Discount Broadway Tickets For Our Town
Our Town Summary
- Show Status: Currently playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
- Genre: Play
- Our Town is 2 hours and 35 minutes long, including an intermission of 15 minutes
- 8 Shows per week
- Previews Began: September 17, 2024
- Show Opened : October 10, 2024
- Show Closes: January 19, 2025
Modernist metatheatrical play about a fictional American town in 1901, from the perspective of everyday people, as told by the town’s theatre stage manager
What's Our Town Like?
Our Town is a three part ‘Metatheatre’ styled play following the story of the fictional small town of Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire in 1901 to 1913.
The story is told from multiple peoples perspectives, but mostly the narrative comes from two families who have children who get married to each other.
Stage Manager Narrates The Show
The theatre stage manager who choreographs a theatrical production within the main show, cleverly narrates the main production as well. The ‘meta’ nature of the show allows for a high-level, in-depth analysis of the internal production that is unfolding. The characters regularly break the ‘fourth-wall’ format and talk directly to the audience to tell them what is going on inside the character’s head at that point in time.
The Stage Manager Role
The stage manager character (which was to be played by Dustin Hoffman, now Jim Parsons), speaks directly to the audience the most. His lengthy monologues cover many issues including human psychology, general cognition, and the human issues of mortality. It is the last matter that commences within the third and final act of the play.
Is Our Town Good for Kids?
This show is intended for people over the age of 15 due to the intense nature of the topics discussed in the story.
Our Town on Broadway Background
Dustin Hoffman To Was Set To Star
Esteemed American actor, Dustin Hoffman was set to return to Broadway to star in the lead role of the ‘Stage Manager’ in playwright Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, Our Town. He was replaced with Jim Parsons, when there was a shake-up in all the executive roles in the show.
Bartlett Sher Was Booted From Director's Chair
The show was planned to be directed by Bartlett Sher, who was also the director on the 2018 Broadway production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Scott Rudin was the show’s executive producer and everything changed with the change of management, when he was booted.
Disgraced Impresario Scott Rudin Is Out
Uber-Producer Scott Rudin is out as producer. Rudin had produced countless Broadway hits including The Book of Mormon, West Side Story and King Lear. The announcement for this production came out during the extended Broadway theatre COVID-19 shutdown.
Kenny Leon Is Now Slated to Direct
Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon will helm the new staging of Thornton Wilder’s 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama.
Leon is an American director and actor known for his work in theater and film. Leon has directed numerous Broadway productions, including Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Mountaintop. He is particularly acclaimed for his interpretations of African American playwrights, such as August Wilson.
Kenny Leon Theatre and Film Credits
Leon is also known for his work in television and film. He has directed television movies like A Raisin in the Sun (2008) and The Wiz Live! (2015). Additionally, he has directed films like In My Dreams (2014) and The Watsons Go to Birmingham (2013).
Throughout his career, Kenny Leon has received several awards and nominations for his contributions to the arts, including Tony Awards for his Broadway directing work. He is recognized for his commitment to bringing diverse and socially relevant stories to the stage and screen.
The Show Is Performed In "Metatheatre" Style
This show is performed in the metatheatre (also known as metadrama) style, that has not been popular on Broadway since the 1970's.
It refers to the aspects of a play that draw attention to its nature as drama or theatre, or to the circumstances of its performance. It’s like a play winking at itself in the mirror, acknowledging its own existence on the stage.
Some key features of metatheatre are breaking the fourth wall, actors awareness of the audience: actors playing actors and plays-within-plays. Many people find this format annoying, others are intrigued by it.
Theatre Information
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
New York, NY 10019
Cast Members
- Stage Manager
- Jim Parsons
- Mrs Webb
- Katie Holmes
- Emily Webb
- Zoey Deutch
- Dr Gibbs
- Billy Eugene Jones
- George Gibbs
- Ephriam Sykes
- Mr Webb
- Richard Thomas
- Mrs Webb
- Michelle Wilson
Past Cast Members
- Stage Manager
- Dustin Hoffman
Producers
Scott Rudin
Jeffrey Richards
Hunter Arnold
Craig Balsam
Irene Gandy
Rebecca Gold
Louise Gund
Willette & Manny Klausner
M/B/P Productions
Daryl Roth
Jayne Baron Sherman
Production Credits
- Director
- Kenny Leon
Creative Team
- Author
- Thornton Wilder
- Director
- Bartlett Sher