Always-famished and easily-confused, Francis Henshall agrees to work for a local gangster as well as a criminal in hiding ("TWO GUVNORS"), both of whom are linked in a tangled web of schemes and romantic associations... none of which Francis can keep straight. So he has to do everything in his power to keep his two guvnors from meeting while trying to eat anything in sight along the way. Simple.
Falling trousers, flying fish heads, star-crossed lovers, cross-dressing mobsters and a fabulous on-stage band are just some of what awaits at the most "deliriously funny" (The Daily Telegraph) new play to cross the pond in decades.
Tickets on sale December 1, 2011
It’s a rich, slow-spreading smile, like butter melting in a skillet over a low flame. And whenever it creeps across James Corden’s face in the splendidly silly “One Man, Two Guvnors,” which opened on Wednesday night at the Music Box Theater, you know two things for sure: You’re in for trouble, and you’re already hooked. Struggle as you will, there ain’t nothing you can do about it. That smile captures the essence of “One Man, Two Guvnors,” Richard Bean’s inspired adaptation of an 18th-century Italian farce by Carlo Goldoni, directed by Nicholas Hytner. A runaway hit in London, where it originated at the National Theater, “One Man” is, like Mr. Corden’s grin, both satanic and seraphic, dirty-minded and utterly innocent. Letting loose and neutralizing all sorts of demons, it’s ideal escapism for anxious times.
London theatrical commentators have fretted that US audiences wouldn’t fully groove to the beat of the play’s British and early-Beatles-era references. But physical comedy, in which the evening abounds, tends to transcend cultural difference. Corden is an inspired clown, and as long as he – and Oliver Chris, as his tall, toffee-nosed guvnor, and Tom Edden, as an ancient waiter – are around the mirth is steady.
2011 | West End |
National Theatre Production West End |
2012 | Broadway |
National Theatre of Great Britain Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | James Corden |
2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Tom Edden |
2012 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music in a Play | Grant Olding |
2012 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | James Corden |
2012 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Production of a Play | 0 |
2012 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | James Corden |
2012 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Nicholas Hytner |
2012 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Tom Edden |
2012 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | 0 |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Mark Thompson |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Nicholas Hytner |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Grant Olding |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Tom Edden |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | James Corden |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Mark Thompson |
2012 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Paul Arditti |
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