When the Great Depression cost his family their fortune, Victor Franz gave up his dream of an education to support his father. Three decades later, Victor has returned to his childhood home to sell the remainder of his parents' estate. His wife, his estranged brother, and the wily furniture dealer hired to appraise their possessions all arrive with their own agendas, forcing Victor to confront a question, long-stifled, about the value of his sacrifice.
One of the most personal plays by the consummate voice of the American everyman, Arthur Miller's The Price is a riveting story about the struggle to make peace with the past and create hope for the future. Steppenwolf co-founder Terry Kinney (reasons to be pretty) directs.
Victor (Mark Ruffalo), a working-class cop, blames his estranged brother, the well-heeled Walter (Tony Shalhoub), for abandoning him and their broken father during the Great Depression. When they meet to sell the old man's furniture, it's the first time they've seen each other since his death 16 years earlier. Harsh words are spoken; old wounds bleed afresh. Ruffalo and Jessica Hecht, as Victor's frustrated wife, do creditable work, but Shalhoub falters; although he is persuasive at first, when Walter floats on silky smarm, his emotional scenes have a tinny ring. The play winds up in the pocket of Danny DeVito, making his Broadway debut as a charming old ganef of a furniture dealer. With so much character and history compressed into his small body, he is a good match for the play. After dominating the first act, DeVito mostly disappears for the second, and the revival's energy flags without him. Only when he's onstage does The Price seem right.
Until Tony Shalhoub arrives on stage to usher in a very different second act, theatergoers at the Roundabout's American Airlines Theatre might get the impression that they're watching a big, broad comedy. So what if the play is Arthur Miller's 'The Price,' which opened Thursday? Until Shalhoub's entrance at the very end of act one, Danny DeVito has single-handedly turns 'The Price' into a Jewish laugh riot with his expert turn as Mr. Solomon, a comfy, psychologically astute furniture dealer right out of the Neil Simon playbook. Mr. Solomon gets the best price (for himself) by talking about everything - his wives, his retirement, his health - everything except what price he's willing to pay for the two Franz brothers' furniture, left to them by their long-departed father.
1979 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2017 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway Revival Broadway |
2019 | West End |
West End Revival West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Featured Actor in a Play | Danny DeVito |
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Danny DeVito |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Danny DeVito |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | The Price |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Danny DeVito |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | The Price |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Danny DeVito |
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