Nearly 50 years after The Price, one of Arthur Miller’s lesser-known works, first opened on Broadway, it’s back for a fifth run to prove its worth. “This play never got the attention it deserved. I think it’s important to revisit plays like this in order to give it fresh eyes, fresh energy,” says director Terry Kinney in the video above.
The show, which officially opens March 16 at the American Airlines Theatre and runs through May 7 only, unfolds in one brownstone attic and centers on just four characters. Although trim, the cast — Mark Ruffalo, Tony Shalhoub, Jessica Hecht, and Danny DeVito — is talent-saturated, and the parts themselves are richly nuanced.
Ruffalo stars as Victor Franz, a city cop on the brink of retirement and Hecht is his well-intentioned, quite possibly alcoholic wife, Esther. Shalhoub plays Victor’s estranged brother, Walter, an esteemed doctor. DeVito makes his Broadway debut as Gregory Solomon, a scheming 89-year-old furniture dealer tasked to appraise the contents of the attic, the belongings of the Franz brothers’ late parents. The Yiddish-accented DeVito adds some critical levity to the mix through his wheeling-and-dealing (and one particularly epic scene involving a hard-boiled egg), although he’s not the only character driven by his own motives.
We learn that decades prior, Victor abandoned his education to support his father in the wake of the Great Depression, while Walter finished medical school. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the objects in the attic are burdened with far more weight than an appraiser’s evaluation could ever capture. In the video above, watch as cast members discuss The Price, and the possessions in their own lives that hold great meaning.
Current Ticket availability is best in April.
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