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Everyone deserves to be connected. That's why T Mobile and US Cellular are joining forces. Switch to T Mobile and save up to 20% versus Verizon by getting built in benefits they leave out. Check the math@t mobile.com switch and now T mobile is in US cellular stores. Savings versus Comparable Verizon plans plus the cost of optional benefits plan features and taxes and fees vary. Savings with three plus lines include third line free via monthly bill credits. Credit stop if you cancel any lines. Qualifying credit required.
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Welcome to a special review roundup episode of Broadway Radio. My name is Matt Tamminini and I.
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Am Tell Me on a Sunday's Podcast and loving Broadway radio host Grace Hawkeye.
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B
Yeah, I forgot how to do that. I forgot the intro for that Grace. But as we said we would both be back, I've had a couple things throughout the week. You are here, Grace. You are, I believe, coming from the opening night festivities of Bug on Broadway.
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C
Yes, I'm so elated to talk about these things. I can't wait to hear the reviews from you because I haven't gotten an opportunity to see them. So here we go.
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B
Okay. All right. So as you can probably figure out by the title of this episode and what I just said, the Broadway premiere of Tracy Letts Bug officially opened at the same J. Friedman Theater on Thursday night. It is directed by David Cromer and is a transfer from the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago. The show brings back the stars from that previous production, Carrie Kuhn as Agnes White and Namir Smallwood as Peter Evans. Also in the company are Randall Arnie, Jennifer Engerstrom, and Steve Key. This is not the first time that the show has been seen on a stage or even in New York, but it is the Broadway premiere, of course. Also worth noting that Carrie Coon is married to Tracy Letts. But if you're listening to this, chances are that you knew that already. The official description of the show reads thusly the show is about an unexpected and intense romance between a lonely waitress played by Coon and a mysterious drifter. Smallwood. What begins as a simple connection between two broken people in a seedy Oklahoma motel room twists into something far more dangerous. When reality slips out of grasp, paranoia, delusion and conspiracy take over in this sexy psychological thriller. As of recording time, review aggregator site Did They like it? Has collected 14 reviews. Nine were positive, five were mixed, and none were negative. Let's start off with the New York Times with honestly a name that I've never heard of before. The review was done by Jason Zinneman, and he made the show a critic pick, he said, quote, this new Manhattan Theater Club production, which opened Thursday at the Same with Jay Friedman Theater, is more tender and balanced in reference to the previous productions that have played New York, with Namir Smallwood rendering Peter as a gentler, less alien figure. The focus has shifted to his romantic partner Agnes, a desperate sad sack haunted by a loss in her past. In a superb performance, Kuhn provides the alpha energy, this time, her eruptive anger masking an inner conflict worn on her weary face. The director, David Cromer, still delivers effective jolts, yet his production feels disturbing. Closer to home, he continues. But what really holds this production together is Coon, an excitingly livewire performer who sells the play's hard boiled poetry with conviction. I just get sick of it, my lousy life, Laundromats and grocery stores, dumb marriages and lost kids, she says, making you feel her pain. She's fed up and ready for something, anything new. Also chiming in on things was Sarah Holdren, who is actually one of the mixed reviews writing for Vulture, saying, quote let's his play is a sordid, spiky creature, a two hour descent into a pit of paranoia within the dingy walls of an Oklahoma motel room. It's also an acting showcase, especially for its female lead, and Kuhn tears into the tragic arc of troubled club waitress Agnes White with her characteristic naked courage. But to really do its work, Bug needs to get under our skin, and here it never quite does. We've got to feel not only the ick but the itch, the gnawing sensation that for all their delusions, the protagonists might not actually be nuts even if they nightmarish conviction should stick with us. We should walk away struggling to shake the feeling something's crawling up our backs. Adam Feldman of Timeout in New York was positive, giving the show four out of five stars, saying, quote the slipperiness of ostensible skepticism into utter credulity is what makes Bug continue to resonate so powerfully today. This is not just a particularly lurid folie adieu involving a peculiar variety of Ekbom syndrome. It speaks to a larger crisis that has only expanded since Letts wrote the play, a twisted culture of conspiracy exemplified by phenomena like Qanon and Pizzagate that attracts broken people into collective psychosis. That's the genuine horror built into this play and perhaps also its most soothing aspect. In Bug, at least, the contagion is contained, and I'll wrap up with one more positive one coming from Entertainment Weekly's Shayna Russell. She said, quote, the Samuel J. Friedman Theater was rippling with gasps as the show played out, concern palpable in the air. Have they lost their minds? Is this really happening? There was some cowering in seats, some shielded eyes, and a general atmosphere of dread. But even if you do avert your eyes from some of the more gruesome developments, it's near impossible not to peek through your fingers. Bug is all absorbing now, Grace, of course, I will have the complete review aggregation of all of the different reviews if you want to read more of these and others. But this play seems so up your alley. I am dying to know what you thought of Bug on Broadway.
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C
You know, it's interesting, Matt. I was having this conversation. So I saw the show again two days ago after having seen it not for four years. And what's interesting to me is the fact that when I saw this piece, I had just in all frankness, like, come out of a relationship. The world was on fire. I did not know what was going on in my life. There was a literal Bug that shut the world down. And I watched it in an audience full of people, masks and the contagion storyline of the show. Spoiler is. Was so relevant. And then I think that what is interesting now is that you have the conspiracy theory element of the show as its relevant piece. And I'm just so grateful that audiences have an opportunity to discuss these types of topics with a show like this that is so intimate, so thoughtful. It's just, it's. It's genuinely some of the most unbelievable performances you will ever see, especially in under 90 minutes. The supporting cast, I think, also deserves a massive shout out for how much they elevate the piece. It's unbelievable. Seriously.
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B
Now, I've seen this show, not this production, but I've seen a production of the show in the past. And it's a tough watch because of the conspiracy nature of things, because of some of the shared psychosis that the reviews talked about. It is not like, I mean, not that any Tracy Let's Play is like a happy, fun time. But like, even compared to something like August Osage county, like, this is still pretty dark for people who are trying to decide if they want to go see a great show, but it might not be something that they normally gravitate towards. Like, how would you kind of recommend to people whether or not it is something that they would be able to appreciate?
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C
I think it's something that if you just in full honesty cannot, you know, look away during some kind of like horror elements, like, similar to, like, Gray House, I think you and I were talking about, like, in that aspect. I understand if that's something that you're like, I just can't look at that. Like, I don't go see scary movies. I don't go watch horror movies. But the thing that I love about this is that it's a psychological thriller. It is so rooted in reality. These are real people. And these are also, like, deeply, you know, disenfranchised people that are just looking to connect. And I think that if you break down the more human parts of the story, you're able to sit through it in a stronger way. But it is uncomfortable. But I don't know. I think that's part of its charm.
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B
You mentioned that these are, like, real people, and I think that goes to talk about just how good of actors Namir Smallwood and Carrie Coon are. You said that this is some of the best performances that you've seen in a while. What makes these stand out? Because we've seen both of these people on stage, obviously Carrie Coon, especially on TV as well. But what makes this show give them the opportunity to kind of do things that maybe we haven't seen from them and really don't often get a chance to see on a Broadway stage?
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I. Without question, it's David Cromer's direction. I think that the work that he is able to do with this cast and also, like, Tracy's incredible dialogue, like.
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It'S just all of it comes together and it works so beautifully. And I think that that's why they completely transferred the Steppenwolf production for Broadway. Like, they quite literally said, this is great, and we're going to do it all with the same folks. Like, the same set designer, the same, you know, cast of ensemble actors, the same principals, the same director. Like, all of those elements had to come together in order for them to.
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Do this production on Broadway.
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And by the way, it's 30 years to the year that he wrote this piece.
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Wow.
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So it's taken 30 years, years for this to be on Broadway because it's. It's a. It's a tough one to do. And I want to shout out the fact that Nikki, and I'm forgetting her last name. Sorry, but I want to shout out the fact that Nikki is the new artistic director of mtc, and she chose this piece as the piece that she wanted to welcome her first season at mtc. So hats off to Manhattan Theater Club for entrusting her with this piece. The fact that it's taken 30 years for a Tracy Letts play that is certifiably incredible to be on Broadway is, I'll just say it, embarrassing. But I think what's exciting is the fact that all of these people five years ago came together to create this production in Chicago. They. They created it masterfully. And I think it's three days before.
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C
The end of their run, they had to shut down.
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D
And I saw their remounting of this show in 2021. And what's insane is that. And I'll be sending you the audio so we can listen to the whole thing. But I interviewed the cast, the Broadway company of Bug, four years ago to the day that I saw them do it at Steppenwolf. So, and, and. And that morning, who came to my door? My pest control guy. And I had to tell them. So when I was telling the cast that my exterminator had come that morning before I was heading into the city to interview them. Steve Key, who is so incredibly nuanced in his portrayal of Carrie Coons ex husband in the play. He owns an extermination business in New Jersey. I can't make this up. Like the actual. Yes, I'm telling you on the side. He is also owning an extermination company. So he also knows about Bugs. Like, I just don't think that you could possibly put together, you know, that level of conspiracy. What have yous. I have such a warm place in my heart for it, for a lot of deeply, I guess, personal reasons. But seeing it four years after I saw it in a really troubling time, similar to, I think one of the Carrie Coons character in the show, it just holds up. I feel like if you can get through sometimes there's a little bit of blood, not to spoil anything, but if you can get through it, it is a deeply human play. And something that I love that Tracy said to me during the press day was that could. First of all, he heard my accent and he goes, okay, well, what part of Georgia are you from? And I said, well, this is the thing I love about your plays, is that you write about people that look and sound like me. And I never saw people do that before him. You know, not. Not, you know, there's Tennessee Williams and all of that, but not in a modern sense. And there was just something so human about the way that he wrote these characters that he said, this is. This is who people don't realize vote. These are the people that people don't realize, you know, are contributing members of Our society in Oklahoma and all of these different kind of, you know, I don't know. It was just. It was so thoughtful the way that he did this. And I think that that is part of what has endeared people to Augustos Edge County. It's what people have endeared to his work without realizing it. I think often, especially like the New York kind of like east coast elite, you know, theater goer, that there is something like that they aren't maybe recognizing immediately, which is that he has written really, really incredible contemporary works for people that I've known my entire life. So I just think that this is an unmissable show. It's an incredible inaugural show for the new artistic director of MTC to have brought. And the fact that it's. Is it a limited run? Am I correct to say that it is?
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B
Yeah. It is currently scheduled to play just through February 8th. So literally one month after opening night. I do think there's maybe about two or three weeks for it to potentially extend. But MTC's got another show coming in in March.
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D
Yeah. And they've also, like, you know, they're going to season four, I guess, of the Gilded Age. But this is just one of those that you should not miss.
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You're.
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You're stupid. I'll say it. You're stupid to miss it. If you have the means and the availability and the stomach, you have to see Bug.
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B
So, Grace, you mentioned the fact that you talked to folks on the red carpet. You're going to be sending me that video and we're going to put out the audio either on Friday or over the weekend for. For people to hear all of the conversations that you had. Anything other than the crazy exterminator story that people should listen for. In those conversations, I love getting to.
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Talk to especially Carrie about, like, why she was excited to do this show again because she puts herself through in the show is deeply traumatic. And, you know, as an artist, I think that it's, like, very poignant. I mean, who cares? The fact that her husband wrote the damn thing. It's still a really hard to do show. And the fact that she is so dedicated to preserving this piece and to do it and wanting to do it again, I think speaks volumes to how important it is. So that. That is one of the pieces that I'd love for you to take away.
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Awesome. Well, that is all that we have for this review roundup episode of Bug on Broadway. Again, we will have the Did They Like It? And Broadway World review roundups in the show. Notes if you want to read more of these reviews. Grace, it was nice to be back on air talking with you about this. And we will obviously be doing that more throughout the spring season. But thank you everybody for listening. We will talk to you soon. And Grace, we're to going people find you. I forget how to do this still.
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You can find me at Grace Hockey.
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All right, everybody, have a wonderful Thursday night, a wonderful Friday, and we'll be back to talk to you sometime next week.