{"id":529424,"date":"2022-12-20T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T03:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/between-riverside-and-crazy-review-a-titanic-stage-performance\/"},"modified":"2022-12-20T06:01:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T03:01:00","slug":"between-riverside-and-crazy-review-a-titanic-stage-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/between-riverside-and-crazy-review-a-titanic-stage-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"#&#8217;Between Riverside and Crazy&#8217; review: A titanic stage performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a29251cd3ab2\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a29251cd3ab2\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/between-riverside-and-crazy-review-a-titanic-stage-performance\/#%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Between_Riverside_and_Crazy_review_A_titanic_stage_performance%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;&#8216;Between Riverside and Crazy&#8217; review: A titanic stage performance&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Between_Riverside_and_Crazy_review_A_titanic_stage_performance%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;&#8216;Between Riverside and Crazy&#8217; review: A titanic stage performance&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>The riveting play \u201cBetween Riverside and Crazy,\u201d which opened Monday night on Broadway, begins with a yuletide bait-and-switch: In one of the rooms of a sprawling apartment, we see a Christmas tree.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But there are no carols, gifts and cocoa to match the mirth outside right now in Times Square, because Stephen Adly Guirgis\u2019 dramedy is set during a New York summer. The characters, who live in Upper Manhattan, just haven\u2019t bothered to lug their conifer out to the curb.\u00a0It\u2019s ho-ho-hot outside.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n        <span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow widget-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n            Theater review      <\/span><\/p>\n<p>        Two hours and 20 minutes, with one intermission. At the Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th\u00a0St.\n    <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Having holiday decor lingering on Walt Spangler\u2019s set during that stickiest of seasons unexpectedly says a lot about what will h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en in this contentious household as the story unfolds. Some of the information the sharply written characters will admit, and that we accept without reservation, isn\u2019t true. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>People we love become people we can\u2019t trust, and back again. <\/p>\n<p>As patriarch Walter, who is given a staggering performance by Stephen McKinley Henderson, resignedly says: \u201cWho really knows anybody anyway, ya know?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Walter is a retired NYPD cop and a widower with an adult son named Junior (Common, in his Broadway debut). He lives with Junior and his friend Oswaldo (Victor Almanzar) in a massive, rent-controlled home on Riverside Drive that clearly isn\u2019t cleaned much. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/RIVERSIDE-Crazy-4.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Walter (Stephen McKinley Henderson), a retired cop, has Lt. Caro (Michael Rispoli) over for dinner. \" class=\"wp-image-25067730\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/RIVERSIDE-Crazy-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/RIVERSIDE-Crazy-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/RIVERSIDE-Crazy-4.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Walter (Stephen McKinley Henderson), a retired cop, has Lt. Caro (Michael Rispoli) over for dinner. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Joan Marcus<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The former officer is both sweet and salty. Oswaldo and Junior are ex-convicts and still-generous Walter lets them live with him rent-free. But the man who everybody calls \u201cdad\u201d annoyedly waves off hugs and calls out peoples\u2019 BS any chance he gets.<\/p>\n<p>When his old partner Detective O\u2019Connor (Elizabeth Canavan) comes over for dinner with her fianc\u00e9 Lt. Caro (Michael Rispoli), an ambitious bigwig with the NYPD, details about Walter\u2019s traumatic past are revealed and his very existence is threatened by those close to him.<\/p>\n<p>Guirgis\u2019 compassionate play, directed with great care by Austin Pendleton,\u00a0is also wildly funny \u2014 actually more hilarious than many recent flat-out comedies \u2014 and devilishly inappropriate. His dialogue rightly doesn\u2019t try to clean up how cops and convicts might talk and it also establishes that nobody here is a saint.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Riverside2028r.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Common, as Junior, develops a touching relationship with his dad Walter (Henderson). \" class=\"wp-image-25067737\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Riverside2028r.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Riverside2028r.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Riverside2028r.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Common, as Junior, develops a touching relationship with his dad Walter (Henderson). <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Joan Marcus<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Common takes on his first major stage gig, successfully and admirably, in Broadway\u2019s smallest house at just 597 seats and in a supporting role. Although the play isn\u2019t Junior\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s Walter\u2019s \u2014 there\u2019s complexity behind the rapper-actor\u2019s warmth. He has a dicey past of his own and knows many of his father\u2019s closely guarded secrets, but he always wants what\u2019s best for dad. Junior navigating his touch-and-go relationship with girlfriend Lulu (Rosal Col\u00f3n) is both affecting and kitty-corner to an episode of \u201cSeinfeld.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And Col\u00f3n and Liza Col\u00f3n-Zayas, as a church lady who visits Walter, are gifted comedic talents. Whoever thought holy communion and the word \u201cprognosis\u201d could be so funny?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/RIVERSIDE-Crazy-3.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Junior (Common) and Lulu (Rosal Colon) have a touch-and-go relationship. \" class=\"wp-image-25067727\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/RIVERSIDE-Crazy-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/RIVERSIDE-Crazy-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/RIVERSIDE-Crazy-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Junior (Common) and Lulu (Rosal Col\u00f3n) have a touch-and-go relationship. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Joan Marcus<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, it\u2019s Henderson who shakes the stage. The wonderful actor, who\u2019s been a regular for years in plays by August Wilson and Lorraine Hansberry and in films as far-removed as \u201cLady Bird\u201d and \u201cDune,\u201d gives the performance of his career and the Broadway season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He makes the complicated Walter a millions things at once \u2014 adorable, frightening, calculating, indifferent, reserved, commanding, a stand-up comic, a boozer \u2014 that combine into one indomitable theatrical force. It\u2019s not the sort of showy, speechifying role that we usually laud out of habit. Often, Walter simply watches on. But as played by Henderson, he\u2019s a man you won\u2019t soon forget.\u00a0\u00a0\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/12\/19\/between-riverside-and-crazy-review-a-titanic-stage-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8216;Between Riverside and Crazy&#8217; review: A titanic stage performance&#8221; The riveting play \u201cBetween Riverside and Crazy,\u201d which opened Monday night on Broadway, begins with a yuletide bait-and-switch: In one of the rooms of a sprawling apartment, we see a Christmas tree.\u00a0 But there are no carols, gifts and cocoa to match the mirth outside right&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":529425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Riverside1343r-e1671508142198.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[137500,29467,74643,80988,70731],"class_list":["post-529424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-12-19-22","tag-broadway","tag-common","tag-plays","tag-theater-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}