Butley questions regarding the show

[ben1986]

Posted: 9/8/06 at 3:23pm

Can anyone give me more information regarding what the show (Butley) is about. I've read several synopsis of it and some describe the show as a dark comedy, some say it is a drama? Can anyone please help shed some light. I would appreciate it so. Also does anyone know if their are any discounts codes or ways I can get cheap tickets. I'm a college student.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 9/8/06 at 3:43pm

Butley is a college professor who loses his wife and male lover in the same day.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 9/8/06 at 3:51pm

It is classified as a dark comedy, meaning it will have some funny/light moments/elements, but be serious and dramatic at heart.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 9/8/06 at 3:54pm

I guess you can call this a dark comedy in that Butley is a very funny man, who uses his sarcastic, quick wit to throw barbs at others when he is feeling threatened or uncertain.

If you look beyond the comedy, it is a story that I think a lot of people will relate to: regarding a man who has learned to fend off the intimacy he so desperately craves by protecting himself with humor (pulling his loved ones in with one hand and pushing them away with another). When his life comes crashing down around his ears, he is fairly unprepared to deal with the loss or to know how to change. As such, it is a poignant dramatic portrayal of a man who is "coming apart at the seams" and yet seems to be in control of everything and everyone around him. Sound like half the New Yorkers you know or nearly all the theater people you have met or even YOU?

This is done in the period in which the show was first written and performed (as a 70s piece) so the topic of gay lovers and sexuality was not quite as common as it is today. Butley is a lit professor and recites nursery rhymes (strangely enough) when he feels cornered.

I saw this show in Boston and it is well worth a viewing. I am especially anxious to see Darren Pettie take on the role of Reg as I believe he will be a strong addition to the cast.

As a college student, you should call the box office at the Booth (which is now open) and check on whether they will have a student price...barring that, check SRO on the night of the show.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 9/8/06 at 3:54pm

There are currently no discount codes for Butley, but it is highly likely there will be standing room when the show is sold out.

[eujenni]

Posted: 9/8/06 at 4:01pm

I found this synopsis of Butley:
The story focuses on one very bad day in the life of Butley, a feisty, sharp-tongued, lazy and pathetic professor of English. His professional ascendancy is challenged by a slick, accomplished woman many years his junior; his ex-wife gives him conniptions when she announces her remarriage to someone he cannot bear; and his male lover of several years chooses this time to announce that he is leaving him for a sweeter-tempered but very ordinary man of the sort Butley despises. Bleak though this sounds, Butley's unconquerable wit and biting repartee transform this otherwise tragic tale into something of a celebration of survival.

[ben1986]

Posted: 9/8/06 at 4:07pm

Thank you all very much, I'm going to try and get tickets. This really did help! You're all great, have a good weekend.

[MrsVampyre]

Posted: 9/9/06 at 10:34am

Butley, is a dark comedy. The play centers around one day in life when his world falls apart around him. He wife, announces that she's going to marry someone else, his protegy, and male lover tells him he's leaving him for another man. Then his co-worker, at the univeristy, states that the book she has been writing for 10 years is being published. Butley, takes this all in with an acerbic wit, while chain smoking.

The play was written in the 70's and won Tony's when it was first produced. This revival promises the same, based on the reviews when it played in Boston.

[eujenni]

Posted: 9/14/06 at 2:45pm

Just found this out. For discounts for "Butley" go to www.broadwayoffers.com and use promo code: butce24. Tickets must be purchased by 10/24/06. Discount is valid on select seats, for these dates 10/5/06-11/22/06.