Broadway Features and Reviews
Broadway Waiting For Godot Nearly Over
By Eric Grundhauser, Broadway Magazine
Coming in April 2009, one of the Twentieth Century's most influential plays returns to Broadway when Waiting for Godot begins a new run at theatre, Studio 54. The classic Samuel Beckett play, which originally premiered on Broadway in 1956 starring famous actor Bert Lahr, returns over fifty years later and continues to draw the top celebrity talent of its day. Presented by the Roundabout Theater Company and directed by Tony award-winner Anthony Page, this newest revival of the oft-interpreted piece promises a star-studded cast.
Page's production is set to star King of Broadway, Nathan Lane as Estragon, the resigned half of a pair of tramps who attempt to wile away the time while they wait for the mysterious Godot to arrive. Joining the award-winning Lane is multi-talented comedic actor Bill Irwin as the fidgety Vladimir. While the two lead characters remain enigmatic throughout the play, the actors portraying them are far from unknown, having both starred in a number of films and stage productions.
Rounding out the cast's supporting roles are two more well-known celebrities, John Goodman and John Glover. Film and television veteran Goodman will appear as slave-owner Pozzo, who drags and berates his slave Lucky, who will be played by Glover, himself an accomplished Broadway figure. Sharing the stage with the principle cast is Mathew Schechter as Boy.
The play itself is arguably Beckett's most well known piece, remarkable for its darkly comedic tone and the stark minimalism of its setting. Writing of the first Broadway production of the play in 1956, New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson characterized the play this way: "Since Waiting for Godot has no simple meaning, one seizes on Mr. Beckett's experience of two worlds to account for his style and point of view. The point of view suggests Sartre--bleak, dark, disgusted. The style suggests [James] Joyce--pungent and fabulous. Put the two together and you have some notion of Mr. Beckett's acrid cartoon of the story of mankind."
Bringing a cast featuring such bombastic celebrity promises to bring new levels of both hilarity and ennui to the character-centric work. With the upcoming revival featuring such a celebrated Broadway cast, the wait for Godot, on Broadway at least, will soon be over.
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