Cannavale, Harris, and Corden to star in ART on Broadway (Fall 2025)

Bobby Cannavale deserves better co-stars than those two guys with undeserved Tonys

My distaste for Corden aside, this just seems like an extremely odd grouping. I’m wondering what Scott Ellis has in mind that would make these three very different actors coherent together.

Considering the last play Harris was in (Sh!t Meet Fan) didn’t use him effectively as part of an ensemble (as well as being a crappy play), I hope this serves him better.

https://www.popdust.com/james-corden-wga-2638346884

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63384455

I saw the original cast on Broadway, it was very good. Corden and Ellis will keep me from seeing this revival, but hopefully a new generation can discover this very well written play. And it's very short and has no interval so that might make people happy as well.

Hmm. I won't pass up a chance to see Cannavale on stage even though this trio doesn't really excite me.

Updated On: 5/22/25 at 06:48 PM

Well Yvan is a pretty perfect role for Corden. I was confused by the earlier report that he is playing Serge, which is a pretty thankless part for a Tony winner. He could be Marc too - since the character is basically an abrasive a**hole, and it might have given him a chance to do what Hugh Grant had to do three decades ago, which was start playing jerks after revelations about his personal life made him much harder to buy as an “adorkable” protagonist.

WiCkEDrOcKS said: "RippedMan said: "I wish we could get some new, interesting directors. I feel like everything is Scott Ellis or Kenny Leon."

This.

To me, this is a much bigger “problem” than the NPH and James Corden of it all. Why are the same directors hired to mount multiple productions, season after season?"

Because they have powerful agents, the directors themselves have deep relationships with producers (who gravitate to people they know) and talent, they have decent track records, and they are proven to know how to work with stars. And knowing how to “handle” a star is not something every director is good at, and most stars want to know they are in safe, experienced hands.

I agree they’re overexposed. But their work is good more often than not, IMO. And throughout history there have always been people who work more than others for one reason or another.

Updated On: 5/22/25 at 11:16 PM

It's interesting and pretty sad that Corden was at one time considered a pretty major upcoming talent. He used to be pretty great before he crossed the pond and got chewed up and spit out by Hollywood.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "WiCkEDrOcKS said: "RippedMan said: "I wish we could get some new, interesting directors. I feel like everything is Scott Ellis or Kenny Leon."

This.

To me, this is a much bigger “problem” than the NPH and James Corden of it all. Why are the same directors hired to mount multiple productions, season after season?"

Because they have powerful agents, the directors themselves have deep relationships with producers (who gravitate to people they know)and talent,they have decent track records, and they are proven to know how to work with stars. And knowing how to “handle” a star is not something every director is good at, and most stars want to know they are in safe, experienced hands.

I agree they’re overexposed. But their work is good more often than not, IMO. And throughout history there havealways been people who work more than others for one reason or another."

I understand all of that, of course - the question was mostly rhetorical. I just wish we’d be giving new directors a shot, especially with revivals. Leon and Ellis don’t exactly have a track record of reinvigorating or reimagining older material.

They generally deliver straightforward, unsurprising productions. Which, I’m sure, is part of their draw when it comes to helming starry revivals. They’re “safe” bets. But I’m bored by “safe.”

DeNada said: "Georgeanddot2 said: "It's interesting and pretty sad that Corden was at one time considered a pretty major upcoming talent. He used to be pretty great before he crossed the pond and got chewed up and spit out by Hollywood."

Corden blotted his copybook long before any form of US "stardom"; there was a period in the late 2000s where he was massively overexposed on British television/film in a series of terrible projects, he gave a number of graceless interviews, and had a very well-publicised bust up with Patrick Stewart at an awards show. Yes, The History Boys, Gavin and Stacey, and One Man Two Guvnors were all very well received, but there's a huge amount of dross in Corden's career both at home and in the US."

To that end, while his performance in INTO THE WOODS wasn’t terrible, his follow up performances in THE PROM and CATS were nearly universally reviled (with the latter film also being reviled as well) and that hasn’t endeared him back to the theatregoing audiences who’ve seen him on film.

I know the FORUM rumor has been longstanding and likely got kiboshed when he had his talk show, but I can’t really imagine him doing eight shows a week of a musical nowadays