Tom Hanks makes his Broadway debut in LUCKY GUY by Nora Ephron.
Nora Ephron's LUCKY GUY marks a return to her journalistic roots in a new play about the scandal- and graffiti-ridden New York of the 1980s, as told through the story of the charismatic and controversial tabloid columnist Mike McAlary.
From his sensational reporting of New York's major police corruption to the libel suit that nearly ended his career, the play dramatizes the story of McAlary's meteoric rise, fall and rise again, ending with his coverage of the Abner Louima case for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, shortly before his untimely death on Christmas Day, 1998.
Although the play is clunky, choppy and unapologetically sentimental (and probably would have been revised if Ephron was still with us), it engrosses us in a distinctive, proudly macho world of newspaper journalism, cigarette smoke and Irish barrooms. Hanks, sporting McAlary's trademark thick mustache, offers a spirited performance, basking in the frenzy of being a reporter on the police beat, and makes a clean transition to a frailer physical state later in the play.
A frequent stumbling block in any dense dramatic chronicle is too much tell, not enough show. But the late Nora Ephron circumvents that problem in her entertaining salute to the tabloid newspaper business of the 1980s and '90s, Lucky Guy. She smartly enlists a garrulous crew of reporters and editors to serve as the oral-history vessel for her nostalgic look back at old-school, foot-in-the-door journalism...Directed with warmth and vitality by George C. Wolfe, it's performed with relish by a dynamic cast of pros, piloted by an uncharacteristically rough-edged Tom Hanks...Is it exceptional drama? Not by any means. It's talky, cursory in its conflict exploration, and not exactly packed with complexity. Yet it's intelligently written, engrossing and laced with crackling humor.
2013 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Tom Hanks |
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Tom Hanks |
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Courtney B. Vance |
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | 0 |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Tom Hanks |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | 0 |
2013 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Award | Tom Hanks |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | George C. Wolfe |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Peggy Eisenhauer |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Jules Fisher |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Courtney B. Vance |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Tom Hanks |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | William Berlind |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Nora Ephron |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | The Shubert Organization |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Sonia Friedman Productions |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Scott and Brian Zeilinger |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | James D. Stern/Douglas L. Meyer |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | The Shubert Organization |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Sonia Friedman Productions |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Scott and Brian Zeilinger |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | James D. Stern/Douglas L. Meyer |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Frederick Zollo |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Daryl Roth |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | David Mirvish |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Robert Cole |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Stacey Mindich |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Roger Berlind |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Arielle Tepper Madover |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Roy Furman |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Colin Callender |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | David Rockwell |
Videos