On Monday, it was announced that John Logan’s Red, now in its final week at the Donmar Warehouse, is heading to Broadway, where it will begin a limited 15 week run from March 11. It’s the second transfer of the current Broadway season for the Donmar, following last autumn’s move of the Jude Law Hamlet.
And it’s far from alone amongst leading London theatres to make their mark on the current Broadway season.
The Royal Court/Chichester/Headlong production of Enron is also transferring in April, while the current recreation of the Menier’s A Little Night Music (with leading man Alexander Hanson reprising his London performance alongside newcomers to the show there, Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury) will shortly be joined by a transfer, too, of La Cage Aux Folles (with Douglas Hodge recreating his award-winning London performance).
As always, Broadway is regularly dependent on transfers from London to complement its own homegrown product, of which there is more than enough this year, too. So the way ahead for all of these is by no means a certainty, but a prior London run at least ensures some critical guarantees: as the New York Times pointed out in its Arts Beat blog, “Broadway likes safe bets, which is why there has always been a steady stream of British plays making the journey from London to New York. Even American plays occasionally have to prove their box office worth in Britain before opening on Broadway.”
It helps when the New York Times critic Ben Brantley has already seen it, and in the case of Red, declared, “For the hundred-and-some uninterrupted minutes it takes to perform Red, I was in its thrall. The show is staged and acted with such fierce conviction and (dare I use the word?) artistry that it never lets you look away, much less roll your eyes.” Intriguingly, the press release for Red has adjusted this quote a little, and changed it to “for the ninety minutes it takes to perform Red”. I assume they have corrected Mr Brantley’s time-keeping with his permission. (But talking of time keeping, I was secretly relieved the other night to attend Fool for Love at the Riverside Studios and discover that it ran for just 55 minutes, whereas the press release and some of the reviews had stated it ran 70.)
But time is also of the essence in another sense: I see that they’re quoting a limited 15 week run on Broadway. It’s Donmar run, by comparison, has been just over 9 weeks. And while the Donmar seats just 250, which means a total of 18,000 people will have had the chance to see it here, a run of 15 weeks in a Broadway house, the John Golden, that seats 800 people will make it available to some 96,000 people. Somehow I think London theatregoers are being short-changed here. Especially given that the Donmar is publicly funded - it’s great that their brand is getting international exposure, but wouldn’t it be good if more homegrown theatregoers could have more opportunities to see work like this, too? If the Donmar is just being used as a try-out house for Broadway, it is letting London theatregoers down.
But then the London theatre is so often the training ground for international success. Just look at the roll-call of Oscar nominees announced yesterday: once again, of course, we have Helen Mirren leading the charge on the Best Actress front, but there’s also the wonderful Carey Mulligan, so exquisite in the Royal Court’s production of The Seagull a couple of years ago (and another show that got more exposure on Broadway than it did in its original London outing).
I love the report in today’s Daily Telegraph that points out., “She is surely the only Oscar nominee to travel around Los Angeles by bus - after a recent meeting with Warren Beatty, he was so astonished to see her heading for the bus stop that he insisted on giving her a lift.” She also failed to get into drama school, auditioning three times without success: “You have to be spectacular to get in. I wasn’t.”
Then there’s Colin Firth, up for Best Actor, who began his career as a take-over in the London production of Another Country. He is quoted in The Independent today on hearing about his nomination, “I thought I was managing my expectations, but on hearing the news I discovered new and unfamiliar vocal tones. Perhaps I should do another musical.”
Actually, he should do another play. So should Mulligan. It’s fantastic that they’re being feted in Hollywood - but we want them both back!
Seriously Mark you can't have it both ways - if Red were to have run for 15 weeks at the Donmar you would have no doubt brought into question that a subisdized theatre should be offering more plays with shorter runs so that we , the public, would see a more varied program in that space. Is there a West End theatre available for Red? I think not and what's more the play is written by an American about an American - if it weren't so damn good another argument could be made as to whether a publicly funded theatre should be giving exposure to a new American playwright when there are so many new British ones out there deserving of a production. The American producers of Red are taking a chance , they have to fill those 96,000 seats for a two hander about suicidal artist. I'm fairly sure the rewards for the Donmar both in terms of income and prestige are worth it for us all.
I, too, am delighted that RED is having a further life! But I agree with Mark -- I don't think the commercial possibilities have been fully exploited here. Of course they have to get it to New York asap, for Tony consideration etc. But American theatregoers are the beneficiary of a system here that they've not paid for, whereas English theatregoers, who have, are being deprived of the opportunity of seeing it.
to be fair Bill, Arielle Tepper Madover the producer of the show on Broadway gives a large amount of money every year to the Donmar , so techincally there is American money making it possible in the first place. And the system could work in theother direction with british producers picking up ready made and already acclaimed shows from the States but by and large they choose not to.
I agree with Mark's point - I only make it to the Donmar once a year. And that's not through my lack of trying! Too often tickets are like gold dust - I am willing to pay but by the time advanced bookers have snapped up seats, in such an intimate venue there is barely anything left. I would have loved to have seen RED and STREETCAR - extended runs or a limited transfer to a larger house would have made that possible.
Warmest,
Tim
I have been lucky enough to see many of the latest Donmar shows and find it sad if not tragic that they do not tend to transfer after all Hamlet started off at the Wyndhams.
I thought Red brilliant so to The Chalk Garden and both should have transferred but the problem is they are designed for the apron stage which you look down on so not sure where they could go?
Red needs an auditorium so you can appreciate what is going on onstage - like the Olivier (but obviously it could not go there) or possibly the Trafalgar studio or the Barbican?
But the biggy for me is they missed a trick by not having it on at the same time as the Rothko exhibition at the Tate Modern - I was taken along a bit under sufferance but was so glad I had gone as the play meant so much more!
I saw Red the other night and it was hugely impressive in every department. British talent at it's best should be seen wherever and whatever the circumstances and I feel privilaged to have seen the show and am delighted it will have a further life. If it start on Broadway and becomes more successful then it may have a further life in the West End and touring. I hope it is only the beginning for this excellent play and the superb acting, design and direction.
Worth a mention Ms Janet McTeer will be wowing Broadway again in March,reprising her role in God Of Carnage i saw the play when it was in the west end.Lucky lucky people a talent like no other.