Facts of Life's Nancy McKeon and Two-Time Tony Nom Johanna Day to star in NY Debut of PEN PALS by Michael Griffo

[PrinceAli]

Posted: 10/23/24 at 1:36pm

https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/754255448/facts-of-life-s-nancy-mckeon-and-two-time-tony-nom-johanna-day-to-star-in-ny-debut-of-pen-pals-by-michael-griffo

[Producer2]

Posted: 10/23/24 at 2:03pm

This was one of the sweetest plays I've seen in a long time!  "Facts of Life" fans will love it, Nancy McKeon is outstanding!  

Updated On: 10/24/24 at 02:03 PM

[quizking101]

Posted: 10/23/24 at 2:32pm

Producer2 said: "This was one of the best plays I've seen in a long time! Nancy McKeon is outstanding! Get tickets asap, they're sure to sell out!"

A bit skeptical of this rave considering your username is “Producer”

[PrinceAli]

Posted: 10/23/24 at 2:57pm

I have to say. I knew nothing about this play other than it was starring Nancy. I made the drive from LI to the NJ Rep and was pretty impressed. The 90 min flew by and it was a pretty powerful story. It far exceeded my expectations and as I was watching I wondered if it would come to NY. So glad it is. Couldn't wait to share. 

[BringBackBirdie]

Posted: 10/24/24 at 8:02am

I saw this in Jersey, it's a sweet ninety minute play.  Nancy McKeon is indeed terrific. No surprise it's coming to New York.

[BringBackBirdie]

Posted: 12/5/24 at 8:48am

STARTS TONIGHT!!!

https://playbill.com/article/johanna-day-and-nancy-mckeon-are-pen-pals-off-broadway-beginning-december-5

[Michelle Birnbaum]

Posted: 12/6/24 at 2:08pm

Looking forward to seeing this later this month.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/10/24 at 10:41am

I went to this solely to see Nancy McKeon because seeing her in person is a bucket list check mark for sure. What I was not expecting was that she’d be as good as she was - I mean it’s one of those things where you think “Well damn, girl. If you can turn a performance like that from a fairly mediocre, cliche filled play then why the hell don’t we see you onstage every season?!” Johanna Day is also wonderful (as to be expected from her) but their performances really do take the writing to a place it absolutely could never go, with lesser actors. 

With a play like this you pretty much know exactly what it’ll be from start to finish but there’s enough sweet (and a few unexpected) moments that do make the 90 minutes fly by. 

But I’d recommend this one to anyone wanting a light-ish 90 mins and seeing two really great actors do what’s essentially a play reading, since they have their notebooks(letters) in front of them the whole time that they’re reading and writing. 

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 12/10/24 at 11:46am

I always thought McKeon should have had a bigger career outside of television.  Hell, I thought she was by far the best thing about TFOL. I remember in one of the Facts movies she had a crying scene and she played it the way you're supposed to play it: by not trying to cry.  

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/10/24 at 11:51am

Speaking of crying, she did a LOT of that in this play. And real tears streaming for quite a bit of it. Lots of tissues used on that stage. 

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 12/10/24 at 12:30pm

Can I ask an obvious question...is this basically an all femal version of "Love Letters" by A.R. Gurney?

[NYCtheater]

Posted: 12/10/24 at 3:42pm

I saw an interview on tv with Nancy and she said the playwright found letters his mom and her penpal had written to each other. He started reading them, but at some point thought it was too personal to continue reading them, but decided to write a play based on that idea of 2 friends writing to each other over the years.

[Michelle Birnbaum]

Posted: 12/15/24 at 9:11am

We saw this yesterday afternoon.  Both ladies were excellent.  It was a moving play.