Lobby Hero
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''Lobby Hero'' is a play by Kenneth Lonergan. It premiered
off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
in 2001.


Production history

''Lobby Hero'' premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, on March 13, 2001, and closed on April 15, 2001, reopening at the John Houseman Theatre on May 8, 2001, and closing on September 2, 2001. The cast featured Glenn Fitzgerald as Jeff, Heather Burns as Dawn, Tate Donovan as Bill, and Dion Graham as William. It was directed by Mark Brokaw.Sommer, Elyse
"A CurtainUp Review"
curtainup.com, accessed September 13, 2014
The UK première was staged at the Donmar Warehouse. It began previews on April 4, opened on April 10 and closed on May 4, 2002. The cast included
David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...
(Jeff), Charlotte Randle (Dawn), Dominic Rowan (Bill), and Gary McDonald (William), and was again directed by Mark Brokaw. This production transferred to the New Ambassadors Theatre on June 26 (opening July 1), and ran until August 10, 2002. A revival opened on Broadway on March 26, 2018, at the Helen Hayes Theatre; it starred Michael Cera (Jeff), Bel Powley (Dawn), Chris Evans (Bill), and
Brian Tyree Henry Brian Tyree Henry (born March 31, 1982) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX (TV channel), FX comedy-drama series ''Atlanta (TV series), Atlanta'' (2016–2022), for which he recei ...
(William). The production, directed by Trip Cullman, ran until May 13, 2018. The English Theatre of Hamburg (Germany) premiered its production of Kenneth Lonergan’s ‘Lobby Hero’ in February 2024 with the following cast: Ned Rudkins Stow (Jeff), Peter Dewhurst (Bill), Chloe Ballantine (Dawn) and Daniel Gregory (William).


Synopsis

The show follows a security guard in his late 20s, his strict supervisor, and an overbearing cop and his rookie female partner. The show is set in a foyer of a middle-income Manhattan apartment building in the middle of the night.


Character summaries

*Jeff – 27-year-old security guard, unsuccessful with women *Dawn – a police officer in her 20s *Bill – Dawn's senior partner, who shows a romantic interest in her *William – Jeff's boss


Reviews

Toby Young said in a review in ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
'', "''Lobby Hero'' is a fantastic play but I'd be hard pushed to say why. You can tell it's good because, within about five minutes, any sense you have of being a member of the audience, sitting down and watching a group of actors perform on stage, has vanished.... In what amounts to an out-of-body experience, you're totally absorbed in what's going on...Lonergan is particularly good, both here and in '' This Is Our Youth'', at showing how good intentions can be undermined by unconscious desires. Few of his characters are capable of resisting their own malignant impulses." In her review of the 2018 revival, Marilyn Stasio wrote: "Set in the lobby of a generic Manhattan apartment building, the play looks both kindly and critically upon the kind of characters Lonergan loves to write: working-class stiffs, generally decent people who are unexpectedly challenged by issues of ethics....Helmer Trip Cullman does his best work with small, tight ensembles like this one, so there’s no slack in the emotional tension and no escape from the sticky web that even nice people get tangled up in when they tell lies – especially the lies they tell themselves."Stasio, Marilyn
"Broadway Review: Chris Evans in Kenneth Lonergan’s ‘Lobby Hero’"
''Variety'', March 26, 2018


Awards and nominations


2018 Broadway revival


References

{{Kenneth Lonergan 2001 plays Plays by Kenneth Lonergan Plays set in New York City