Matthew Broderick & David Cross to co-star off-Broadway in new TARTUFFE written by Lucas Hnath

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 1:06pm

Sarah Benson directing with Francis Jue, Bianca Del Rio, Amber Gray & more co-starring; performances beginning at New York Theatre Workshop in late fall

[raddersons]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 1:13pm

This cast is overflowing with talent but after seeing him be immensely bland in some plays as of late I don’t think I need to see Matthew Broderick again. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 1:22pm

A very exciting casting announcement completely leveled by Broderick’s involvement. The man is a lead balloon.

Anyway… Bianca del Rio! Freshly-minted Tony-winner Francis Jue!

[JSquared2]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 1:23pm

raddersons said: "This cast is overflowing with talentbut after seeing him be immensely blandin some plays as of late I don’t think I need to see Matthew Broderick again."

 

Well I'm sure they'll do just fine without your support -- but thanks for chiming in.

[Bwaygurl2]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 1:58pm

Lucas Hnath! 

[raddersons]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 2:35pm

JSquared2 said: "raddersons said: "This cast is overflowing with talentbut after seeing him be immensely blandin some plays as of late I don’t think I need to see Matthew Broderick again."



Well I'm sure they'll do just fine without your support -- but thanks for chiming in."

You’re right, we shouldn't be discussing theatre on a theatre message board. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Updated On: 6/16/25 at 02:35 PM

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 2:37pm

that cast is stacked and I have to wonder if a transfer is in the cards

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 2:37pm

I wish they had done the original Moliere in the still-vital Wilbur translation and I think Broderick would be a better Orgon than Tartuffe.  However, his work off-Broadway has bested his recent work on Broadway by several yards so...this could be good!

[Dolly80]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 2:50pm

Broderick will suck every bit of energy out of this, as he does everything he’s in. Pass.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 3:07pm

I've never seen Broderick be anything but a vacuum of charisma onstage. The rest of the cast is incredible and hopefully the production can counterbalance him. 

[whatever2]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 3:37pm

seriously ... dude has the range on an airport drop-off zone announcement.

they should have made *him* Orgon.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 3:46pm

Cross seems like much better casting for Tartuffe, honestly. 

[whatever2]

Posted: 6/16/25 at 3:51pm

then it's settled! :)

[oldfriends]

Posted: 12/3/25 at 4:14pm

Has anyone seen this yet? Have tix for Friday and I'm looking forward.

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 12/3/25 at 4:15pm

Read super mixed reviews over on reddit

[Ptero2]

Posted: 12/3/25 at 4:28pm

I saw the second preview of this and thought it was a fun time. David Cross was notably having a tough time with his lines and had to call for one, but I thought the entire cast was phenomenal outside of that and the audience seemed to be eating it up. Ikechukwu Ufomadu and Amber Gray were my favorites (but I am an unapologetically biased Amber Gray fan).

This WAS one of the all-$29 early previews though, hopefully David has his lines down now that he's performing for people who paid $100 more than that.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 12/3/25 at 5:20pm

We saw the first preview (day after Thanksgiving).  Cross, Broderick & Kron were having line issues and"going back" to restart sections.  Broderick & especially Cross made their forgetfulness funny - and, generally speaking, the audience was with them.

We generally enjoyed the evening. It was clear the cast needed to grow into their comedic timing - and the director needed a heavier hand to make it work, with the cast. It all felt underrehearsed.  Davis (going for a comedia del'arte melodrama look, Gray & Ufamadu (deadpan) were mostly in good shape already.  The cast will find their way with time.  The adaptation is pretty loyal to Moliere - with modern cursing but, of course, rhyming .

This was already leagues better than the college-like poorly directed/staged version on the upper east side - as were the performances (albeit decent performances from Iman and deShields).

That said, they need to sharpen the direction, timing and cut the dumb "choreography"? between scenes (a strange directorial choice).  Raja Kelly, once again, confounds us with uninteresting choreography and does not get the humor assignment he was tasked.  Never sure why he gets these jobs.  But cut it.

There is time for the cast and director to work this timing into a solid Tartuffe.  It was a fun enough first preview with potential.

Updated On: 12/3/25 at 05:20 PM

[quizking101]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 9:39am

I went last night on one of the very limited $23 TDF seats they had in an early sale.

I’ll start simply - André de Shields’ recent Tartuffe blows this one out of the water by a country mile. That production was high concept, campy, and well-performed. This, comparatively, felt like an overlong SNL-style facsimile that, while I laughed quite a few times, ultimately did not amount to a satisfying whole. Hnath tries to add modern profanity and parlance into the piece, but it doesn’t really do anything meaningful, Raja Feather Kelly’s choreo seemed completely unnecessary, and Sarah Benson’s direction seemed like she just took her hands off the wheel and let the car drive itself. The set is a single dining room but is also somehow a tennis court, lounge, and wardrobe, with a giant loudspeaker in the top corner making buzzer noises you’d hear at any sporting event.

Bianca Del Rio as Mme. Pernelle opens the show with her full chest reading everyone for filth in rhyming couplets and it was a role that she was absolutely born to play. Lisa Kron also got a lot of laughs out of me as the exhausted put-upon maid who also had some good zingers under her belt. Out of the rest, Amber Gray and Ryan Haddad fair the best, since they both know how to make a meal out of any material, but the rest seem adrift with little to do or are woefully miscast.

Emily Davis is left to mostly just whine and cry in a bubble pink dress looking like a Kristin Chenoweth call-back to Charlie Brown and Wicked. Francis Jue and Ike Ufomadu seemed very restricted in their roles, like they had the chance to be broader, but weren’t allowed to.

This brings me to Cross and Broderick who, as someone suggested earlier, should have DEFINITELY switched roles here. Broderick continues to coast on his generally impish demeanor as the new iteration of America’s Oldest Teenager, which is not what I want in a Tartuffe. I need broader gestures and more overt charisma that could make you believe he has put someone under their spell. Broderick is dressed like a drab  pilgrim and is lacking the verve to sell his schtick to make me believe he conned Cross’ Orgon. However, Cross fares MUCH better as Orgon, all pomp and haughty stubbornness, including great chemistry with Gray, even if his energy was flagging a bit by the end. 

Overall, this one is definitely a skip if you saw the far superior de Shields production, and since there are no tickets under $100 for the rest of the run, if you are a bargain hunter, this is a VERY easy decision to make.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 10:57am

Oh.  No.  We liked the one at NYTW MUCH more than the poorly handled uptown DeShields presentation - which felt like amateur hour from the cast (except DeShields and Iman) - and was barely directed.  It was in an interesting space, poorly used, but that's about it.

The NYTW cast was better as a whole and there was at least some form of vision.

Updated On: 12/15/25 at 10:57 AM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 12:02pm

quizking101 said: "I went last night on one of the very limited $23 TDF seats they had in an early sale.

I’ll start simply- André de Shields’ recent Tartuffe blows this one out of the water by a country mile. That production was high concept, campy, and well-performed. This, comparatively, felt like an overlong SNL-style facsimile that, while I laughed quite a few times, ultimately did not amount to a satisfying whole. Hnath tries to add modern profanity and parlance into the piece, but it doesn’t really do anything meaningful, Raja Feather Kelly’s choreo seemed completely unnecessary, and Sarah Benson’s direction seemed like she just took her hands off the wheel and let the car drive itself. The set is a single dining room but is also somehow a tennis court, lounge, and wardrobe, with a giant loudspeaker in the top corner making buzzer noises you’d hear at any sporting event.

Bianca Del Rio as Mme. Pernelle opens the show with her full chest reading everyone for filth in rhyming coupletsand it was a role that she was absolutely born to play. Lisa Kron also got a lot of laughs out of me as the exhausted put-upon maid who also had some good zingers under her belt. Out of the rest, Amber Gray and Ryan Haddad fair the best, since they both know how to make a meal out of any material, but the rest seem adrift with little to do or are woefully miscast.

Emily Davis is left to mostly just whine and cry in a bubble pink dress looking like a Kristin Chenoweth call-back to Charlie Brown and Wicked. Francis Jue and Ike Ufomadu seemed very restricted in their roles, like they had the chance to be broader, but weren’t allowed to.

This brings me to Cross and Broderick who, as someone suggested earlier, should have DEFINITELY switched roles here. Broderick continues to coast on his generally impish demeanor as the new iteration of America’s Oldest Teenager, which is not what I want in a Tartuffe. I need broader gestures and more overt charisma that could make you believe he has put someone under their spell. Broderick is dressed like a drab pilgrim and is lacking the verve to sell his schtick to make me believe he conned Cross’ Orgon. However, Cross fares MUCH better as Orgon, all pomp and haughty stubbornness, including great chemistry with Gray, even if his energy was flagging a bit by the end.

Overall, this one is definitely a skip if you saw the far superior de Shields production, and since there are no tickets under $100 for the rest of the run, if you are a bargain hunter, this is a VERY easy decision to make."

Yeah no, I gotta disagree. The de Shields production was so unbelievably bad and amateurish. The translation felt like it was written by an 8th grader. It was all dumb.

I saw NYTW's last night and had a great time, so did the rest of the audience to what I heard. It's funny and fun and I thin Hnath added some nice touches to his translation. I think the issues they had during early previews have been ironed out and I was extremely pleased by this production.

[BMcGregor]

Posted: 12/15/25 at 12:25pm

You know, you're allowed to disagree with someone else's opinion without the constant replies of "yeah, no." 

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 12/16/25 at 8:15pm

Reviews are dropping. Vincentelli is lukewarm in the Times.

Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/theater/tartuffe-review-matthew-broderick-david-cross.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9U8.Tvo9.DJ8Ip8LPxORr&smid=url-share

"A more traditional production might have switched the actors playing the two men, considering Broderick’s and Cross’s styles, but the counterintuitive casting keeps the show on its toes. In fact, casting in general is the ace in the director Sarah Benson’s sleeve as the company ably navigates Lucas Hnath’s fluid, if sometimes unnecessarily profane, verse adaptation of this classic 17th-century French comedy. (Admittedly, I did shudder hearing Hnath rhyme “Tartuffe” with words like “goof” since it should be pronounced with a hard “u” sound.)"

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/17/25 at 11:42pm

After the reviews, I really didn’t expect much tonight but we had a great time. I even enjoyed Broderick so that was a first for me. There was one sort of tense moment where I think Cross forgot his next line but Francis Jue expertly helped him out with no issues. Besides that there were no other issues with remembering dialogue so they all seem to have gotten a handle on that. 

If prices weren’t what they are I’d love to go back but I’m just happy I got a chance to see it at all. 

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 12/18/25 at 11:08pm

Tart-uff. This was a slog. It’s a good adaptation of a great play, the cast is game, but it suffers from a lack of direction and momentum. The pace is lackadaisical with unnecessary interstitial music and pointless scene change “choreography” killing the mood. This should have been faster and shorter. The flat lighting and amateurish set don’t do anything to enhance or distract from the tedium.

Matthew Broderick is surprisingly good, mostly because he’s making strong choices and giving his classic character a new interpretation. The acting is solid and thoughtfully restrained throughout. Bianca Del Rio brings some much needed energy in her brief appearances. Lisa Kron brings droll wit and Francis Jur brings heart and soul. David Cross… remembered his lines. 

Overall this felt like elevated community theater. You appreciate the effort and chuckle politely, but can’t wait for it to end. My main takeaway is that the seats at NYTW are butt killers. 

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 12/19/25 at 9:39am

EmceeHammer said: "Tart-uff. This was a slog. It’s a good adaptation of a great play, the cast is game, but it suffers from a lack of direction and momentum. The pace is lackadaisical with unnecessary interstitial music and pointless scene change “choreography” killing the mood. This should have been faster and shorter. The flat lighting and amateurish set don’t do anything to enhance or distract from the tedium.

Matthew Broderick is surprisingly good, mostly because he’s making strong choices and giving his classic character a new interpretation. The acting is solid and thoughtfully restrained throughout. Bianca Del Rio brings some much needed energy in her brief appearances. Lisa Kron brings droll wit and Francis Jur brings heart and soul. David Cross… remembered his lines.

Overall this felt like elevated community theater. You appreciate the effort and chuckle politely, but can’t wait for it to end.My main takeaway is that the seats at NYTW are butt killers."


 

— “unnecessary interstitial music and pointless scene change “choreography” killing the mood”

 

I haven’t  seen the show but this reminds me of the Old Vic Oedipus (with Rami Malek) I saw in London  LOL