This deeply moving, insightful piece is about connection, memories, and the small moments that can change the course of our lives. Over one fateful summer, an unlikely friendship develops between Diana, a fiercely iconoclastic artist and single mom, and Alice, a free-spirited yet naive young housewife. As the Bicentennial is celebrated across the country, these two young women in Ohio navigate motherhood, ambition, and intimacy, and help each other discover their own independence. Directing is Tony winner Daniel Sullivan.
The anodyne, bittersweet Summer, 1976 seems designed to stir nostalgia among Manhattan Theatre Club’s subscriber base—not just for the 1970s, when most of it takes place, but for MTC itself. The production reunites director Daniel Sullivan with playwright David Auburn, who wrote the company’s 2000 hit Proof, and with the very fine actor Laura Linney, whom he has directed in four previous MTC shows on Broadway; joining them is stage treasure Jessica Hecht, of MTC’s The Assembled Parties. It’s a dramatic dream team; what’s missing is drama.
The play nonetheless proves affecting, thanks to its sensitive insights about the vagaries of friendships and the way they can evolve, or not, with the passage of time and the impact of external forces. Under the uncluttered direction of Daniel Sullivan, the two actresses deliver sterling performances, displaying an authentic-seeming chemistry and making the closeness between their very different characters fully believable. You come away from Summer, 1976 feeling like you wish you’d been able to spend more time with Diana and Alice, and that they’d been able to spend more time with each other.
Digital Rush
Price: $43
Where: On the Today Tix app.
When: Released on a first-come, first-served basis every performance day at 9 AM.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Subject to availability.
Student Rush
Price: $30
Where: Samuel J. Friedman box office
When: Student rush tickets are available at the box office on the day of the show when the box office opens.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Payable by cash or credit card and available to students with an ID from a degree or diploma-granting institution. Subject to availability.
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