The work of Clifford Odets' decade-long exile from Broadway will end with a spring mounting of Awake and Sing!, produced by Lincoln Center Theatre and directed by The Light in the Piazza's Barlett Sher. Generally considered Clifford Odets’ finest play, Awake and Sing! was originally performed by the notable Group Theater on Broadway in 1935. By turns starkly dramatic and vividly comic, it is the story of the Bergers, a lower-middle-class, three-generation Jewish family living in a Bronx apartment during the Depression. Odets, who described his play as “a struggle for life amid petty conditions,” captures the frenetic, pressured existence in this crowded dwelling with robust authenticity. The Berger family members and their boarder, Moe Axelrod, all long for a better world for themselves. True to life in his depiction of the extreme economic hardships confronted by working-class immigrant families during the Depression, Odets documents their travails and their hopes, concluding Awake and Sing! on an optimistic if ambiguous note. Awake and Sing! recalls that this country has been perceived as a source of opportunity for immigrants who re-root themselves in its cities and towns with an enduring belief in the American dream. Odets’ characters are, in essence, the parents, grandparents, and children who sought refuge and forged new, sometimes better lives here. Such families—from Korea or Mexico or Pakistan or from just about anywhere around the globe—continue to make their way here every day. LCT’s production of Awake and Sing!, celebrating the Odets Centenary, reunites director Bartlett Sher with the Tony® Award-winning designers from The Light in the Piazza: Michael Yeargan (sets), Catherine Zuber (costumes), and Christopher Akerlind (lighting). Awake and Sing! will be presented at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway, where it first saw the light of day over 70 years ago! Creators
Author: Clifford Odet
Directed by Bartlett Sher [The Light in the Piazza]
Michael Yeargan (Set Design)
Catherine Zuber (Costume Design)
Christopher Akerlind (Lighting Design) Starring
Lauren Ambrose
Ned Eisenberg
Ben Gazzara
Jonathan Hadary
Peter Kybart
Pablo Schreiber
Richard Topol
Zoe Wanamaker
Audience: Awake and Sing! is appropriate for chilren aged 13 and older. Children under 4 years of age will not be admitted into the Belasco Theater. Run time: Two hours and 30 minutes (with one 15 minute intermission) Show Times | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | | Matinee | - | - | 2 pm | - | - | 2 pm | 3 pm | | Evening | - | 8 pm | 8 pm | 8 pm | 8 pm | 8 pm | - |
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