Modern Family's Jess Tyler Ferguson returns to Broadway in the role of a lifetime!
Starring five-time Emmy Award nominee Jesse Tyler Ferguson and directed by Tony nominee Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect, Avenue Q), FULLY COMMITTED is the "hilarious and touching" (Time Out New York) comedy that takes a sharp skewer to the backside of the restaurant biz.
You think you're having a bad day at work? Meet Sam. He covers the red-hot reservation line at one of New York's most exclusive restaurants, juggling desperate diners, scheming socialites, name-dropping wannabes, celebrity divas, panicked waiters and a fame-hungry chef. And in this side-splitting tour-de-force, Ferguson plays all 40 characters!
The play by Becky Mode...has been updated for a world that's slightly less obsessed with the 'it' restaurant of the moment...Mode doesn't chase stinging satire, just laughs -- and snags a few good ones. Director Jason Moore keeps things moving briskly and as dynamically as possible...Ferguson has proven himself a likable clown in Shakespeare plays and musicals like 'On the Town' and 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.' But that's not the same as being a chameleon capable of shifting instantaneously from one vivid character to another. Ferguson lisps, growls and crosses his eyes gamely, but people on the other end of the phone line are rarely remarkable. The actor is fully committed, yes, but the production isn't totally satisfying.
I don't know if it qualifies as part of Broadway's ongoing diversity initiative, but in Fully Committed, the one-man comedy opening tonight at the Lyceum, that Ginger-American Jesse Tyler Ferguson plays, by my count, an astonishing 34 roles, together constituting a rainbow of assholes. Initially he's just Sam Callahan, a struggling actor sullenly working a pre-Christmas shift taking reservations at a superhot Manhattan restaurant. But as the outside lines, the in-house intercoms, and his own cellphone start ringing, Ferguson takes on the vocal and gestural lives of all the callers: would-be guests, terrified assistants; his agent, friends, frenemies, and family; the arrogant chef, the tantrum-y maître d', and various others, all exploding with ASAP demands. Needless to say, this being a restaurant, none of the demands is a true emergency, no matter how much the callers bully and scream - unless accommodating Gwyneth Paltrow with an all-vegan tasting menu for 15, with flattering light bulbs and no women servers, counts as an emergency.
1999 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2016 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Leading Actor in a Play | Jesse Tyler Ferguson |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Set Design for a Play | Derek McLane |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Solo Performance | Jesse Tyler Ferguson |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jesse Tyler Ferguson |
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