BROADWAY MAGAZINE – The newest revival of the Broadway season opened last night when Samsom Raphaelson’s Depression-era comedy Accent on Youth had its official opening at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater. Today, the opening night Broadway critics have begun to share their reviews on this comic revival. With some dissenting opinions, the consensus is that the production is amusing, David Hyde Pierce is entertaining, but the show is not a landmark revival. The story of an aging playwright’s romance with a much younger secretary, some critics felt the show was a bit creaky, though most critics praised Daniel Sullivan’s direction, while conceding that the second act drags slightly. In a season rich with solid revivals, Accent on Youth may not excite the enthusiasm of The Norman Conquests,
Exit The King or Blithe Spirit, but seems certain to entertain Broadway fans.
Too Old to Be Hot? Not This Guy: As a playwright who pens a drama about late-life romance and then finds himself caught up in a similar adventure offstage, Mr. Hyde Pierce hits his comic marks with the precision we’ve come to expect from his priceless turn on the long-running, exceptionally literate sitcom “Frasier.” (Now and forever in syndicated reruns, I hope.) –Charles Isherwood, New York Times
‘Youth’ examines a May-December romance: It’s a flimsy tale, but Raphaelson has spun it out with the addition of several choice supporting characters, and Sullivan has cast them all savvily. Chief among them is Byron Jennings, one of theater’s most reliable workhorses. He portrays a graying matinee idol who is cast in Gaye’s play as an aging Lothario. –Michael Kuchwara, AP
Accent on Youth:
Sullivan keeps the proceedings moving at a decent clip but can’t prevent a sense of detachment from pervading them. John Lee Beatty’s impressively appointed duplex apartment interior seems just a little too sterile for Pierce’s humane playwright: Would he really have such perfectly matched and seemingly unread books lining his walls? –Erik Haagensen, Backstage
Accent on Youth: Daniel Sullivan’s spiffy production and David Hyde Pierce’s effortless timing make the antiquated comedy tick by painlessly enough, but there’s not much substance beneath its mild charms.—David Rooney, Variety
Theatre Review of Accent on Youth: But it’s hard to not feel underwhelmed and bored by the Manhattan Theater Club’s well-meant but unnecessary and uninspired revival of what feels like a third-rate Noel Coward play. –Matt Windman, am New York
Accent on Youth: What hasn’t gone out of fashion is Raphaelson’s knack for presenting recognizably amusing figures and his gift for witty one-liners, which are welcomed by a cast of adept comic actors, led by David Hyde Pierce, who know how to take on colorful guises (abetted by Jane Greenwood’s spot-on costumes) and spout amusing quips. –David Finkle, Theatremania
David Hyde Pierce Shines In ‘Accent On Youth’: With David Hyde Pierce giving a finely measured display of wit and sophistication as playwright Steven Gaye, Daniel Sullivan’s production largely succeeds in restoring Raphaelson’s reputation. –Malcolm Johnson, Hartford Courant
Returns), Curt Bouril (A Man for All Seasons), David Furr (Cymbeline), Mary Catherine Garrison (Top Girls, Rabbit Hole), Byron Jennings (Is He Dead?, Sight Unseen), Tony nominee Charles Kimbrough (Company, “Murphy Brown”), and John Wernke (The American Plan).
