By Karen Carter | Posted on March 09, 2018 12:32 PM
Kenneth Lonergan’s Play Lobby Hero Began Broadway Performances Starring Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Bel Powley, and Brian Tyree Henry, Directed by Trip Cullman.
A Play Written by the Filmmaker of Manchester by the Sea
On March 1, 2018, Lobby Hero began previews at the Helen Hayes Theatre in a production by Second Stage Theater, who became the newest not-for-profit theatre institution to have a home on Broadway. Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Lincoln Center have already been operating on the Broadway level for years, and it is a major achievement for Second Stage to step up into the big leagues. This show is a great pick for them, as it has big stars and a lot of legitimate theatre credibility, as Kenneth Lonergan is one of the rare writers who works seamlessly between screen and stage.
Lonergan wrote and directed Manchester by the Sea, starring Michelle Williams, which won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Nevertheless, Lonergan’s roots are in the theatre. His first success was This Is Our Youth in 1996, which made its Broadway debut in a 2014 revival. Other plays include The Starry Messenger, The Waverly Gallery, and Hold On to Me Darling. For the screen, he wrote Analyze This, Analyze That, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Gangs of New York and Howard’s End, and his credits as writer-director, in addition to Manchester by the Sea, include You Can Count on Me and Margaret.
Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Bel Powley, Brian Tyree Henry Star
The story involves a young security guard named Jeff who is unsuccessful with women, his strict supervisor William, an young female cop named Dawn, and her overbearing senior partner Bill, who shows a romantic interest in her. Like much of Lonergan’s work, the play is above all about the characters and their interactions, and here the plot also involves a murder investigation. Jeff is played by Michael Cera, well known for such screen roles as Arrested Development and films Superbad, Juno, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Chris Evans plays Bill, making his Broadway debut. Evans is a bona fide movie star (Snowpiercer, Gifted, The Avengers, The Iceman, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Captain America: Civil War). Dawn is played by Bel Powley, a British actress who made her Broadway debut in Stoppard’s Arcadia. Her film credits include Diary of a Teenage Girl, Wildling, Mary Shelley, and Carrie Pilby. William is played by Brian Tyree Henry (The Book of Mormon), whose screen credits Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles on Atlanta. The play is directed by Trip Cullman (Six Degrees of Separation, Significant Other) The show is currently scheduled to run until May 13, 2018.
