Broadway Box Office Holds Steady At $28M; Covid-Struck Shows Stumble, Others Hit Stride

Is this a Walther PPK which I see before me? Almost! It’s former James Bond actor Daniel Craig, who’s starring as the Scottish king killer in “Macbeth” on Broadway. His uninvolving and ponderous production (it opened Thursday night at the Longacre Theatre, but barred critics from publishing reviews till midday Friday for reasons that will soon become obvious to you) is a real Blunderball.Two hours and 20 minutes, with one intermission. At the Longacre Theatre, 220 W 48th Street.

A very busy Broadway season comes to a close with its final production, and Sam Gold’s staging of Macbeth starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga is nothing if not a dynamic attempt to cap an unusual and often extraordinary theater season. Uneven – if not so much as Gold’s 2019 King Lear with Glenda Jackson – and peppered with choices both curious (what, no “double double toil and trouble?”) and captivating (a brief prologue that’s as funny as it is timely), this iteration of The Scottish Play, which opened last night at the Longacre Theatre, nearly holds up to the unavoidable hype of its starry cast.

Christian Lewis A bare set. Actors making stew on stage. An abundance of hand-held fog machines.

Sasha Urban editorDirector Sam Gold’s Broadway production of “Macbeth,” which stars Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, was already a tall order for its cast, who had only four weeks of rehearsal before previews began. It was made more difficult by multiple COVID cases, including Craig’s, that caused the production to close for 11 days earlier this month.

Billy Crystal is official back on Broadway!

Opening night has arrived for Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga‘s Broadway production of Macbeth!

made some dud films lately, but this is Crystal reliving his “When Harry Met Sally” prime.Crystal’s musical, which he’s written the book for alongside Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, is based on one of his lesser films, 1992’s “Mr. Saturday Night,” which got mixed reviews back then. The story of a TV comedy has-been’s attempt at a comeback moves gracefully to the stage, and comes at a more appropriate time in the actor’s life. Thirty years older and wiser, he still plays Buddy Young, a faded comedy legend of a long-gone black-and-white show called the “Coleman Comedy Hour” who was blackballed after a mental breakdown.

You might feel like you’ve already seen Mr. Saturday Night the musical even if you’ve never seen Mr. Saturday Night the movie, and whether you find that comforting – Billy Crystal certainly is one of the most likable presences in all of show business – or disappointing might depend entirely on your taste for well-delivered Borsht Belt comedy.

Frank Rizzo Sometimes being nice has its rewards.Take Buddy Young Jr., the bitter, self-centered, self-destructive comedian from the 1992 flop film “Mr. Saturday Night,” which Billy Crystal starred in, directed and co-wrote based on one of his ’80s sketch creations.

Broadway box office held steady last week as the production roster reached its full, 35-show season maximum: Though some productions remained in previews, everything that’s going to open before the end of the season was up and running, with no Covid cancelations or postponements.

Matthew Broderick loves working with his wife on the stage.

READ MORE: On set of 1980s Brookside - 19 throwback photos of the Scouse soap's cast and crew Here are the actors who have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Hollywood icons, holding their own, and some becoming red carpet royalty themselves. Bond - AKA Daniel Craig Yes, Bond, himself, hails from Wirral. .

Several Broadway shows impacted by the uptick in New York City Covid cases last week are still feeling the effects this week: Plaza Suite has canceled performances at least through tomorrow, Paradise Square has canceled most of this week, and A Strange Loop is off until Thursday.

The Broadway productions of Macbeth, starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, and the Pulitzer-winning A Strange Loop have canceled tonight’s performances as both shows recover from recent Covid cases.

The second shoe has dropped at "Plaza Suite" on Broadway. First Matthew Broderick tested positive for COVID-19 and a few days later his wife and co-star, Sarah Jessica Parker, has done so herself. Parker tested positive Thursday and the show has been canceled.

Sarah Jessica Parker has tested positive for COVID-19.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterBroadway’s “Plaza Suite” has canceled Thursday night’s performance because the show’s lead, Sarah Jessica Parker, has tested positive for COVID-19.The news comes two days after Parker’s husband and “Plaza Suite” co-star Matthew Broderick came down with the virus. Earlier in the week, Parker had tested negative and continued to perform with Broderick’s understudy.

Matthew Broderick will not be stepping onstage for the Tuesday, April 5 Broadway performance of “Plaza Suite”.