars. The Jesse Williams’ scandal aside, I really don’t know of any show in the Hayes since 2ST took over that was a complete blowout hit except for “What The Constitution Means To Me”

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 12/1/22 at 4:47pm

Common is out with COVID

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/1/22 at 10:36pm

Was anyone at first preview tonight?

Also, what was the running time?

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 12/2/22 at 3:59pm

any updates? Supposed to see this Sunday...

[Anshel2]

Posted: 12/8/22 at 1:45pm

I really enjoyed this.  Interesting story.  Good characters.  The only one I didn't really care for was Common.  Low key, monotone delivery.  An enjoyable evening.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/9/22 at 4:06pm

Anshel2 said: "I really enjoyed this. Interesting story. Good characters. The only one I didn't really care for was Common. Low key, monotone delivery. An enjoyable evening."

 

I really want to see this but, if I am not mistaken, this is Common's stage debut and I think I will wait until he gets more comfortable.

 

 

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 12/11/22 at 11:52pm

Really enjoyed this, a wonderful two hours of theater, the kind of play that gets applause after every scene.

My only thing is it maybe could have used a tweek or two script wise, a early discussion about jewish lawyers comes across a bit differently now then 8 years ago when the play premiered (ditto a Trump reference) 

and yes Common unfortunately is the weak link but he has a challenge to meet the performances of an entire ensemble that have lived in the skin of these characters twice before already 

this is a must see if you missed its two earlier runs off-broadway

[bfreak]

Posted: 12/12/22 at 6:47am

I saw this yesterday afternoon and agree that this is an under the radar MUST see. I was totally enthralled by the complicated themes, dark humor, and humanity embedded in this play. Stephen McKinley Henderson is giving a master class performance, and it is stunning how amazing and nuanced his performance is. He tows the line between heartwarming, tragic, and vindictive within breaths. The entire ensemble was excellent, and on the whole Common more than held his own. Austin Pendleton’s direction is great as well, the play was always moving at a good pace and the production as a whole really served the play well. Would highly recommend!

Updated On: 12/12/22 at 06:47 AM

[Phantour]

Posted: 12/12/22 at 8:50am

bfreak said: Stephen McKinley Henderson is giving a master class performance, and it is stunning how amazing and nuanced his performance is. He tows the line between heartwarming, tragic, and vindictive within breaths."

I've been following this thread in hopes that someone would mention Steve's performance. I'm a former student of his and I've been thrilled to see all his successes in the past decade. I am glad he had the opportunity to do this play! 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 12/13/22 at 12:02am

Stephen McKinley Henderson was definitely a big highlight for me as well!  I liked the play overall, I thought it was truly funny but also able to discuss the heavy issues it did.  The main thing to me seemed that there wasn't a cohesive style across actors?  Rosal Colon seemed to be playing very broad while Common was much more reserved (which maybe is due to his inexperience in acting, but I didn't think it was a bad fit for his character either).  Elizabeth Canavan and Michael Rispoli seemed to have kind of a strange chemistry together--it didn't feel like they were romantically involved, despite all that they say about being engaged--and I had a hard time believing that Audrey had such a close relationship with Walter, too.  I don't think any individual actor was particularly poor, but they just didn't seem to click together as well as I would've liked, which was weird considering a lot of them did the off Broadway run.  Did anyone else feel this way too?

I also really liked the way they employed the set, it seemed really effective for such a small theater, and even just making some of the set changes happen in front of the audience was nice to see (like them setting the table in half-lighting), since it made it seem like it was another glimpse into the lives of these characters.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/17/22 at 5:27pm

Saw the matinee today and this play belongs to Stephen McKinley Henderson. I mean - how will Tony voters choose between him and Wendell Pierce? I would just stare at the ballot until I died, I don’t know how you’d choose. 
 

The play itself is also just so damn good and well written, I’m so happy I finally got a chance to see it after missing its original run. And since the big draw is Common, he’s fine in this. It’s not a role that you can really shine in and for someone with “limited” acting experience I think it suits him fine. And it suited the lady behind me who at a random moment just loudly exclaimed “Big Bull Stud” so that was a thing that happened. 
 

But go see this play. 

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 12/17/22 at 6:09pm

Guirgis.  Pendleton.  McKinley Henderson.  That's three national treasures right there.  

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/17/22 at 6:10pm

I was also there this afternoon and I found the play to be very good, though it took a little while to take off and I found the sound design for the first scene to be atrocious. (I could barely hear them).

I’m part of the team “Came for Common, Stayed for Stephen”. Stephen is absolutely marvelous in this role and his act 2 scene with Liza Colon-Zayas was FANTASTIC! I definitely this he’s assuredly in the mix for a Tony nomination, but I think we’re going to be looking at a very tough category with possibly an overload of nominees (Henderson, Pierce, Hawkins, Pope/Bettany, Mays, and Cooper) and that’s not even taking into consideration Spring shows.

My money remains on Hawkins, though Henderson makes a solid case.

[buffalospeedway]

Posted: 12/17/22 at 8:43pm

Mr. Henderson is a legend, and Common has really grown as an actor (also I can't believe he's 50, he looks incredible lol), but I was not as taken with Guirgis' play as many others. Spoilers and more thoughts below:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

The Good: The scenes with Pops, Audrey, and the Lieutenant show how white people can be warm and collegial with Black people on the surface, but harbor anti-Black sentiments on the low. Guirgis also did a great job of showing how Black cops will never be a part of the Fraternity of the Thin Blue Line, regardless of how many years they've served. I also loved the reveal at the end when Pops gives Audrey's ring to Church Lady.

The Bad: Guirgis is not good at writing women of color, at least in this particular play. The first time we see Lulu, Pops is slut-shaming her for wearing short shorts, and her characterization does not rise beyond the place of being vapid but sweet. Church Lady is a grifter whose big moment in the play is the "sexual healing" scene. Characters like Audrey and Oswaldo are given richer backstories that elevate their characters above punchlines.