MAD MEN star Elisabeth Moss will officially play the title role in an upcoming Broadway revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, opening in February 2015. Pam McKinnon is on board to direct, which will also star ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK's Jason Biggs as Scoop Rosenbaum and A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER's Bryce Pinkham as Peter Patrone. Tracee Chimo co-stars.
Ms. Moss, a superb actor who possesses an unusual ability to project innocence and smarts at the same time, inherits a role played by many since Joan Allen originated it...Fortunately, under the direction of Pam MacKinnon and in the hands of a fine supporting cast, notably Jason Biggs and Bryce Pinkham as the men in (and largely out) of Heidi's life, the play's humor retains its buoyancy, even when the specific matters at hand [...] have acquired the distancing patina of textbook history...For me, the moving heart of 'The Heidi Chronicles' remains the wonderful monologue in the second act. Heidi is speaking at a gathering of her high school alumnae, but instead of the usual manicured, upbeat speech, she delivers an off-the-cuff, emotionally exposed anecdote. It's really a play in itself, about the sense of alienation she felt that day from other women in a gym locker room: women she respects and admires, in some senses, but whose choices to pursue life's more superficial rewards leave her feeling 'stranded.' Ms. Moss, her eyes moistening even as her voice remains strong, delivers this beautiful speech with a grace that grows stronger as Heidi's peppery, self-aware humor gives way to lacerating honesty. Those are, as it happens, key notes in Wasserstein's durable play, and Ms. Moss and her collaborators in this sterling production sing them forth with a revitalizing warmth.
I was struck by how poorly 'The Heidi Chronicles' had aged when I saw the Berkshire Theatre Festival's excellent 2006 production, and the new Broadway revival, directed by Pam MacKinnon and starring Elisabeth Moss, soon to be formerly of 'Mad Men,' fails to make a compelling case for taking Wasserstein's best-remembered play any more seriously today...Ms. MacKinnon's staging is as flabby as the long-winded script, and the chirpy, cherry Ms. Moss is no more convincing as a feminist academic than she was playing Madonna's part in the 2008 Broadway revival of 'Speed-the-Plow.' Of the supporting actors, Tracee Chimo assumes four widely varied roles with switchblade-sharp comic definition. Sheshould have been cast as Heidi.
| 1988 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1989 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 2014 | St. Paul, MN (Regional) |
Guthrie Theater Production St. Paul, MN (Regional) |
| 2015 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Elisabeth Moss |
| 2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Bryce Pinkham |
| 2015 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Wendy Wasserstein |
| 2015 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Elisabeth Moss |
| 2015 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Bryce Pinkham |
| 2015 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | The Heidi Chronicles |
| 2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Elisabeth Moss |
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