B'way/Off-B'way Reviews: Glengarry Glen Ross; Deep Blue Sound

John Pirruccello and Kieran Culkin in
Glengarry Glen Ross.
Credit: Emilio Madrid

Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet’s savagely funny takedown of cutthroat Chicago real-estate salesmen, has been a magnet for male actors to prove their theatrical chops since it premiered on Broadway in 1984. The flashiest role, chief barracuda Ricky Roma, has attracted Joseph Mantegna, Liev Schreiber, Al Pacino, and Bobby Cannavale, resulting in Tonys for the first two and an Oscar nomination for the third for the 1993 movie version. Ironically, the main box office draw for the current, third Broadway revival of Glengarry is Kieran Culkin, Emmy winner for Succession and Oscar champ for A Real Pain, and he is the weak link in an otherwise strong ensemble. 

Culkin is no novice to the stage, having appeared to great advantage in numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway shows including This Is Our Youth and Suburbia, yet he seems out of his depth here. Roma is a shark of the first order, but Culkin plays him as a loud-mouthed guppy. We first meet Roma landing a malleable prospect (appropriately browbeaten John Pirruccello) in a Chinese restaurant (Scott Pask designed the realistic sets.) Rather than displaying Roma’s take-no-prisoners, charismatic sales spiel of Mamet double-talk, Culkin opts for quiet subtlety. In previous productions, Roma aggressively lands his mark and the final line of “Listen to what I’m telling you now” felt like the trap was sprung. Here, Culkin seems to be just chatting amiably with a random stranger. That could be a deliberate choice on the part of the actor and director (Patrick Marber in a low-key mode) to show a contrast between Roma’s cosy sales technique and his later profane, predatory behavior in the office after the intermission. But Culkin never achieves the alpha male status of previous Romas, despite some energetic limning in the second act.

Bob Odenkirk and Donald Webber, Jr.
in Glengarry Glen Ross.
Credit: Emilio Madrid

Thus the balance of the play is thrown off and the focus shifts from Roma to the conflict between veteran slumping drummer Shelley Levine (deliciously desperate and blustering Bob Odenkirk) and the corporate functionary/office manager John Williamson (an unexpectedly forceful Donald Webber, Jr.). In previous productions, Williamson has been played as an emotionless drone, representing the soulless owners of the real-estate business, the unseen Mitch and Murray who symbolize the heartless corporate bureaucracy the nasty but individualist Roma stands against. Here, Webber plays Williamson as just as intensely invested in keeping his job as his supervisees. When the weaker Culkin as Roma challenges a now stronger Williamson, the threat is not especially effective. Culkin comes across as a tantrum-throwing student yelling at a teacher which is ironic since he berates Williamson as being a “child” unfit to work with “men.”

B'way/Off-B'way Update: Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, etc.

Elizabeth McGovern in Ava: The Secret
Conversations.
Credit: Jeff Lorch

Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey, Time and the Conways) returns to the New York Stage this summer in Ava: The Secret Conversations, which she also wrote. Based on a series of interviews legendary Hollywood star Ava Gardner held with writer Peter Evans, the production previously played Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse, and will begin previews at City Center's Stage I, July 30-Sept. 13, with an Aug. 7 opening. Aaron Costis Ganis (Blue Bloods) will play Evans. Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagle (Hand to God, Present Laughter) directs. The interviews covered Gardner's storied film career which included The Killers, Show Boat, The Barefoot Contessa, Mogambo, On the Beach, and The Night of the Iguana, her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra, and her relationship with Howard Hughes. (Gardner's turbulent affair with George C. Scott and her romance with bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin are not mentioned in press materials.)

“I am beyond thrilled to bring ‘Ava: The Secret Conversations’ to New York,” McGovern said in a statement. “Gardner’s life was one of incredible complexity, and I feel so privileged to step into her world and share her story onstage at New York City Center this summer.”  McGovern will also be seen on screen this fall in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, the final installment in the TV and film franchise.

Jackman and Schreiber Go Audible: Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber will headline two plays in repertory Off-Broadway from Audible and Together, the production company headed by Jackman and

Ella Beatty, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber,
Maggie Siff, and Justice Smith.

Tony and Oliver-winning producer Sonia Friedman. Jackman and Ella Beatty (Ghosts) will star in Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes by Hannah Moscovitch (April 28--June 18) and Schreiber, Maggie Siff, and Justice Smith will co-star in Jen Silverman (The Roommate)'s adaptation of August Strindberg's Creditors (May 10--June 18). Both works will be directed by Ian Rickson and play the Minetta Lane Theater. Misconduct will feature Jackman as a novelist who becomes involved with a promising student (Beatty). Creditors (1888) is about a mysterious triangle at a seaside resort and was last seen in NYC at BAM in 2010 in a production directed by Alan Rickman.

Audible and Together will work with TDF to offer free tickets to 25% of the house at every performance to a range of community members who often experience barriers to attending theater such as seniors and students. In additions, 25% of tickets to every performance will be made available at $35 through a digital lottery and at the box office. Both plays will be recorded by Audible and made available at a later date.

Drag, Houses, and Our Class Lead Lortel Award Noms

Jujubee, Jan Sport, Alaska Thunderf*ck, and
Nick Laughlin in Drag: The Musical.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Let theater awards season begin with the Lortel nominations, the first prize-dispensing of the season. Drag: The Musical, Three Houses and Our Class received the most Lortel Award nominations for Off-Broadway with a total of six each. The nominations were read by Francis Jue (Yellow Face) and Krysta Rodriguez (Smash) on April 2. The awards will be presented on May 4 at NYU Skirball. The event is open to the public and tickets may be purchased at Tickets.nyu.edu and at the NYU Skirball box office. The awards are named for legendary producer Lucille Lortel. They are presented by the Off-Broadway League and the Lortel Theater with support from TDF. The nominations are determined and the winners voted on by a committee of representatives of unions, the Off-Broadway League, theater journalists, academics and other Off-Broadway professionals. 70 productions from the 2024-25 season were considered eligible. A complete list of the nominees follows:

Outstanding Play
Here There Are Blueberries
Liberation
Sumo
The Antiquities
We Had a World

Outstanding Musical
Drag: The Musical
Medea: Re-Versed
The Big Gay Jamboree
Three Houses
We Live in Cairo