Second Stage Theatre to bring STRAIGHT WHITE MEN, LOBBY HERO to Broadway

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 10:59am

The first productions for the Helen Hayes, under Second Stage's ownership, are announced. LOBBY HERO will feature Chris Evans and Michael Cera.

http://www.americantheatre.org/2017/04/20/second-stage-to-hit-broadway-with-straight-white-men-lobby-hero/

Updated On: 4/20/17 at 10:59 AM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:03am

I missed Straight White Men off-Broadway, so I'm happy it's returning! And good on Second Stage for bringing a female playwright of color to Broadway- more of this, please. 

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:06am

Remarkably, Young Jean Lee is the first Asian American woman to be produced on Broadway, according to the article. It says they have also jointly commissioned (with Williamstown) Bess Wohl, Lydia Diamond, and Dominique Morrisseau to write plays for Broadway.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:07am

What about Yasmina Reza for God of Carnage?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:08am

With Chris Evans, Lobby Hero will be a tough ticket.

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:09am

Straight White Men is such a bad play. I saw it in LA a couple years ago and remember hating it. Hopefully they changed it. 

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:10am

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "What about Yasmina Reza for God of Carnage?

 

"

Yasmina Reza is French.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:11am

Yasmina Reza is not Asian...

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:11am

Kad said: "With Chris Evans, Lobby Hero will be a tough ticket.

 

"

If the Broadway productions are part of the season subscription, I imagine a lot of people will join in an attempt to secure tickets.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:11am

JoseLee_ said: "Straight White Men is such a bad play. I saw it in LA a couple years ago and remember hating it. Hopefully they changed it. 

 

"

I usually see every show that opens on Broadway but this looks like something worth skipping to me after reading more about it.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:12am

I saw Straight White Men and loved it. But I'm not a man, so.

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:16am

I also really liked the regional production of Straight White Men I saw in Philadelphia last season. It certainly won't be to everyone's taste. But one of the benefits of having a non-profit Broadway theater is the ability to take risks.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:16am

I'm glad that Second Stage is willing to take those risks.

Unlike the other non-profits with Broadway space.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:27am

Seriously. I was a little annoyed that Second Stage bought a great theatre for small plays, but if they're planning to use it for these purposes then I'm pleased they have the space. 

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:30am

Also announced in the article, but perhaps obfuscated by the bigger news, is that Second Stage also plans to present the New York premiere of Tracy Letts' Mary Page Marlowe next summer, Off-Broadway.

[Michael Kras]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:32am

I saw Straight White Men when the original off-Broadway cast brought the show to Toronto's Harbourfront Centre and loved it. It made me, a straight white man, uncomfortable as hell, and that's the point. It's hard to imagine a straight kitchen sink drama feeling totally fresh and subversive, but Straight White Men achieves it.  Every aspect of its structure, down to having exclusively POC stagehands do set changes, is clearly deliberate and so effective. It's a far more sympathetic look at white privilege and white guilt than you may expect from a POC playwright's perspective, and leaves you with lots of uneasy questions.  

Please see it. Especially if you're a straight white man. 

[broadwaytbay]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:37am

Anyone else find the tone of the announcement condescending?  We only produce living American playwrights... not poncy Chekov or Shakespeare... just was off put by it.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:39am

broadwaytbay said: "Anyone else find the tone of the announcement condescending?  We only produce living American playwrights... not poncy Chekov or Shakespeare... just was off put by it."

No. They were clearly distinguishing themselves from other non-profits with Broadway houses and defining their mission for the space.

I think having a venue dedicated to only contemporary American playwrights in the most prominent theatre district in America is important and valuable.

Let Roundabout and MTC dredge up the same classic playwrights over and over and let commercial producers bring over London hits.

 

Updated On: 4/20/17 at 11:39 AM

[BJR]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:45am

Kad said: "I'm glad that Second Stage is willing to take those risks.

Unlike the other non-profits with Broadway space."

 

EXACTLY what I thought. And they're commissions prove they intend to continue making their Broadway space a place to bring change, diversity and new voices to Broadway. Young Jean Lee making her Broadway debut is fantastic first show of it!

 

[loveinnewyorkcity]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:47am

Excited to see who will be cast as Dawn in Lobby Hero. In all the productions I've seen I have yet to like a Dawn.

Updated On: 4/20/17 at 11:47 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:49am

"Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "What about Yasmina Reza for God of Carnage?"

"Yasmina Reza is French."

If we're playing by those rules, then Young Jean Lee is American (she's lived here since she was an infant, and that's her nationality).

Reza's father is Iranian, but that still wouldn't make her "Asian" in most people's eyes, although Iran is officially part of the Asian continent.

It all gets so complex, sometimes, doesn't it? I'll never understand how it can be so "black and white" to so many Americans...

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:53am

But Reza's Iranian heritage wouldn't change the distinction that Young Jean Lee is the first Asian American woman to have a play produced on Broadway. 

[newintown]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:54am

True. But I wasn't talking about that at all.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:57am

newintown said: "True. But I wasn't talking about that at all."

But the issue was that Reza's name was brought up as being an Asian-American. She may be Asian, but she's not American.

 

[little_sally]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:59am

I love that Second Stage is devoted to work by living playwrights. I wish other companies would adopt this philosophy.