Ralph Fiennes to Star in STRAIGHT LINE CRAZY This Fall at The Shed

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 12:06pm

https://deadline.com/2022/06/ralph-fiennes-robert-moses-off-broadway-david-hare-straight-line-crazy-1235052577/

"Following its acclaimed run at The Bridge Theatre in London, David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy starring Ralph Fiennes as New York powerbroker Robert Moses will make its Big Apple Off Broadway debut this fall at The Shed. Directed by Nicholas Hytner and Jamie Armitage, the play will run Oct. 18 to Dec. 18."

Updated On: 6/27/22 at 12:06 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 12:25pm

This feels like it may the hottest play of the fall, especially notable since it's not on Broadway.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 12:26pm

I've heard nothing but great things about this show, cannot wait. I went to a wedding on the upper floor of this building and loved everything about it. Will be fun to go back, it's a great space all around. Thanks, Taffy. 

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 12:26pm

Anyone catch this in London?

[52889j]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 12:41pm

Saw it at the Bridge in London. I was skeptical upon hearing the synopsis, but I absolutely loved it. Fiennes is fantastic, but Danny Webb as Al Smith completely steals the show. Thrilled to hear he's coming with it.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 2:03pm

This feels like a good fit for The Shed, based on their programming so far. If the Shed can manage to find more firm footing, it'll be nice to have another consistent space for this sort of high-profile import that's still in the non-profit realm. We have a few already, like BAM, the Armory, St. Ann's, etc. but it's always nice to have another. 

I guess technically this is their first import production, as I think their other major productions have all been commissions? But it still feels sort of in the same vein as "Norma Jean Baker of Troy" and "Search for Intelligent Life." Something star-driven and fully-produced, but not quite big enough or marketable enough for Broadway. 

That said, they probably COULD have done this on Broadway if they wanted to - maybe even at one of the Broadway non-profits on Broadway, if they didn't want a commercial run (MTC would've been a good fit). But there's only so much room. It's just nice that there are other options, which allows us to see more of this kind of thing in NYC.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 12:17am

So excited this transferring (and with Fiennes as well!), as I didn't manage to squeeze it in to my London trip this year.  Though I'll admit I was surprised to see it going into The Shed, which I've had the impression generally produces smaller/more early-stage works.

As a side note, I've been surprised to find how many shows about New York/American politics start in London now, I wonder if it's harder to produce those shows here because it's too close to home.

[Harriet Craig]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 8:30am

From the Shed’s website:

Shed Maker and Builder members will have presale access to tickets on June 28, followed by Shed Movers on June 29. Tickets will be available to the public on June 30.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 10:54am

chrishuyen said: "As a side note, I've been surprised to find how many shows about New York/American politics start in London now, I wonder if it's harder to produce those shows here because it's too close to home."

David Hare is the main factor. Have any of the plays he's written ever opened cold in NYC?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 10:56am

JBroadway said: "That said, they probably COULD have done this on Broadway if they wanted to - maybe even at one of the Broadway non-profits on Broadway, if they didn't want a commercial run (MTC would've been a good fit)."

I suspect they couldn't get Fiennes for longer than 9 weeks, which makes a Broadway transfer tricky, and by the time they had availability in place most of the Bway nonprofits were booked.

Was this production environmental in London? I believe The Shed can be a less traditional playing space? (to my knowledge...I haven't seen a show there yet because I have coincidentally had to cancel tickets both times I've had covid...fingers crossed for a clean bill of health when this rolls around!)

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 11:47am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "J

I suspect they couldn't get Fiennes for longer than 9 weeks, which makes a Broadway transfer tricky, and by the time they had availability in place most of the Bway nonprofits were booked.

Was this production environmental in London? I believe The Shed can be a less traditional playing space? (to my knowledge...I haven't seen a show there yet because I have coincidentally had to cancel tickets both times I've had covid...fingers crossed for a clean bill of health when this rolls around!)"

 

Very true, good points! All the more reason I’m happy to have these other options in NYC. 

 

Don’t know if it was environmental in London, but yes I believe the Shed’s playing spaces are flexible – even though, to my knowledge, they haven’t made much use of that flexibility for their high-profile mainstage shows yet. 

 

To respond to the other poster above about the Shed’s programming: 

 

It seems like they’re trying to tackle a wide range of programming. They’ve put on maybe 4 or 5 fully-staged productions, with high profile artists attached. But they’ve been done at very inconsistent intervals.

My guess is that they want to do more of that sort of thing, but they’ve had trouble securing as many starry productions as they’d like. So it’s true that, by sheer percentage, most of what they’ve done has been their other, smaller stuff: installations, dance, music, and their “open call” series. 

In the grand scheme of things, their focus on emerging artists is probably a better, more noble use of their funds. Bit it seems like they’re ALSO trying to be taken seriously as a major non-profit theatre house, and their disparate programming might be getting in the way of that goal. 

 

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 6/29/22 at 2:48pm

FYI, the seating setup for this production:

[theaterdarling]

Posted: 6/29/22 at 7:25pm

For those who can't make it to NY for this or need to triage their "must sees" for financial or other reasons, it seems the National Theatre Live's capture of the play will be in various U.S. theaters the week of Sept 12th (Sept 14 specifically here in the Boston area --Coolidge Corner). As I always state when I mention these captures, not as good as being there but much better than not seeing at all. I will add that I saw Fiennes in the NT capture of "Man and Superman" and despite his performance being on film and thus once removed, he was so mesmerizing that he did proverbially jump off the proverbial screen and I did not feel cheated. I am sure it will be same with SLC capture. My reading of the London reviews is that he is way better than the play itself, though I see others on this thread who saw it think differently, so looking forward to it even more

[JasonC3]

Posted: 6/30/22 at 12:32pm

Pleasant ticket buying experience right at noon today.  Online queue moved quickly and was in and out in around 5 minutes.

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 6/30/22 at 5:21pm

Lol love that Voldemort is playing Robert Moses.

got my ticket for November. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 8/23/22 at 3:46pm

Has anyone gotten tickets for this recently? Trying to decide if I can safely wait for it to turn up on TDF.

[yyys]

Posted: 8/24/22 at 11:13am

Not sure it will turn up there.....first few weeks are sold out.

TotallyEffed said: "Has anyone gotten tickets for this recently? Trying to decide if I can safely wait for it to turn up on TDF."

 

[Owen22]

Posted: 8/24/22 at 11:36am

Play Esq. said: "Anyone catch this in London?"

I caught it and did much like the play. However the female lead had been diagnosed with covid that morning so an understudy went on and she was a little too old for the role (as she covered different characters). So that might have had something to do with my enjoyment but I didn't think it was a great play. Ralph was very good though. Although the person I saw it with did not think so.

[Tom5]

Posted: 8/24/22 at 2:21pm

Thankfully it's not a musical (Robert Moses: The Musical!) so they must have faith in the core material and considering Moses incredible history as a NYC builder/tyrant it should be justified.  The fact that it's not on Broadway is another plus, at least for me, I can't wait to see Ralph Fiennes on stage and the title gets an A+!