#26
Posted: 5/7/26 at 3:17pm
Such little buzz about this show. Has anyone else here seen it? I'd love to read some comments before deciding if I need to see it or not.
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#27
Posted: 5/7/26 at 3:31pm
TotallyEffed said: "Suchlittle buzz about this show. Has anyone else here seen it? I'd love to read some comments before deciding if I need to see it or not."
Aside from Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who's predictably excellent, there's nothing really special about this production. It's...fine. The acting is fine, for the most part. (Some of the supporting roles are not cast especially well.) The direction is okay. I wasn't bored. But this is a play that can feel magical -- as it did in the 2009 revival directed by Bart Sher -- and that's just utterly lacking here.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Updated On: 5/7/26 at 03:31 PM
#28
Posted: 5/7/26 at 3:45pm
I think before people continue to bash the show you should do some more research. Buzz has been every where. And their social media platform is enormous.
#29
Posted: 5/7/26 at 3:52pm
troynow said: "I think before people continue to bash the show you should do some more research. Buzz has been every where. And their social media platform is enormous."
No one is bashing the show: they're just saying there is little buzz about it. I'd say the Tony nominations solidified that opinion. As I said earlier in this thread: it's a fine revival, just not great. I have no clue how well this is selling, but generalizing here, I've heard little to nothing about this production since it opened.
#30
Posted: 5/7/26 at 3:57pm
I still think this is a fantastic production of one of August Wilson’s best plays.
#31
Posted: 5/7/26 at 6:14pm
How is the stage door for this show? As a fan of Taraji P Henson, it would be great to get a selfie and signature.....if she does that. Also, how has Cedric been signing/taking pics?
#32
Posted: 5/7/26 at 6:18pm
kevinr said: "How is the stage door for this show? As a fan of Taraji P Henson, it would be great to get a selfie and signature.....if she does that. Also, how has Cedric been signing/taking pics?"
From what I've seen on social media, it looks like Taraji doesn't usually stay around to sign, but she'll come out and wave to fans before she leaves. Cedric seems to sign after most performances. Not sure about pictures.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#33
Posted: 5/7/26 at 7:08pm
I have tickets for the end of next week and will report back - IMO I'd welcome a production of any of August Wilson's plays from The Century Cycle each season.
Briefly looking at ticket availability, I fear this one is getting lost in the large volume of plays this spring. (That and the prices are *VERY* high, but what isn't? I hope the Spring Sale on Telecharge helps spread WOM.)
The Sher production remains quite etched into my memory, and if I recall correctly, it struggled at the box office until awards season + President Obama and Michelle went to the show and got *massive* press. From then on per one of my friends who worked at LCT, it was an impossible ticket for its final weeks (deservedly.)
Looking forward this cast and Allen's approach (Also, I'd see Ruben Santiago-Hudson do just about anything onstage.)
Updated On: 5/7/26 at 07:08 PM
#34
Posted: 5/7/26 at 11:58pm
^ I believe the Sher (remarkable, revelatory) was LCT so selling of tickets was less of an issue. God, I’d see that agin in a New York minute. Maybe my top play revival of all time.
#35
Posted: 5/13/26 at 1:08pm
Play Esq. said: "Saw this yesterday. I consider it my favorite of all Wilson’s plays and saw the Sher production at least 5 times.
It's my favorite play of his as well. What makes it so powerful is that the characters are carrying deep pain, displacement, and uncertainty, yet the boarding house becomes a place of survival, community, and restoration. Even when the characters are hard on one another, it comes across as a kind of protective “tough love” rooted in shared struggle rather than cruelty. The humor is also part of what makes the play feel so human to me. Debbie Allens' direction and the performances of Joshua Boone, Taraji Henson and Ruben Santiago-Hudson are particularly brilliant here.
Wilson doesn’t present the struggle in a one-dimensional way; he allows laughter, teasing, storytelling, music, and everyday interactions to coexist with grief and longing. It’s heartwarming because beneath all the hardship, the play insists on dignity, connection, and hope. I'm so glad the buzz is so positive, and the show is so successful. I was not surprised at the lack of nominations given how voters rejected Hollywood this year, but this is still a fantastic production worth seeing.
#36
Posted: 6/27/26 at 11:23pm
if there was any casualty of this season--a show that just somehow got lost in the mix-- this revival must be it. I dont love all of August Wilson's work as much as I am supposed to--Fences and Jitney are masterpieces, Piano Lesson left me colder-- but this is an impressive and at times devastating work. it was my first viewing, and i think Debbie Allen did an OK job, but it seems like I missed out on the 2009 version that really made it fly. the stage here feels distant and enormous, and i felt removed from it all even though I was in Row D of front mezzanine.
regardless there is some incredible stuff happening at the Barrymore- despite an audience that laughed at the most cringeworthy spots, this cast is ON FIRE. Ruben Santiago Hudson, yes, incredible from the jump, but Joshua Boone, my God, how did this guy not get nominated? His character is really the center of this production, and from the moment he appears, he oozes foreboding and dread and then when he falls apart- I could get emotional just typing about it now.
But theres also Nimene Sierra Wureh, who is hilarious and yet so grounded, and Tripp Taylor who seems to be making a meal out of a stage debut? And Abigail Onwunali! I was gobsmacked by the performances in Act 2.
what really confuses me is the way that Seth and especially Bertha are such minor characters. Cedric is VERY funny, but his role was comic relief and plot development, with nothing more. And Taraji had even less to do--i was sure a moment/monologue was coming but she disappears into the background (no slight to her--the role is barely there....or is that just an imbalance in this production?) It was almost comical that they got the final bows...
was discouraging to see so many empty seats on a Sat night, but the roar of the audience at bows was tremendous. whatever the stumbles of the play, or the direction, i cant decide, its a worthwhile theater experience to be washed in this beautiful writing and see such artwork on stage.
#37
Posted: 7/6/26 at 10:07pm
I teach this show to my seniors every spring so I am so glad I got to see it before it closed.
There were so many moments that were illuminated for me by the staging and the line delivery. Before this, I’ve only heard 17 year olds struggling to read it aloud in class lol. The characterizations were on point and entertaining. Even Debbie Allen’s announcements about phones was spot on. The only problem was the obnoxious woman next to me who needed to talk back to pretty much everything the actors said. Wish I could see it again. Joshua Boone and Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s performances in particular will stay with me for a long time. Joshua Boone especially embodied Loomis so well. And I get that Taraji is arguably the most popular actor in the show, but the fact that she got the final bow over Boone was not appropriate. The role of Bertha is supporting at best and the show revolved around Loomis and Bynum.
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