It's Only a Play Revival
Two hours and 35 minutes
It's Only a Play - 2014 Broadway History , Info & More
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (Broadway)
242 West 45th St. New York, NY
Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane lead an all-star cast featuring F. Murray Abraham, Stockard Channing, Megan Mullally and Micah Stock in the Broadway comedy about the comedy of Broadway: It's Only a Play. Written by four-time Tony winner Terrence McNally and directed by three-time Tony winner Jack O'Brien, this is a celebration of theatre at its best- and theatre people behaving their not-so-best.
It's opening night of Peter Austin's (Matthew Broderick) new play as he anxiously awaits to see if his show is a hit. With his career on the line, he shares his big First Night with his best friend, a television star (Nathan Lane), his fledgling producer (Megan Mullally), his erratic leading lady (Stockard Channing), his wunderkind director, an infamous drama critic (F. Murray Abraham) and a fresh-off-the-bus coat check attendant (Micah Stock in his Broadway debut).
It's alternately raucous, ridiculous and tender- reminding audiences why there's no business like show business. Thank God!
It's Only a Play - 2014 - Broadway Cast
PREVIEW It's Only a Play - 2014 - Broadway
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FEATURED REVIEWS FOR It's Only a Play
'It's Only a Play' is a commercially attractive package deal
5 / 10
In essence, this is a commercially attractive package deal for theatergoers eager to relive their memories of Lane and Broderick in 'The Producers' and indulge in what looks like a dizzying laugh fest commanded by stage pros...While act one offers plenty of silly, lightweight fun, the play essentially collapses in the self-indulgent, overly sentimental act two. At an overall length of close to three hours, one can't help but wonder why it wasn't seriously cut. Director Jack O'Brien could have done a better job coordinating the broad performances offered by the cast into a cohesive, farcical whole. Lane is relaxed and altogether terrific, and Mullally, Channing and Abraham have their moments. Less successful are Grint, who looks amateurish in his heavy makeup, and Broderick, who throws everyone else off with a labored performance.
Nathan Lane Carries Star-Packed Zinger Fest ‘It’s Only A Play': Broadway Review
6 / 10
Some playwrights (they know who they are) have a middlebrow gift for making audiences feel smart by throwing in just the right dash of intellectual-seeming palaver. McNally has a gift for making the audience feel like Broadway insiders, unleashing an absolute cataract of inside-baseball jokes about shows currently running a few doors down, about theater producers and landlords whose names no-one outside a 10-block radius has ever heard of, and personal competitors like playwright and book-writer Harvey Fierstein...Lane indeed carries the show on his capable shoulders, doling out the cutting lines and abashed double-takes as expertly as a Las Vegas croupier at a gaming table...O'Brien's unimpeachable pacing and the engaged performances may be enough to satisfy even those not in the know. But It's Only A Play is wildly overlong and wears out its welcome a full half-hour before the final curtain. It is, after all, only a play.
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It's Only a Play History
Other Productions of It's Only a Play
| 1986 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2014 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
It's Only a Play - 2014 Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Featured Actor in a Play | Rupert Grint |
| 2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | F. Murray Abraham |
| 2015 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Terrence McNally |
| 2015 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Award | Micah Stock |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Micah Stock |
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