Broadway Breakdown – Matt Reviews: SUNSET BOULEVARD, OUR TOWN & THE ROOMMATE

Host: Matt Koplik
Date: October 16, 2024

Episode Overview

In this “Matt Reviews” edition of Broadway Breakdown, host Matt Koplik offers his passionate, no-holds-barred takes on three major Broadway shows: the hotly anticipated Jamie Lloyd-directed Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger, Kenny Leon’s new revival of Our Town featuring Jim Parsons and Katie Holmes, and Jack O’Brien’s Broadway debut of Jen Silverman's The Roommate, starring Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone. Matt dives deep into each production, discussing the plays’ histories, casting choices, directorial approaches, and why some work—and others very much do not. Delivered with his signature humor and candid, sometimes foul-mouthed commentary, this episode is both a lively critique and a valuable guide to Broadway’s current landscape.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Our Town (Kenny Leon revival)

[05:00 – 23:24]

Synopsis & Matt’s Relationship with Our Town

• Matt gives a detailed, affectionate breakdown of Thornton Wilder’s classic: its Pulitzer-winning pedigree, “sturdiness” as a play, and cultural ubiquity as “the show every high school does.”
• He notes: “You have to work really hard to fuck it up… the third act of Our Town always tends to land with audiences because it is terribly moving.” (07:41)

Production Details

• Directed by Kenny Leon, whose casting skills Matt previously praised (08:12).
• Cast led by Jim Parsons (Stage Manager), Katie Holmes (Mrs. Webb), Zoe Deutch (Emily Webb), and Ephraim Sykes (George Gibbs).
• Matt saw the performance just before opening, after which reviews came out “mostly positive,” surprisingly to Matt and his friends.

Critique: Discordant Ensemble & Lack of Cohesion

• The “Our Town for our time” tagline yields awkward results—modern stylings collide with traditional ones, resulting in a company where “everyone is in a different production of Our Town” (14:50).
• Specific performances:
  • Richard Thomas (Mr. Webb) called “the most successful.”
  • Donald Webber Jr. as Simon Stimson praised.
  • Zoe Deutch: “Fun, quirky… found a lot of humor,” but “dropped the ball” emotionally in Act III (16:40).
  • Ephraim Sykes: “Doing a very contemporary spin… not gelling with what Zoe was doing. Everybody is clashing in this show.”
  • Jim Parsons: Not entirely disliked, but “I did not find that Parsons… has the gravitas… supposed to be the anchor of this show.” At least, “I respect the risk” in his adventurous stage choices (18:33).
  • Katie Holmes (Mrs. Webb): “Might be giving the worst acted performance I’ve ever seen on a Broadway stage. It’s bad. It’s painfully bad.” (19:43)

Direction & Pacing

• One-act performance with trims, runs ~1:40 (11:40).
• Minimalist gray-wood set with lanterns forming a question mark—a fleeting visual motif, not explored further (12:30).
• Lifts David Cromer's famous “bacon smell” cue but misses the point of that potent, sensory theatrical device (23:24):

  “Leon… pumps bacon into the vents of the theater… That’s it… you just remember the bacon. Because that’s what everyone was always talking about. Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating.” (23:17)

Memorable Quotes

• “This production is not great. It is choppy. It is kind of, I wouldn’t even say misguided. I just don’t see any guidance with it.” (15:54)

2. The Roommate (Jen Silverman, dir. Jack O’Brien)

[23:25 – 34:55]

The Play & Production

• Jen Silverman’s Broadway debut; starring Mia Farrow as a “sheltered Iowan” and Patti LuPone as her “hardened vegan lesbian” roommate.
• Matt attended on a whim, “partial view but really wasn’t.”

Critique: “A Play That Exists, Not Much More”

• “I don’t really know why we have it on Broadway… There’s really no reason to see this play unless you are a fan of either Mia Farrow or Patti LuPone and desire to see them on stage.” (26:54)
• Matt lays out the plot—odd-couple dynamic, with Farrow’s character improbably naïve and LuPone’s past catching up to her, but little is resolved or even deeply explored.
• Laments a lack of depth, tension, or even memorable comedy:
  • “The humor is not funny enough for it to be a light comedy. And it doesn’t go deep enough for it to have any meat on the bone.” (29:18)
  • “This felt like a waste of an afternoon. I’m not gonna lie.” (31:44)

Commentary on the Stars

• “Patti… bitch has a terrible track record when it comes to picking new works on Broadway.” Recites War Paint, The Anarchist, now this.
• Farrow: “Actually doing some solid work… The surprise of her effectiveness wore off for me once I clocked how she was selling jokes.”
• On direction: “Jack O’Brien doesn’t really do anything with it. There’s no tension to it. There’s no direction. There are no dynamics to it.”
• “You can appreciate them, love their talent, love the careers they’ve had and what they’ve given us in the past. While acknowledging that this is not a great play, nor is it great work from them.” (34:39)

Memorable Quotes

• “It is a truly there play.” (28:13)
• “Waste of an afternoon. I’m not gonna lie.” (31:44)

3. Sunset Boulevard (Andrew Lloyd Webber, dir. Jamie Lloyd)

[35:12 – 67:49]

Show’s Background & Anticipation

• Star vehicle for Nicole Scherzinger (her Broadway debut), which originated at London’s Savoy and won several Oliviers.
• Matt relays the “tea” that Andrew Lloyd Webber “hates this production” but can’t argue with its success or buzz (37:35).

The Movie's Legacy vs. The Musical

• Matt adores the Billy Wilder film: “an absolute masterpiece… about the actual cynicism and dark underbelly of Hollywood.”
• On the musical: “I never loved the musical, I’ll be honest… It was sort of just blah.” (40:59) Criticizes previous Normas for being too “kabuki,” turning Norma into a “gargoyle.”

Jamie Lloyd’s Direction: “A Ton of Fun”

• Minimalist stage, black-and-white modern costumes, prominent use of live cameras and projections—blurring 1949 with 2024.
• The production is “not perfect… not a masterpiece… What it is, is a ton of fun.” (47:40)
• Use of close-ups and projections gives cinematic energy and emphasizes the noir mood, particularly effective for the New Year’s party and Betty/Joe’s illicit romance.

Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond

• “A fascinating performance. It’s good. …Honestly, I’ll say it’s a great performance.” (56:45)
• Her meta-casting (pop star “written off” by the industry, now mounting a major comeback) mirrors Norma's story.
• “She understands the lack of self awareness, the total self seriousness of a Norma Desmond, while also toeing the line of making us want to observe the acting tics. …There is nothing funny about her to Norma, but she is allowed to find joy. And I think Nicole nails all of that.” (58:08)
• High praise for her daring physicality (“clearly a Norma who does yoga… does splits, twirls around”).

Key Directorial/Cast Choices

• The notorious “with one look” number receives a (manipulated) partial standing ovation because Nicole “just didn’t move.”
• “You can recognize that the show is playing you like a fiddle and not care. But you cannot tell me that it is a genuine, impulsive response that the audience is having to the song.” (54:52)
• The blood-soaked finale and inventively staged numbers, though sometimes lacking obvious thematic rationale, deliver unforgettable visuals.

Critique & Caveats

• Some choices “only make sense to Jamie Lloyd”—for example, the sequence where the title song moves from the dressing room, out into the street, and back onto stage.
• “Norma’s tempos [are] far too slow… We can just take this up a skosh. It would still be too slow for my liking, but it would be faster than this.” (64:10)
• Asks whether the production will sustain buzz through awards season.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Nicole’s odds for the Tony: “At the moment, it’s her and Sutton Foster… Nicole’s is just the first one of the season that is truly exciting. She is great. If she were to win, I wouldn’t be mad…” (66:45)
• “It is nice to be excited about something.” (67:15)

Timeline of Notable Segments

| Timestamp | Section / Key Topic | |------------|--------------------------------------------------| | 05:00–23:24| Our Town review: history, cast, production | | 14:50 | “Everyone is in a different production of Our Town” insight | | 19:43 | Katie Holmes critique: “worst acted performance…” | | 23:17 | “Leon pumps bacon into the vents…” | | 23:25–34:55| The Roommate: synopsis, critique, stars | | 26:54 | “No reason to see this play unless…” | | 31:44 | “Waste of an afternoon…” | | 35:12–67:49| Sunset Boulevard: deep dive, context, cast, fun | | 37:35 | ALW “hates this production”—industry tea | | 47:40 | “What it is, is a ton of fun.” | | 54:52 | “You can recognize that the show is playing you…” | | 58:08 | Nicole Scherzinger’s performance analysis | | 66:45 | Tony prospects for Nicole Scherzinger |

Notable Quotes (Speaker / Timestamp)

• Matt on Our Town:

  “This production is not great. It is choppy. It is kind of, I wouldn’t even say misguided. I just don’t see any guidance with it.” (15:54)

• On Katie Holmes’s performance:

  “Mrs. Webb might be giving the worst acted performance I’ve ever seen on a Broadway stage. It’s bad. It’s painfully bad.” (19:43)

• On The Roommate:

  “It is a truly there play.” (28:13)
  “Waste of an afternoon. I’m not gonna lie.” (31:44)

• On Sunset Boulevard overall:

  “Not perfect… not a masterpiece… What it is, is a ton of fun.” (47:40)

• On Nicole Scherzinger’s Norma:

  “She understands the lack of self awareness, the total self seriousness of a Norma Desmond… but she is allowed to find joy. And I think Nicole nails all of that.” (58:08)

• On theatrical manipulation:

  “You can recognize that the show is playing you like a fiddle and not care. But you cannot tell me that it is a genuine, impulsive response that the audience is having to the song.” (54:52)

• On critical/award season:

  “It is nice to be excited about something.” (67:15)

Final Thoughts

• Matt ends on a high note, describing how Sunset Boulevard brought genuine communal excitement (“I saw 1600 people lose their minds tonight”), even as he remains skeptical about how it will read to audience members less versed in the source material.
• He encourages listeners to join the show’s Discord and to check out the upcoming episode on Jekyll & Hyde.
• The episode closes with Nicole Scherzinger belting “With One Look,” a fitting send-off for a show Matt ultimately finds “wild and cool and very much worthwhile.”

For First-Time Listeners

This episode is a must-hear for anyone making Broadway plans this season or curious how major revivals and star vehicles are faring. Matt Koplik’s frank, knowledgeable, and thoroughly entertaining opinions cut through the hype, separating what’s worth seeing from what’s simply getting buzz—or bafflingly, good reviews.

Whether you agree with every word or not, you’ll be well-armed for the next round of theater chat.