Theater Critics Grapple With an Unfamiliar Routine: Opening Night

The Front Page debuts at the Broadhurst Theatre.

FrontPageBroadhurst‘You know nobody works at that pace anymore, right?’

So emailed one theater critic a few weeks ago when informed that Scott Rudin, producer of the Broadway revival of The Front Page, had decided to forego the usual preview routine for critics and force them to attend opening night. And now, here we are, with the production starring Nathan Lane and John Slattery having debuted Thursday at New York’s Broadhurst Theatre.

At the end of a mixed review, Deadline’s Jeremy Gerard notes:

I believe Rudin hoped to recapture the spirit of a lost era, when we ink-stained kvetches tore up the aisle the moment the curtain came down, beating the paying customers to the Checker cabs lined up outside, to pound out our reviews in time for the early edition.

AW+

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