Network has 5 Tony Award Nominations including Best Actor for Bryan Cranston and Best Director for Ivo van Hove. The Broadway version of Network is based on a 1976 movie written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet. The movie features Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, and Robert Duvall. The movie won four Academy Awards, in the categories of Best Actor (Finch), Best Actress (Dunaway), Best Supporting Actress (Straight), and Best Original Screenplay (Chayefsky). Network feels very 1970s with its obsession with ratings and “winning” time slots.
Bryan Cranston pretty much carries this Broadway version of Network. Cranston plays a quirky newsreader (think Walter Cronkite on steroids) named Howard Beale who is fired because his newscast has low ratings. Cranston snaps on camera and his mantra, “We’re as mad as hell, and we’re not going to take this anymore,” produces a ratings surge. So Cranston’s character is put back on the air. There’s some internal politics and a love affair between Director of Programming Diana Christensen (played by Tatiana Gabriele Maslany–remember her in Orphan Black?) and the head of the News Divison, Max Schumacher (Tony Goldwyn). There’s a gratuitous sex scene on stage.
My quibble about Network is that this nearly 2-hour media extravaganza has NO INTERMISSION! Quite a challenge for those with weak bladders! GRADE: B
This has been a thing you see more and more in recent years – no intermission. I think it started off Broadway and usually is a show running about 90 minutes or so, but is creeping more and more into Broadway and longer shows. I don’t mind it if a show is under an hour and a half (HILLARY AND CLINTON was the more recent one we saw), but anything beyond that is wrong.
Paddy Chayefsky is a supporting character in FOSSE AND VERDON (which, despite the mixed reviews, we are really enjoying – Michelle Williams is wonderful), as he was Bob Fosse’s best friend. I like the cast but I have no need to revisit this. Also, I would not have given the Oscar to Beatrice Straight.
Jeff, my other quibble–other than no Intermission–is that the Men’s Room is either on an upper floor or in the basement. I see many people struggling with stairs in these theaters and it’s not a pretty sight. And, it’s no fun standing in line of 40 guys for the Men’s Room, either. I agree with you on FOSSE/VERDON. Michelle Williams should win an Emmy for her performance!
So true. You come into the theater and have to walk down to the basement (generally) to use the men’s room. Then it is back to the orchestra level, and then often up another staircase (or two) to the mezzanine, and God help you if you need to go during the show! That is the main reason Jackie looks for (a) new or newly renovated theaters or (b) off-Broadway. TDF, where we get most of our tickets, does generally tell you “this is an old theater and there is NO elevator” when that is relevant, but you never know until you pick up your tickets at the box office whether the seats are in the orchestra or mezzanine. That’s why it is sometimes worth getting them at the box office instead of online, despite being so much more expensive, so you can pick out the aisle seats in the orchestra!
The newer off-Broadway theaters on 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue all have elevators.
Jeff, you’re right! I saw people at the performances with walkers and canes and wondered how they were going to navigate the stairs if they needed to use a Rest Room. I can see that in future years, older audiences will avoid performances in these older theaters unless they get rehabbed to accommodate Senior Citizens and the Disabled.
Saw the movie, no reason to go see the play.
Rick, NETWORK on Broadway is basically a vehicle to show off Bryan Cranston’s talent. The Belasco Theatre was completely full when we saw NETWORK. Obviously, Cranston has a lot of fans!
Didn’t see the movie. Probably won’t see the play.
We saw Come From Away last week. No intermission but I think it only went an hour and a half.
We loved Come From Away! So did George, I know.
Jeff, we recommended COME FROM AWAY to all our friends. We missed it when it was in Toronto in 2018, but we’ll see it here at the Shea’s Buffalo Theater in October.
Beth, we loved COME FROM AWAY when we saw it in NYC! The touring company will be here in October and we already have tickets. Great musical!
I may be remembering the movie wrong but in spite of Peter Finch’s performance I thought the real story was the troubled Romance between Dunaway and Holden.
How closely does the play follow the movie?
Steve, the play follows the movie fairly closely, but it’s geared to feature Bryan Cranston’s bombastic performance. The wilder Cranston got, the more the audience loved it!
Ratings and winning time slots is still an obsession, if less intense than it was even in the previous decade.
Todd, commercials are still priced according to ratings. As long as that system is in place, ratings will rule.