‘NETWORK’: Bryan Cranston & Tony Goldwyn. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

NETWORK
Based on the film by Paddy Chayefsky
Adapted by Lee Hall
Directed by Ivo Van Hove
Through March 17, 2019
Belasco Theatre
111 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200), www.networkbroadway.com

By David NouNou

The 1976 movie of Network had a triumvirate set of characters of Diana Christiansen (Faye Dunaway), head of network, programming department, Max Schumacher (William Holden), news division president and Howard Beale (Peter Finch), anchorman.

Playwright Lee Hall has maintained all three characters but the onus of Network has now shifted to “The Howard Beale Show.” The reason being he is the most interesting character and with Bryan Cranston as Howard, it really is “The Bryan Cranston Show.”

After 25 years of being the anchor of the “UBS Evening News,” Howard is going to be fired due to low ratings and he announces that a week from tonight he is going to blow his brains out on the air. Howard is sick and tired of all the BS that is going on in the world as well as the corporate greed and he states it on the air. Howard has come to the end of his rope; his whole life revolves around TV and now that oxygen has been sucked out of his life. Howard’s longtime and best friend, Max (Tony Goldwyn) comes to his defense and wants to give Howard a proper farewell appearance before he is yanked off the air.

However, Diana (Tatiana Maslany) sees things in another way. Seeing that Howard’s ratings have gone up since his announcement and knowing all about the ratings game, she wrests control of the evening news department from Max, and gives Howard a brand-new news format of “The Howard Beale Show” as a modern-day TV messiah stating his views on all the corruption and greed that is going on in the world. How UBS has been sold to another company, which in turn has been bought by the Saudis. Howard is apoplectic with the proceedings and tells his viewers to go to their windows and yell out as loud as they can “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Howard’s ratings soar and he becomes the voice of the nation

Naturally all this doesn’t sit well with the powers that be, namely CAA Chairman, Arthur Jensen (Nick Wyman – in a totally powerful and captivating performance) who gives Howard a warning. Howard sees this as the voice of God, and starts changing his tone, as these changes take place, his ratings start to plummet.

Throughout the proceedings Max and Diana have started a torrid love affair. Max is going through a midlife crisis, and during one of their sexual encounters, during an orgasm Max is talking about his life and Diana is talking about the market share of shows. Max confesses to his wife, Louise (Alyssa Bresnahan) about the affair. One of the highlights of this show is when his fed-up wife freaks out and tells him to get out of their house.

There are two elements that strongly add to the proceedings: Ivo van Hove’s direction, which has the action constantly on the move as in a TV studio where everything is in flux; and the set by Jan Versweyveld, which shows all the fluctuations in such proceedings (from studios to multiple TV screens).

As much as I loved Peter Finch in the movie, seeing Howard Beale portrayed live by Bryan Cranston giving one of the best performances of this decade is outstanding. From his fearless rants to his meltdowns, he wipes everything else off the stage. Mr. Cranston is electrifying.

Since everything now centers around Howard, the other characters are less dynamic. Tony Goldwyn does a good job in keeping up with Mr. Cranston. However, his scenes with Ms. Maslany are flat. I was never a big Faye Dunaway fan, but dear God did I miss her and her bravura Oscar-winning performance. His most powerful scene comes playing opposite Alyssa Bresnahan as his long-suffering wife. Ms. Bresnahan is heartbreakingly wonderful in that all-too- brief scene.

Your two main reasons to see Network are to see the Best Play of the season and to see Bryan Cranston giving the performance of a lifetime.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published December 10, 2018
Reviewed at December 8, 2018 press performance.

‘NETWORK’: Tony Goldwyn & Bryan Cranston. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘NETWORK’: Bryan Cranston. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘NETWORK’: Tatiana Maslany & Julian Elijah Martinez. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

‘NETWORK’: Tony Goldwyn & Tatiana Maslany. Photo: Jan Versweyveld

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CIVIL RIGHTS ICON: Bryan Cranston as President Johnson in ‘All the Way.’ Photo: Evgenia Eliseeva

ALL THE WAY
Written by Robert Schenkkan
Directed by Bill Rauch
Neil Simon Theatre
250 West 52nd Street
(877-250-2929), AllTheWayBroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

There is one main reason to see All the Way, the Broadway docudrama about President Lyndon Baines Johnson: “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston, giving a physically and mentally exhausting portrayal that is the raison d’être for this chronicle of the man who took over after John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Mr. Cranston has marvelous stage presence, and gives us all of LBJ’s iconic mannerisms and Texas drawl. “Breaking Bad” fans won’t be disappointed because Mr. Cranston more than delivers, and is particularly endearing when telling LBJ’s many down-home anecdotes.

Unfortunately, Mr. Cranston’s outstanding performance is sometimes overshadowed by Robert Schenkkan’s overstuffed narrative. Perhaps LBJ’s greatest achievement was passing the Civil Rights Act in 1964. All the Way would have been a brilliant show as a 90-minute one act, focusing solely on LBJ working to make equality for African Americans the law of the land.

Johnson was an iconic president and one who never planned to actually run the country, but every detail of his presidency does not always make for compelling theater.  Act I focuses on his struggle to sign the Civil Rights Act into law, but by the second half of this nearly three-hour show, playwright Robert Schenkkan forces us to sit through so many unnecessary scenes, from a funeral of a slain black in Mississippi to a needless subplot about Martin Luther King, Jr. (Branden J. Dirden) and his alleged audio recordings of his womanizing ways that J. Edgar Hoover (Michael McKean) got his hands on, to far too many details about the 1964 Democratic Convention in Atlantic City.

Director Bill Rauch does little to trim the fat, much of which might be effective in a documentary or film, but comes across as unnecessary and wooden on the stage. We already know the outcome of the 1964 election, so why Mr. Rauch and Mr. Shenkkan considered all the minutiae of the race worthy of the stage is anyone’s guess. Mr.  Shenkkan, who won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for the multi-act epic The Kentucky Cycle, is not known for brevity.

There are some fine supporting performances here, particularly from John McMartin as “Dixiecrat” leader Senator Richard Russell, but overall this is a vehicle for Bryan Cranston (or should be). It is a shame director Bill Rauch was unable to rein in the rambling parts of the script to make this a more polished and enjoyable evening.

This would have been a perfect show had it concluded at the end of Act I, as the bill has passed and LBJ becomes the Democratic candidate for the 1964 presidential race. For some reason, the playwright chooses to include another 70 minutes of needless rhetoric, none of which advances the show but stalls it to let us know that Johnson ultimately wins the 1964 election. Perhaps Mr. Schenkkan and Mr. Rauch should realize there’s a lot of truth to the adage “less is more,” especially with stage dramas about historical figures.

PARTY LINE: Robert Petroff & Bryan Cranston in ‘All the Way.’ Photo: Evgenia Eliseeva

 Winner of two Tony Awards: Best Play 2014 and Bryan Cranston, Best Actor in a Drama

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 14, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on March 12, 2014

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