Driving Miss Daisy
Tickets from $66 Buy Tickets
Summary
It's a great opportunity to see a legend live on stage. But two of them? Now that's a rare gift, indeed! So whatever you do, don't hesitate to get tickets to the new Broadway production of Driving Miss Daisy. American and British royalty, James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave join the superb Boyd Gaines, and fill the stage with joyous sentiment in Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
Originally Off-Broadway, and then a popular film, Driving Miss Daisy tells the story of the relationship, in the '50s and '60s, of Daisy Wertham, a 70-something Southern Jewish woman of means, and Hoke Coleburn, the African-American gentleman hired, by her son, Boolie (without her consent), to chauffeur her around town after she backs her car into the garage at top speed. But Uhry, whose keen grasp of human frailty provides some of the play's most tender moments, has used the Civil Rights Movement as his backdrop, and thus created something far deeper than simply a sweet story.
Redgrave is the consummate performer, playing the terror in Miss Daisy's eyes as she slowly feels the ravages of old age attack her. Her frustrations, often played out in the direction of Jones, are the stubborn words of every septuagenarian, with time hurling each of us in the wrong direction. As for Jones, his elegant stage presence imbues Hoke with gentle grace. It's to his credit that he's able to maintain that sense of dignity for a character in service of another without endangering the piece by making Hoke too powerful. As everyone knows, Jones possesses a most compelling voice and yet he uses it, along with a slowed gait, to create the gentle creature that is Hoke with magnificent results. It can't be easy to share the stage with two such able actors, but Gaines holds his own as he sputters and grins, trying to acquiesce to his mother's desires while protecting her from herself.
Scenic designer John Lee Beatty has smartly kept stage pieces simple, suggesting locations with but a few set pieces. It's unfortunate, however, that the custom today of using projections is utilized here to notate the changing Civil Rights Movement. It only serves to remind the audience of the popular film, made from the play, with Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy.
However, director David Esbjornson has done an excellent job giving the play the love and care it deserves and this high-quality production of Driving Miss Daisy, headed by two great actors, is a supremely moving evening in the theatre not to be missed.
By Lesley Alexander
Visit the Site
http://www.daisyonbroadway.com/
Cast
Venessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones, Boyd Gaines
Open/Close Dates
Opening 10/25/2010
Closing 4/9/2011
Box Office
(212) 239-6200
Theatre Info
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map
Comments
Sign up for our newsletter !
