Samuel D. Hunter's Grangeville at Signature Theatre

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/8/25 at 11:15pm

Has anyone seen this with Brian J. Smith & Paul Sparks (Brendan Fraser's replacement) ?  

[The Other One]

Posted: 2/9/25 at 9:00am

I have not seen it (yet?), but it has scored highly on Show Score and a poster on Talkin' Broadway liked it very much.  

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/9/25 at 10:40am

Thank you.  It's selling so guess we should get tickets now.  Hunter's last play at Signature, A Case For The Existence of God, was wonderful.

Updated On: 2/9/25 at 10:40 AM

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 2/9/25 at 1:53pm

CoffeeBreak said: "Has anyone seen this with Brian J. Smith &Paul Sparks (Brendan Fraser's replacement) ?"

i thought it was wonderfully written and acted. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/9/25 at 11:00pm

Saw this tonight and thought it was really great.  I've been a huge Samuel D. Hunter fan since Case for the Existence of God and I'm willing to see anything he's written, but I was afraid I had overhyped his writing in my mind going into this.  It started off a bit slow for me but by the third scene I remembered why I loved his writing so much and how rich his characters are.  I don't think it's quite as resonant for me as Case, and I'm not sure I fully understand the character motivations in transitioning to the last scene (or whether that's intended to be a mystery), but overall it's a fantastic two-hander and both actors do great work with it.

[pathman2]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 9:37am

Is the runtime 90 minutes? Just want to confirm that's what 7:00-8:30 pm means on their website (though not sure how that works for the matinees!). Thanks!

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/12/25 at 12:30pm

pathman2 said: "Is the runtime90 minutes? Just want to confirm that's what 7:00-8:30 pm means on their website (though not sure how that works for the matinees!). Thanks!"

Yes I think that's pretty accurate, it started a little after so we got out closer to 8:40 

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 2/17/25 at 12:30am

Was really looking forward to this one.

The first scene has almost no lighting.  A bad choice.  It's hard to jump on board in the dark.

Once the lights came on it was a great ride.  Both actors are working their butts off.

Updated On: 2/17/25 at 12:30 AM

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 2/17/25 at 10:26am

I thought it was very good, though not great. It's worth seeing for Paul Spark's performance in my opinion.

singleticket's review of "Grangeville"

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 2/22/25 at 10:28pm

chrishuyen said: "Saw this tonight and thought it was really great. I've been a huge Samuel D. Hunter fan since Case for the Existence of God and I'm willing to see anything he's written, but I was afraid I had overhyped his writing in my mind going into this. It started off a bit slow for me but by the third scene I remembered why I loved his writing so much and how rich his characters are. I don't think it's quite as resonant for me as Case, and I'm not sure I fully understand the character motivations in transitioning to the last scene (or whether that's intended to be a mystery), but overall it's a fantastic two-hander and both actors do great work with it."

Case for the Existence of God was one of the best things Ive seen in the last decade, if ever, so I was bound to be disappointed by this, and I guess I was. It felt slow to me--the staging was maybe a little too straightforward, or, as someone else said, because it begins in the dark, it felt sleepy? Like Liberation, the set up is integral to the story (meetings in a gym, a buncha conversations over phones/zooms) but also hurts the drama of it. It perks up as it moves along and we meet more characters, but it never launched for me. Which is not to say I didnt enjoy it, because by the end I was all in, but unlike his other work, if there were deep thoughts worth exploring here, I missed them (at least for now).

THAT SAID- what acting. What performances. Brian J Smith was good, until he just was great and broke my heart, made the play breathe. And Paul Sparks makes some odd choices (if hes trying to be funny, I think he misses the mark) but he BECOMES two entirely different men, who could not be less similar in terms of accent/appearance, and he just pulls it off without so much as a costume change. Seriously next level work from both of them, and I was wiping away tears by the final, beautiful, simple moment. 

a credit to Hunter that I was underwhelmed and still overcome with emotion.

[CurtainsUpat8]

Posted: 2/23/25 at 1:35pm

I saw this on Wed Matinee. It was wonderful. Samuel Hunter certainly knows how to write a play. I enjoyed Paul Sparks much more than I liked Brian J Smith.  It's surprisng to me that Brendon Frasier would have played the Paul Sparks part and not the other part. It's  90 minutes. Very intersting if you listen. The scene in the dark didn't bother me as much as others. It's not that long and soon forgotten. I enjoyed it very much.

The audience was another subject.  It was a matinee and full of older people... myself included. lol. I am a Senior, but barely.  Got the usual "old people' stuff going on. One person sat in the wrong seat. That took like tn minutes to figure out. One man sleeping and SNORING. For quite a long time. A few people not able to find their seats, wandering around. Unwrapping candy. 

I am also not sure why this needed to be amplified.  It's a TINY theatre. They didn't need the mics. Honestly, I when I am this close and I see the headgear on it's distracting to me sometimes.  I never like seeing them on the actors. It always takes me out of the action.  That's just me. But in this case, they clearly did not need it.

 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 2/23/25 at 1:47pm

The audience last night was extremely well behaved.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/24/25 at 12:08pm

Glad to see Smith is back onstage. Loved his Tony-nominated turn as the Gentleman Caller in the 2013 Broadway revival of ''The Glass Menagerie.''

Last year, Smith made his directorial debut with ''A House Is Not a Disco,'' his acclaimed documentary about Fire Island.

When BoyCulture.com interviewed him and asked him about his life as an openly gay actor, Smith candidly said:

''I hear people saying people are coming out because it's cool and easy and you're gonna get more work that way. I can honestly say that I have not gotten more work as an actor since I came out [in 2019], and it's not for want of trying. I've auditioned for every single Broadway play where anyone that looked like me could be in it — movies and TV series, too — and it just has not made things easier at all.”

https://boyculture.substack.com/p/will-we-survive-an-interview-with?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/24/25 at 12:17pm

Grangeville opens tonight.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/24/25 at 7:51pm

Signature Theatre: Get to Know Brian J. Smith & Paul Sparks as They Answer a Blizzard of Questions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lwbc3JqOps&t=3s

Updated On: 2/24/25 at 07:51 PM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/24/25 at 10:14pm

Jesse Green seems mixed-positive, mostly liking the second half of the play more, NYT Gift Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/theater/grangeville-review-samuel-d-hunter.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zk4.aRzy.8nV_zikJGl8l&smid=url-share

Sara Holdren generally more positive and provides some nice insights: https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-samuel-d-hunter-grangeville-idaho.html

 

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/24/25 at 11:00pm

James Wilson, who reviews for TalkinBroadway.com, calls ''Grangeville'' ''stunning and deeply affecting.'' He adds Paul Sparks is ''heartbreakingly good,'' and Brian J. Smith is ''perfectly matched and equally gut-wrenching.''

https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/ob/02_24_25.html

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/25/25 at 12:06am

New York Stage Review - 2 reviews:

GRANGEVILLE: NO THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

★★★★☆ Paul Sparks and Brian J. Smith play brothers and others in Samuel D. Hunter’s thoughtful new drama

https://nystagereview.com/2025/02/24/grangeville-no-thanks-for-the-memories/

 

GRANGEVILLE: ART, ANGUISH, AND WONDER FROM SAMUEL D. HUNTER

BY STEVEN SUSKIN

★★★★★ An exceptional play with fine work from director Jack Serio and actors Brian J. Smith and Paul Sparks

https://nystagereview.com/2025/02/24/grangeville-art-anguish-and-wonder-from-samuel-d-hunter/

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/25/25 at 12:10am

The Sun: New York - Alyssa Gardner

A Master at Capturing Despair, Playwright Samuel D. Hunter Is Back With ‘Grangeville'.

Hunter’s landscapes tend to be more earnest and quietly shattering than most, drawing us in with their open-hearted naturalism and avoiding cynicism against all odds.

https://www.nysun.com/article/a-master-at-capturing-despair-playwright-samuel-d-hunter-is-back-with-grangeville

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 2/25/25 at 12:13am

Review: Half-Brotherly Love Is a Struggle Against Darkness in ‘Grangeville’ - David Cote:

"This two-hander about estranged half-brothers with a dying mother is painfully gorgeous."

"You’ll leave the town of Grangeville (pop. 3,617) spent but satisfied. And yes, if Hunter announces another tour to the 43rd state, sign me up."

https://observer.com/2025/02/review-half-brotherly-love-is-a-struggle-against-darkness-in-grangeville/

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 2/25/25 at 3:08am

TheaterMania.com:

''A heart-wrenching and beautifully crafted two-hander, it ranks with Hunter's best work'' - Zachary Stewart

https://www.theatermania.com/news/review-samuel-d-hunters-grangeville-asks-what-makes-a-family_1765280/

Updated On: 2/25/25 at 03:08 AM