'The Front Page' w/ Nathan Lane, John Goodman Commands Hot Tickets on Broadway

Stop the presses: The Front Page, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's classic comedy of ruthless newsmen, has returned to Broadway. The new revival opened at the Broadhurst Theater on October 20, and boasting the biggest and star-filled cast of the season, headlined by Tony-winning theater legend Nathan Lane, Mad Men star John Slattery, and John Goodman, it's shaping up to be one of the fall's hottest tickets.

The play is set in 1920s Chicago, in the press room of the Criminal Courts Building. Hildy Johnson (Slattery) is a star reporter who plans on leaving the news game for a new wife and respectable job - despite much resistance from his ruthless managing editor, Walter (Lane). He stops by the press room just to say farewell to his fellow reporters, who are there to cover the execution of convicted police killer Earl Williams. But when the reporters discover that Williams has escaped, it's Hildy who gets the exclusive scoop - by discovering Williams himself, and learning the story isn't all it seems. Hildy must enlist Walter's help to keep the convict a secret from both his rival reporters and the police, including the bumbling and corrupt sheriff (Goodman).

The play is well-known and memorable for its brisk pace and sharp, rapid-fire dialogue, which is key to the play's comedy and also creates a sense of the chaotic, obsessive buzz of the newsroom. It has remained popular; including this production the show has been revived on Broadway five times since its debut. It has also received many screen adaptations for film and television, including Billy Wilder's version with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, but the most popular incarnation of the show, somewhat oddly, is His Girl Friday, Howard Hawkes' classic film that gender-swaps the role of Hildy (she's played by Rosalind Russell) and adapts the story into a romantic comedy between her and Walter (Cary Grant).

This production is directed by Jack O'Brien, a three-time Tony winner whose work includes Hairspray and The Coast of Utopia. Its producers include Oscar- and Tony-winner Scott Rudin, who, in keeping with the spirit of the play's old-fashioned journalism, had the critics attend the show's opening night. Theatre critics today usually attend one of a show's previews, but for decades, and in The Front Page's era, critics attended opening night and rushed back to complete their reviews in time for the next day's paper. You might risk some bad press burdening your critics like that, but most seemed game for the challenge (and the show still received overwhelmingly positive reviews).

And if the show's headlining stars somehow aren't enough to entice you, take a look at the show's ensemble supporting cast, that is surprisingly decked with notable actors. There's Robert Morse, a Tony-winning Broadway vet and Slattery's former Mad Men co-star (that's right: this show has Sterling AND Cooper); Tony-winner Jefferson Mays, who most recently played the eight members of the D'Ysquith family in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder; Tony nominees Micah Stock (It's Only a Play), Sherie Rene Scott (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Holland Taylor (also known for her Emmy-winning work on The Practice), and Dylan Baker; and prolific character actors like Dann Florek and Christopher McDonald. The Front Page runs through January 29th. Tickets for The Front Page are available through Telecharge, where tickets range from $67-$167.

(Video Courtesy of YouTube)

TagsThe Front Page, Broadway, Nathan Lane, John Goodman, John Slattery