DARREN BAGERT, MICHAEL GRANDAGE COMPANY, ADAM ZOTOVICH, JOAN RAFFE & JHETT TOLENTINO,
ARIELLE TEPPER MADOVER, MARTIN McCALLUM, DEBBIE BISNO, CJ E&M, JEFFREY FINN,
HAGEMANN ROSENTHAL ASSOCIATES, STACEY MINDICH, BOB BOYETT, SEAVIDE PRODUCTIONS,
TAYLOR WEINSTEIN THEATRICALS, JULIE BOARDMAN, FALDENSTEIN SIMONS LTD, MICHAEL WATT,
THE SHUBERT ORGANIZATION Present

FOREST WHITAKER in

EUGENE O’NEILL’S HUGHIE

With FRANK WOOD
Directed by MICHAEL GRANDAGE
Set & Costume Design by CHRISTOPHER ORAM
Lighting Design: NEIL AUSTIN
Composer & Sound Design: ADAM CORK
Casting: CALLERI CASTING
Press: POLK & CO
Advertising: AKA
Associate Director: TIMOTHY KOCH
Production Management: AURORA PRODUCTIONS
Company Manager: LIZBETH CONE
Production Stage Manager: PETER WOLF
Executive Producer: 101 PRODUCTIONS, LTD.

Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street (between Broadway and Eighth Avenue)
www.telecharge.com or (212) 239-6200
February 8 – June 12; Opening Night – 02/25/16

Eugene O’Neill’s HUGHIE is about affable gambler and drinker Erie Smith (perfectly portrayed by Forest Whitaker). Erie returns to the hotel that he calls home (a fantastic set created by Christopher Oram) and greets the new desk clerk (Frank Wood). Watching Whitaker break down and win over the stoic and silent Wood is fine theatre, and we should all go home happy, right?

Well not necessarily. Upon purchasing tickets I was forewarned three times that latecomers would not be seated so I should be punctual. I was and almost felt like a part of an elite group – those people who show up on time. After all the warnings of penalties for lateness, the show began five minutes late. And ten minutes into the production, latecomers were being seated. Touting itself as a 65-minute production, in actuality HUGHIE was 55 minutes. In this case, timing is everything. And when it doesn’t work, you leave unsatisfied. Yes, this was a preview performance, but if you are going to charge full price for a preview, then you owe the audience a full-price performance. These are all technicalities that can be easily corrected but they interfered with the overall experience making HUGHIE is an experience that could be missed.

- Laurie Lawson -