Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James star in a searing new musical about a couple falling in love in 1950s New York and struggling against themselves to build their family. The New York Times calls Days of Wine and Roses “a jazzy, aching new musical with wells of compassion!” (Critic’s Pick) and The Washington Post raves, “Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James soar! One of the best new musicals this year.”
Adapted from JP Miller’s 1962 film and original 1958 teleplay, composer & lyricist Adam Guettel (Floyd Collins) and playwright Craig Lucas (An American in Paris) reunite in their first collaboration since their acclaimed The Light in the Piazza. Directed by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen).
Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel, whose book and music for The Light in the Piazza lavishly replicated the dizziness of young love 20 years ago, turn their top-shelf craft toward bleaker outlooks in their adaptation of Days of Wine and Roses. Transferring to Broadway after a well-received premiere at the Atlantic last summer, Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James give astonishing voice to two lovers drowning in alcoholism. The subject matter is almost corrosively downbeat but, with its two leads at the top of their game, the one-act musical becomes a cathartic, deeply felt tonic.
Guettel’s score has the feel of a chamber opera. For moments of drunken euphoria, it dabbles in cocktail jazz: Passages in “Evanesce” sound like vocalese, and in “Are You Blue?” O’Hara scats bebop to herself. But most of it takes an art-song approach, eschewing strong melodies in favor of moment-to-moment expression; some of the lyrics rhyme, some don’t. (The eight-piece band, conducted by Kimberly Grigsby, also plays a lot of underscoring.) This is demanding stuff, both dramatically and musically, but it couldn’t ask for better interpreters than O’Hara and James, two of Broadway’s finest singing actors. Both are superb: Playing “two people stranded at sea,” they navigate their characters’ desperate highs and lows—Joe has a breakdown with flashbacks to his military service, Kirsten hits rock bottom as a slattern in a dingy hotel—with depth, grit and vocal expertise. Byron Jennings, as Kirsten’s heartsick Norwegian father, provides exceptional support.
Digital Rush
Price: $49
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When: 9am on the day of the performance
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Information: Subject to availability.
2023 | Off-Broadway |
Atlantic Theater Company Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
2024 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical | Brian d’Arcy James |
2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical | Kelli O’Hara |
2024 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Kelli O’Hara |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Michael Greif |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical | Kelli O'Hara |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical | Brian d'Arcy James |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Days of Wine and Roses |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Adam Guettel |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Adam Guettel |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Adam Guettel |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Brian d'Arcy James |
2024 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Kelli O'Hara |
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