After a lunch with some distant cousins of my wife’s, we headed to the Broadway Theatre (the only Broadway theater actually on Broadway) to see one of the final previews of a musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
Because it hasn’t officially opened yet, my critical comments are embargoed, but suffice it to say the production brings to mind F. Scott Fitzgerald’s much quoted line that “there are no second acts in American lives.” In this case, there is no good second act in American musicals.” Details at a later date.
In the evening we saw a new drama by Amy Herzog (400 Miles, After the Revolution) at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Friedman Theatre. It’s Mary Jane, starring Rachel McAdams in her Broadway debut as the title character. It’s a heartbreaking portrait of a single mom with a young son with life-threatening brain damage. Somehow she deals with daily traumas with an optimistic attitude. Still, it is a hard show to sit through, though well-acted and directed.
Hap Erstein
Next: Another novel-to-movie-to-stage-musical tearjerker, The Notebook. Reportedly, at the concession stand you can buy a $5 box of Kleenex.