Wedding Band by Alice Childress at TFANA

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 4/30/22 at 6:08pm

Anyone else see this? I was there today and though it was a ravishing production of a strong play. In particular, Awoye Timpo directs this with supreme confidence, proving that she should be doing lots and lots more work in New York. Brittany Bradford anchors the play with a superb performance, but Thomas Sadoski matches her point-for-point, and the two have a shattering chemistry.

And what a pleasure to have Veanne Cox back in New York in a dramatic play! Her role is small but she steals the show for a bit. Rosalyn Coleman and Elizabeth Van Dyke also deserve to be singled-out. Wow that's almost half the cast! Bravo to all.

The whole production has real depth and texture to it, and honors Childress I think much more so than the baggy revival of Trouble in Mind did — by making an unforgettable piece of theatre! I will say the script is not outstanding, but it has real artistic perspective and many good scenes, and Timpo has seized every opportunity to dazzle.

Overall, I'd say it's one of the best shows of the spring, although with The Minutes, Hangmen, How I Learned to Drive, A Strange Loop, and this, we're really spoiled for the moment.

By the way, I'd recommend sitting on the "south" side of the theatre (lower half on the seating chart) — this might change in previews but most of the best moments were facing that way. I got lucky, but I'd be disappointed if I missed Cox's big moment.

Updated On: 5/1/22 at 06:08 PM

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 4/30/22 at 6:11pm

Thanks for the review. Seeing it next week and cannot wait. I cannot speak for the details about the production yet, but I agree that it's great to have Veanne Cox back in NY theater. She is so talented!!

Updated On: 4/30/22 at 06:11 PM

[FranklinShepard_Inc]

Posted: 4/30/22 at 11:01pm

Synecdoche2, I saw this on Thursday and agree with you up to a point:

The script is outstanding.

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 7:30pm

wondering what is the running time? could not find any info on TFANA website.

Thanks

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 7:35pm

I was told it was 2.5 hours including intermission. 

Hoping to see it either this Sunday or early next week. Such a short run! It really snuck up on me. 

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/6/22 at 9:55pm

I hope it extends. I’d love to see it. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 2:14pm

Finally managed to catch this.

I loved Trouble in Mind so I was excited to see another work from Alice Childress in the same season!

I found the play kind of uneven; some sections works better than others, and overall I’m not entirely sure it came together for me. But it’s an interesting piece, with a lot of raw emotion, and believable, 3-dimensional characters.

I thought the production was little spotty too; not quite sure if it’s pitch and pacing, and sometimes felt like it was ramping up the drama too fast, especially in act 2 (act 1 is mostly set-up, but I actually found it more effective than act 2)

The best thing about the show, IMO, was the lead performance from Brittany Bradford. I’ve seen her in probably 4 or 5 shows over the past few years, and this is undoubtedly the strongest work I’ve seen from her. She's great throughout the show, but in particular there’s a scene later in the play where she just UNLOADS on another character; screaming, cursing, and tearing apart a room. Normally I find these sorts of scenes indulgent and ineffective, often coming across as an opportunity for actors to show off, at the expense of the text. But Bradford completely sold it, always using Childress’ text as a conduit for her unhinged rage, as a catharsis. It was really striking.

In a longer run, with more publicity and visibility, this might’ve been a career-making star turn from Bradford, Glad to see the show extended, at least! 

Updated On: 5/15/22 at 02:14 PM

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 2:25pm

In case you didn't know, Brittany Bradford has a starring role on HBO Max's Julia. She's great on it, and it's been renewed for a second season, so her star is definitely on the rise.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 3:04pm

Thank you! I didn’t know. With so much streaming content these days, I’m terrible at keeping up with these things. Glad to hear it though! 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 4:55pm

I scream

You scream

We all scream

For less to stream

[Melissa25]

Posted: 5/17/22 at 5:46pm

This really was a beautiful production. I am still holding my breath somewhat. What a powerful visually stunning ending too that I was not anticipating.  I have to echo others and say that Brittany Bradford was so convincing in this. Such chemistry with Sadoski as well. I highly recommend this.

I had a TDF orchestra seat E105 which was a high stool.  I missed a lot and it was difficult to hear the actors unless they were facing you.  If I could do-over I would use the discount code CENTRAL and pay $65 and select any seat between 101 and 106 in rows A, B, or C.   These seats would put you right by most of the action.

Also, I just noticed on the website that TFANA has cash only, pay-what-you-can tickets on Wednesday, May 18, for Wedding Band...available at the door.