I love the Broadway Theatre and had the privilege of seeing Arthur Miller's second Broadway play, All My Sons, at New York City's Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. I was lucky enough to be sitting in the 4th row center at the early Tuesday night 7pm performance. And what excellent theater it was my friends.
All My Sons may have been only Mr. Miller's second Broadway play but it was his first play writing success. He won the 1947 Tony Award along with the shows director Elia Kazan in the "first ever Tony Awards ceremony honoring excellence in the Broadway theater". This great play was then made into a movie in 1948 starring Burt Lancaster and Edward G. Robinson.
The original production on Broadway ran for 328 performances with Karl Malden and Ed Begley in the lead roles.
The current production stars one of my favorite all time theater, television and film actors, John Lithgow (in the role of Joe Keller). Mr. Lithgow has played in many Broadway shows including The Changing Room and Sweet Smell of Success. He has also won four Emmy Awards (three for his role of Dick Solomon on the hit television comedy series 3rd Rock From the Sun). In addition he has received "back to back" Oscar nominations for the films The World According To Garp and Terms of Endearment. Mr. Lithgow is the proud author of many "bestselling" children's books as well.
Although another one of my favorite stage and screen actors, Diane Wiest did not perform at the performance I attended, her understudy, Lizbeth MacKay did a wonderful job in the role of Kate Keller.
The role of Chris Keller is played by Patrick Wilson, who I saw on Broadway recently in Neil Simon's comedy Barefoot in the Park. Mr. Wilson has been seen on Broadway in The Full Monty, Oklahoma! and Gershwin's Fascinating Rhythm. He has played in several Off Broadway shows and has starred in many films as well.
Rounding out the all star cast is the charming and very talented Katie Holmes. Ms. Holmes is making her Broadway debut in All My Sons. She became more than a "household name" by creating the role of Joey in the hit television series Dawson's Creek of some years back. She has since appeared in many films including Disturbing Behavior, Go, Wonder Boys, Abandon, Pieces of April, The Singing Detective, First Daughter, Thank You for Smoking,Batman Begins and Mad Money. She has magnificent stage presence and does a very capable job as the love interest of the Keller's surviving son Chris.
This production of All My Sons is a "shoe-in" to win Best Direction of a Play for the amazing work and creativity of Simon McBurney. His use of staging, sound, lighting, film and having the actors all working together "in sync" keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. He is truly a remarkable stage director indeed.
All My Sons is based on a true story about a successful businessman (Joe Keller) who knowingly manufactured and sold the government defective airplane parts during World War II. This unfortunately led to a great tragedy. A big secret is kept for years after the war. Joe and Kate have lost their younger son to war although Kate cannot give up hope that he may still be alive as his body was never found. Complicating matters is the intertwining relationship of Joe Keller's former business partner's daughter Ann, (played by Ms. Holmes). Ann returns to her hometown years later to visit Chris with hopes of marrying him. Although Kate is against Ann marrying Chris (as she always thought Ann would wait for and marry her older son), Chris tries desperately to convince him mom that he loves Ann and wants to spend his life with her. Kate simply cannot accept that her older son is gone and feels it would be wrong to allow Ann and Chris to be together.
Ann's brother then comes to town and the plot thickens as they both reveal the "secret" that tears the entire family apart, yet at the same time yearns to heal everyone at the same time.
The acting, staging, and direction are indeed a real theater lovers delight. You should consider getting a ticket or two to see this production of All My Sons, one of the all-time classic dramas of our time. And with an "all-star" cast as I had the pleasure to see.
If this sounds like a show you might want to see, you can call the friendly Broadway Ticket Experts at Applause Theatre Service in New York City. They are known to be able to secure the very best seats at the very best prices for All My Sons and all Broadway Theater of your choosing.
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