Vienna in 1900 was the most vibrant city in Europe, humming with artistic and intellectual excitement and a genius for enjoying life. A tenth of the population were Jews. A generation earlier they had been granted full civil rights by the Emperor, Franz Josef. Consequently, hundreds of thousands fled from the Pale and the pogroms in the East and many found sanctuary in the crowded tenements of the old Jewish quarter, Leopoldstadt. Tom Stoppard's passionate drama of love and endurance begins in the last days of 1899 and follows one extended family deep into the heart of the 20th Century.
The performers are uniformly excellent. Uranowitz stands out from beginning (as mathematician Ludwig) to end (as his equally mathematical great-nephew Nathan). Krumholtz is equally adept as the conflicted family breadwinner, while Castelow impresses as the out-of-place trophy wife who models for Klimt and nearly disrupts the household. Uranowitz, Augen, and Froushan do stunning work in the play's shattering final scene. (Augen and Froushan, along with Castelow and Neil, played these roles in London.) That said, the stage is filled with too many worthy performances to individually cite.
The set (Richard Hudson, with a shout-out to the props team), costumes (Brigitte Reiffenstuel) and especially the lighting design (Neil Austin) bathe the first scene in an aura of domestic harmony. It's 1899 and almost Christmas in Vienna. Everyone in the tastefully furnished Merz household appears to be approaching the 20th century with glad hearts. The family trade is prospering, the men are successful businessmen and academics, the women are smart and articulate and the children are well-behaved.
Price: $25
How: Available on the day of the performance.
Where: Longacre Theatre box office
Time: 10 AM Monday-Saturday, 12 PM Sunday
ID: valid student ID required
Payment Method: Cash or credit card
Tickets Per Person: Limit 2
Seat Locations: Determined at the discretion of the box office
Number of Tickets Available: Subject to daily availability.
Price: $47
Where: https://leopoldstadtlotteryandrush.com/
When: Select the number of tickets you want to purchase and click the "Enter" button. Available performances are typically posted as early as 12:00 AM Eastern Time the day before the performance. Lotteries close at 3:00 PM the day before the performance. Additional drawings may be added from time to time and the timing of these drawings may vary.
Winners will have six hours to complete their purchase on this website for regularly scheduled drawings. Click through the Results page of this website or your email notification or your text notification for instructions. The purchase period may vary for additional drawings. Tickets will be emailed.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Seats may be located in any section of the theater. While every effort will be made to seat pairs together with a full view, there is a chance that pairs may be split up and that your seat may have a partial view of the stage.
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