Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James star in a searing new musical about a couple falling in love in 1950s New York and struggling against themselves to build their family. The New York Times calls Days of Wine and Roses “a jazzy, aching new musical with wells of compassion!” (Critic’s Pick) and The Washington Post raves, “Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James soar! One of the best new musicals this year.”
Adapted from JP Miller’s 1962 film and original 1958 teleplay, composer & lyricist Adam Guettel (Floyd Collins) and playwright Craig Lucas (An American in Paris) reunite in their first collaboration since their acclaimed The Light in the Piazza. Directed by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen).
It’s probably a good thing there’s no intermission in Days of Wine and Roses, the musical adaptation of Blake Edwards’s 1962 film. The harrowing and hugely captivating Broadway production wastes no time diving into the toll that alcoholism takes on married couple Kirsten and Joe Clay, and it’s doubtful any audience member would be inclined to pony up for a mid-show sippy cup of Chardonnay. Director Michael Greif’s production is shot through with heartache and hangovers, and worth all the squirming in your seat.
Always a composer of intricacy, Mr. Guettel mostly eschews traditional musical-theater forms and simplified melodies; his lyrics here are sometimes conversational, sometimes fragmentary, reflecting the characters’ muddled psyches and their conflicting desires: for the high and the happy blur of booze, but also stable ground upon which their marriage can right itself. Music and lyrics reflect both aspects in the duet “Evanesce,” as Kirsten sings, “I’m leaning out the window, I’m running with a knife,” to which Joe ripostes, “I’m riding on an arrow, I’m running for my life.” Then, together, “I have you now, you are all I need.” In a single song, we see the dynamic that runs throughout the show: abiding love at war with destructive impulses.
Digital Rush
Price: $49
Where: on the TodayTix app.
When: 9am on the day of the performance
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Subject to availability.
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