Plays You Hope Get Revived- Page 2

[All that Yazz]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 3:05pm

The Fire Raisers (aka The Arsonists) (with the afterpiece) - Max Frisch

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 03:05 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 3:11pm

TheOtherOne2 said: "uncageg said: ""Find Your Way Home" by John Hopkins.



I remember my mother went on a theater trip to see it. The group, from what I remember, just bought tickets to the show not knowing much about it. When she got home she told me about it and said she really wanted me to see it. It only lasted on Broadway for a few months. Would love to see it revived off-Broadway at least. It played at the Biltmore (Now the Samuel J. Friedman) and it crosses my mind every time I see a show there."

That won a Tony for Michael Moriarty (and a nomination for Jane Alexander) and then just disappeared."

 

I totally forgot that. Thanks for reminding me. I know I looked it up years ago and knew. I am also sure I watched the year he won but that has been SO long ago!

Also, Edwin Sherin was nominated for Best Direction and Married Jane Alexander in 1975.

 

[All that Yazz]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 3:20pm

The Skriker - Caryl Churchill

the Royal Exchange Manchester Uk production was one of THE defining theatrical memories of my life! 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 3:22pm

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Betty's Summer Vacation

God of Carnage

Eastern Standard

Master Class

Lips Together, Teeth Apart

The Neil Simon "Eugene Trilogy" (Brighton Beach, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound) in rep (with the option of doing a Marathon of all 3 plays one day a week)

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 03:22 PM

[Sauja]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 3:25pm

All that Yazz said: "The Skriker - Caryl Churchill

the Royal Exchange Manchester Uk production was one of THE defining theatrical memories of my life!"

 

More Caryl Churchill revivals period. It hasn't been THAT long since either played NY, but I'd love another Top Girls or Cloud 9. Or maybe it HAS been that long, and I'm just old and have lost perspective. :)

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 3:43pm

TommyWho99 said: "BengalTiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Good, and Inherit the Wind"

There is an excellent production of Inherit The Wind running at Arena Stage in DC right now. I saw it last week and highly recommend it. 

[blug]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 6:14pm

We also haven't seen Hedda Gabler for a while (and if you could keep Van Hove, Icke, Lloyd and all the other "geniuses" far, far away, that'd be great). 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 8:46pm

WldKingdomHM said: "The Goat. Closer, Arsenic and Old Lace"

If the Oracle is to be believed, there was a revival of The Goat with Steve Carell and Sarah Paulson that fell through.

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 08:46 PM

[pmensky]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 9:14pm

morosco said: "A revival of DEATHTRAP starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul."

This show could be a huge cash grab with any number of Hollywood stars in the leads. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. Small cast, unit set, put it in a big theater and pack in the audiences for a 6 month run. 

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 7:00am

pmensky said: "morosco said: "A revival of DEATHTRAP starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul."

This show could be a hugecash grabwith any number of Hollywood stars in the leads. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. Small cast, unit set, put it in a big theater and pack in the audiences for a 6 month run."

Though I loved the original production, I am wondering if the depiction of the gay relationship in Deathtrap is dated. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 7:18am

morosco said: "I've always been surprised that there has never been a Broadway revival of AGNES OF GOD."

I’ve want this so badly for years. My dream casting has shifted over time but I think now my dream would be Kathy Bates and Scarlet Johansson 

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 8:22am

It’s still too soon but I want to see Significant Other again

[The Bittersweets]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 8:54am

I'm still mad at myself for missing Disgraced, and with the right person I think a revival of I Am My Own Wife would be electric.

[Sytwix]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 9:52am

Having seen Andrea Martin and Campbell Scott in City Center’s High Spirits this year made me think of Noises Off. 

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 11:11am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Neil Simon’s THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL

Neil Simon’s LAUGHTER ON THE 23RD FLOOR

Neil Simon’s CALIFORNIA SUITE"

I have to tell you that I saw a production of California Suite five or six years ago and it was painful to sit through...has really aged badly.  Also, The Star Spangled Girl was one of Neil Simon's few flops...it was really lousy.  If you are interested because you never saw it, you honestly did not miss much.

To another poster inquiring as to whether Deathtrap is dated, I saw a good production at the Cape Playhouse 5 - 8 years ago, and I thought it dragged.  The gay thing was not dated, because I viewed it as 'of its time'.  It just was not very good.  Interestingly, I saw a production of Dial M For Murder in Sarasota (at the Asolo, a first class regional theatre) and it was terrific, even though I knew it too well to be surprised and had no interest in actually seeing it) and it was terrific.

To another person who mentioned Find Your Way Home, it was not at the Biltmore (aka Friedman), but across the street at the Brooks Atkinson (aka I can't remember).  It was one of the most boring nights I have ever experienced in the theatre.  Michael Moriarty won the Tony against some of the fiercest competitors imaginable, but that didn't change the fact that it was an absolute slog.  I forgot that Jane Alexander received a Tony nomination; she was in it for about 10 minutes toward the end of the show.  I was in too much of a stupor by that time to actually remember her performance.

Thins that I would like to see revived:

1.  The Pillowman.  Definitely #1.  The only time I saw it, I sat there continually thinking to myself that it was an unbelievably great night in the theatre...that opinion has never changed.  I remember it more vividly than many other highly praised productions.

2.  Strange Interlude...Definitely #2.  I saw the last revival with Glenda Jackson a-- probably 40 years ago -- and it was honestly thrilling.  Superlong and it flew by.

Others in no particular order:

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, but only with a great actress who is good at playing over the top, but reining it in before it goes off the rails.  Zoe Caldwell was unforgettable in this, one of the truy great performances of the past 60 years.

The Philadelphia Story, but only if someone great is cast as Tracy Lord.  Saw it at Lincoln Center, probay 40 years ago, and none of the three leads were right for their roles, but it was still enjoyable.

I would like to see a revival of the Andre Serban production of The Cherry Orchard.  It was very special, not exactly hurt by an incredible cast.

Hay Fever.  I saw this probably 40 years ago with Rosemary Harris in the lead.  It was a laugh riot (year, even then a 40-or-50 year-old Tier 2 Noel Coward comedy.  Again, it will only work with a great performance in the lead role of Judith Bliss.

Nicholas Nickleby, although I suspect that ticket prices would rule it out.  Forty years ago, the only ticket price ($100) was 2.5 times the highest price in any other show on Broadway.  With that formula today, at a minimum, there would probably be rickets priced at $1,000 and, probably a second price at $500.

Brighton Beach Memoirs.  To me, this was the most entertaining of the trilogy that Neil Simon wrote.If I can't get Mame, how about a production of Auntie Mame by Roundabout?  Again, need a great Mame or don't do it

The Diary of Anne Frank.  I saw the last revival, which was really not good.  I have to believe that the right director would turn this back into a powerful experience.

And finally, either Life With Father or Tobacco Road, at the Roundabout or MTC, to try to understand how they ran for 8 years each.  I actually saw the Life With Father movie on Amazon Prime 5 or 6 years ago, and quite enjoyed it, admittedly having set the bar of expectation very low.

 

 

[TheOtherOne2]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 11:37am

Great choices, Jarethan, as I would expect from you.  Two points:

1) That last revival of The Diary of Anne Frank was not really a revival.  It was Wendy Kessleman's revision of the Goodrich and Hackett original.  Was it the revision or its production you did not like?

2) Find Your Way Home, slog or not, transferred from the Atkinson to the Biltmore towards the end of its run so uncageg could easily have seen it there.  

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 2:02pm

I would love a big glorious production of Amadeus. I wish I could go back in time and see Tim Curry and Ian McKellan do that one. I know an idea for a revival has been being kicked around for a few years but has yet to materialize. I'd love more BIG productions of classics, like The Philadelphia Story with a nice grand set. Or The Woman in Black with spooky ghostly effects. Remember big sets? I miss them.

There's a bunch of Terrence McNally plays that I think it's time to see again. Lips Together, Teeth Apart would be at the top of the list. But it's also time for another version of The Ritz and Love! Valour! Compassion!

I think modern audiences are also more willing to embrace some weird plays with strong directorial concepts behind them, something visually arresting. I'd love to see a new production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child or Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 2:25pm

It's also WAY past time for a revival of AN INSPECTOR CALLS -- and preferably with the Stephen Daldry direction and that physical production intact!

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 3:34pm

Audra - I would not be opposed to a transfer of the current production of AMADEUS starring Jefferson Mays that’s running in California. 

[pmensky]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 3:35pm

Dreamboy3 said: "pmensky said: "morosco said: "A revival of DEATHTRAP starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul."

This show could be a hugecash grabwith any number of Hollywood stars in the leads. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. Small cast, unit set, put it in a big theater and pack in the audiences for a 6 month run."

Though I loved the original production, I am wondering if the depiction of the gay relationship in Deathtrap is dated."

You must be thinking of the movie, because the relationship between Sydney and Cliff in the stage version is not presented as sexual. Sidney Lumet, who directed the movie, added the kiss and the implied sexual relationship, because he thought it made sense in terms of motivation. Ira Levin didn’t approve of the change.

[All that Yazz]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 7:28pm

Not sure if it made NYC but

Chimerica - Lucy Kirkwood 

the only play I have ever come out of and headed to the nearest phone box so I could cry

Updated On: 3/20/26 at 07:28 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 8:08pm

bwayobsessed said: "It’s still too soon but I want to see Significant Other again"

 

Me too! I saw it Off-Broadway and loved it. That ending just got me.  I found myself in Gideon Glicks presence one evening and was able to tell him how much I loved the show and how the end hit me emotionally. I never got the chance to see its short run on Broadway.

 

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 8:36pm

The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Let the Right One In

[Jarethan]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 8:54pm

TheOtherOne2 said: "Great choices, Jarethan, as I would expect from you. Two points:

1) That last revival of The Diary of Anne Frank was not really a revival. It was Wendy Kessleman's revision of the Goodrich and Hackett original. Was it the revision or itsproduction you did not like?

2) Find Your Way Home, slog or not, transferred from the Atkinson to the Biltmore towards the end of its run so uncageg could easily have seen it there."

 

Re Anne Frank, I do not know it well enough to be able to make such a distinction.  I always assumed that it was the direction, because it was just sluggish.  Particularly, the last scene could have been staged a little more dramatically, since no one actually knows how the Nazis approached the attic.  In this version, the people are talking and suddenly there are a few soldiers standing around...no dramatic tension at all.  What should have been a tragic tearjerking ending, was not remotely emotionally engaging.  I still remember how tepid the applause were at the end, I  and felt that that validated my feelings of disappointment.

I stand corrected.  I did not remember that FYWH moved to the (then) Biltmore.  The fact that FYWH, which never played to more than a 40% audience -- the theatre was scarily empty the night I saw it -- was able to move across the street to the (then) Biltmore says something terrible about conditions today.  It is so expensive to move that shows virtually never consider it; a lot of shows might have lived much longer and healthier if they could have afforded to move.  Re the play itself, I just remember being stupefyingly bored from the very beginning.  I actually think that Moriarty won the Tony not because he was better than the others -- Jason Robards in the legendary Moon for the Misbegotten, Zero Mostel in a critically praised Ulysses in Nighttown (complete with Irish accent), George C Scott and Nicol Williamson for an acclaimed production of Uncle Vanya -- but because he gave a very risky performance (and was in fact very good).  He practically floated through the play with a very affected sing-songy voice.  I think he got it because of the risk taking and the assumption that the Broadway community was welcoming a new star (boy was that a mistaken assumption -- I don't know if he ever appeared on Broadway again, unless I missed him).

 

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 3/20/26 at 9:14pm

Let's just have a Martin McDonagh festival.  The Beauty Queen of Leenane is long overdue.