New York City Broadway Theater Guide

Epic Proportions

Broadway Comedy

Previews September 7 1999
Opened September 30 1999
Closed December 19 1999

Run 27 previews | 93 performances

Running Time 1 hr 25 mins | No intermission

Tickets $45 to $65

Prices do not include any taxes, service charges or other charges

Performances

Creative Larry Coen & David Crane authors | Jerry Zaks director

Cast Kristin Chenoweth | Alan Tudyk | Jeremy Davidson | Richard B Shull | Ruth Williamson | Tom Beckett | Ross Lehman | Richard Ziman

Review  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum meets The Ten Commandments as the latest incarnation of this Coen/David farce, last seen off-Broadway in 1986, takes to the boards of the Helen Hayes Theater. Ms Hayes would have been devastated to see Kristin Chenoworth put through this Andy-Hardy-as-Cecil B DeMille-putting-on-a-show wringer. Ms Chenoworth, one of the few emerging stars of Broadway in the past few years, deserves better

The scene is 1930's Hollywood. The show within a show has the cast and crew filming a Bibliical epic in the Arizona wasteland. Ms Chenoworth's Louise is an assistant director under Richard B Shull's manic D W DeWitt. Louise is romantically besieged by two extras, brothers Benny and Phil Bennet. Each try to plight their troths as the zaniness of filming swirls around them. The plighting is inept, the zaniness not terribly funny, and in the end you don't care which brother wins Louise

The Crane half of the writing team has no excuses. He knows how to write good, sympathetic television sitcom characters (Cheers, Friends, Frasier [Crane]). He has seen what effects misguided concepts can have on some of our most liked actors (Tom Selleck, Nathan Lane, Mary Steenbergen & Ted Danson). Ms Chenworth is a good actress with great potential; Epic Proportions was to be her breakout role. Instead of recycling a little farce that didn't make it to Broadway in its doldrum years, he and Coen should have written a star turn for a future star