So Long, 174th Street review

So Long, 174th Street Review - Broadway musical

At the heart of the musical is the work ‘Enter Laughing’, written by C. Reiner in 1958. After 5 years, J. Stein created on the basis of this semi-autobiographical novel a theater play, which was later filmed. Production was hosted in Broadway’s theaters. In 1976, with the assistance of S. Daniels, playwright reworked it into a musical. Although the story had the originality, first Broadway’s production lasted no more than two weeks from the date of previews’ finale. The production received very negative reviews. According to critics, the main mistake of the director was poor choice of an actor for the leading role of the theatrical. With all his available talent, 45-year-old R. Morse failed to play the inexperienced Jewish young boy convincingly. After that, the show has been staged extremely rare. After a long period, the production has been revised. Reborn version of the play continued further.

After the musical’s redesign in 2007, the show experienced a great success with the public. After receiving a new name, it played with new colors that its creators expected to see 31 years ago. G. S. Irving appeared in the musical in the same role as in the original Broadway production. Despite his old age – he was already more than 85 years – the actor brilliantly coped with his part. The new version of the spectacular has received many positive critical reviews. However, some on them felt that director S. Ross could not completely get rid of the shortcomings of Broadway’s original version. Despite this, the audience appreciated the musical, which allowed them to laugh almost continuously for 2 hours straight. Farcical storyline enabled the actors to reveal to the public all the facets of their talents. Reviewers underlined J. Grisetti, who played a young man, who sought tirelessly to his dream. According to them, the charm and liveliness of this actor should in the near future bring him on the Broadway stage. Renewed production caught the nice piece of attention, allowing this item to stand sturdy on Broadway’s scenes.
Last Update:July, 13th 2016