Poor Elling. Less than a week after opening it’s posted a closing notice. That’s really quite sad. I’m surprised they didn’t just keep the thing running for another couple of weeks to at least allow Tony voters see it. No performances = no chance for Tony voters to view = no Tony nominations = no way to market it for licensing. The producers have basically guaranteed no one will ever produce this play again.
Granted, it’s no Death of a Salesman, but it’s an entertaining, escapist new comedy (although based on a movie, but hell, nothing new there). I’m also surprised that it wasn’t able to eek out even a few weeks on Broadway given star casting. Denis O’Hare, Brendan Fraser and Jennifer Coolidge are recognizable Hollywood names. If that combined threesome can’t sell tickets, it doesn’t bode well for the future of new plays on Broadway. I guess I should’ve seen the writing on the wall given Trish and I were able to score opening night tickets on TDF! I know, how sad is it they couldn’t sell the place out for opening night? There were actually empty seats in the back of the mezzanine.
The play itself has its charms. Though I think O’Hare and Fraser were over-selling a bit. The quirkiness of the characters might have been more interesting if not always played for easy laughs. In this case, subtlety was definitely not a directorial choice. They might have had something here had the producers chosen a smaller, Off-Broadway house and if the director chose to downplay the “cute crazy people” aspect and instead emphasize the difficulties that come with unwillingly being thrown into a “sane” world. Regardless, by the second act I was won over by the obvious chemistry between the two leads and by the deliciously funny Coolidge as a smoking, drinking pregnant neighbor. Translated from a Norwegian source, perhaps some of the quirky fun of the original text has been lost in translation.
The best part of the evening though was audience watching. Given the cast’s star wattage, Hollywood types dotted the opening night audience. I spotted TR Knight, George Takei, Victor Garber, Fisher Stevens and Brian D’Arcy James. Andy Karl and a jewel-bedecked Orfeh were a few rows in front of us. Apparently, Sam Rockwell, Angela Lansbury, Rachel Dratch, Vincent Pastore, Blair Brown, Paul Wesley and Jamie-Lynn Sigler were all there as well, but I didn’t happen to see them.
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