The Front Page will star Nathan Lane as Walter Burns, John Slattery as Hildy Johnson, John Goodman as Sheriff Hartman, Jefferson Mays as Bensinger, Holland Taylor as Mrs. Grant, and Sherie Rene Scott as Mollie Malloy, with additional casting to be announced.
The show is set in the press room of Chicago's Criminal Courts Building which is buzzing with reporters covering the story of an escaped prisoner. When star reporter Hildy Johnson (Slattery) accidentally discovers the runaway convict, he and his editor Walter Burns (Lane) conspire to hide the man from the other reporters, while they chase the biggest scoop of their careers.
Director Jack O'Brien begins and ends each act with a tableau. Until Lane arrives, the action in between those stylish freezes rarely unthaws. The direction is stately when it needs to be raucous. Likewise, Douglas W. Schmidt's set is grand, not grungy enough to be a press room in a prison. Occasionally, a few supporting players break through. Robert Morse in the cameo of a boozed-up messenger emerges as lower than the worn linoleum. Sherie Rene Scott goes period with an uncanny Joan Crawford impersonation, right out of 'Rain.' Jefferson Mays, once again, recycles Franklin Pangborn, playing a persnickety poem-writing (wink, wink) reporter. Oddly enough, Mays received a big ovation at his entrance. Were people applauding his recent 'Oslo' triumph, or did they think Lane was reprising his performance from 'The Nance'? From a few rows away, the two men look a lot alike.
No doubt Walter would inform me that you, my impatient audience, have already stopped reading by now. But though 'The Front Page' is all about the adrenaline rush that turns journalists into deadline junkies, it's hard to work up the proper urgency about Jack O'Brien's production. So to finish the thought I started before I so rudely interrupted myself, the latest edition of 'The Front Page' is ... diverting. Pretty darn good. At moments, very funny indeed.
| 1928 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1946 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1969 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1969 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1986 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 2016 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design for a Play | Ann Roth |
| 2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Nathan Lane |
| 2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | The Front Page |
| 2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Set Design for a Play | Douglas W. Schmidt |
| 2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Jack O'Brien |
| 2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Nathan Lane |
| 2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | The Front Page |
| 2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical) | Douglas W. Schmidt |
| 2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Nathan Lane |
| 2017 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Douglas W. Schmidt |
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