American Buffalo

[foxy]

Today I saw the revival of this play written by David Mamet in 1975. It stars Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell and Darren Criss. I thought Sam Rockwell was especially good but he does have the showiest part. The play is considered by many to be one of the best American plays and has understandably won a number of awards. 
Darren Criss may be more familiar to readers for his performance in Glee and also as the serial killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. He’s a multitalented performer and despite his portrayals of gay characters he’s straight. But he’s still cute. 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Glad you enjoyed this.  I have tickets for it in a couple of weeks.

Mamet is a difficult playwright to do well.  Actors get caught up in not doing his punctuation justice and if you've ever read one of Mamet's scripts, there's a TON of it.  It's daunting.

There's a slight sing-song banter to his work when it's done well.  Watch the film version of Glengary Glen Ross to see what I mean.  It's one of my favorite plays (and films).

[foxy]

I did see it years ago but can’t be sure what production. In a moment of madness several years ago, getting rid of stuff in my attic I threw away boxes full of Playbills going back to my 15th birthday when my sister took me to see Bye Bye Birdie. I’ve been kicking myself ever since. 
I think this is a good production. 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

2 minutes ago, foxy said:

 I threw away boxes full of Playbills going back to my 15th birthday when my sister took me to see Bye Bye Birdie. I’ve been kicking myself ever since. 

Paul Lynde would like a word.

[foxy]

He stole the show. Really. 

[leeper]

I saw American Buffalo as well this past weekend.  The cast seemed solid, I especially enjoyed Sam Rockwell who has been in a ton of movies over the last nearly 30 years, but I don't feel is a household name.  The last thing I saw Darren Criss in on stage was Helwig and this, of course, was a totally different role for him.  I'm not a big Mamet fan, so I saw the show primarily because of the cast. 

I moved last year and had boxes of Playbills from the past nearly 40 years of theater-going and debated about what to do with them.  They ended up moving with me, hopefully I will be able to go through them some day and organize them as I just tossed them randomly into the moving boxes.. 

[kyleham]

Saw this show years ago with Al Pacino. Looking forward to seeing this cast

[skynyc]

Saw this for the cast. As noted, Mamet is so difficult to get right, but I'd see Fishburne read the phone book, and Sam Rockwell is such a chameleon that I was very excited. Criss was charming and fun on Glee, charming and enticing in How to Succeed, charming and straight in Hedwig, and charming and terrifying in The Killing of Versace. And here he was the antithesis of all. So hangdog and insecure, you almost couldn't find him on the set. I was so impressed by his performance. Saw it a number of years ago with Cedric the Entertainer, John Leguizamo and Haley Joel Osment all of whom did service to the play, but this production shows how good Mamet can be. I got a $55 +points ticket through Audience Rewards, and had a great seat. One of the rare occasions at this theater, where you want to be along the sides of the thrust. MUCH of the action is close to the back of the thrusting stage. 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Just saw this on Saturday.

Rockwell is a revelation.  He understands the rhythms and cadence of Mamet.  Watching him deliver this show was a brilliant lesson in paying attention to script punctuation and always being present. 

Criss had a throwaway role with a couple of nice punchlines.  He tried to hard to sound 'dumb'

Fishburne was out with COVID and his understudy, Ray Anthony Thomas, with less than a week of rehearsal and never having gone on, was right up there with Rockwell.  They went toe-to-toe and it was great. 

Circle-in-the-Square has always been the most intimate house on Broadway and the set will either fascinate you or cause you to feel even more cramped in the space.