Last week was a big week for Chicago plays on Broadway. Steppenwolf ’s Superior Donuts opened at The Music Box Theatre, the same venue where August: Osage County recently closed. Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain , which ran at Chicago Dramatists last year, opened at Gerald Shoenfeld Theater, and Brighton Beach Memoirs , helmed by Chicago director-of-the-moment David Cromer, began previews Friday. Superior Donuts received generally positive reviews , but we didn’t find any raves. Times critic Charles Isherwood called it “a warm bath of a play,” and more than one critic said elements were “formulaic.” However, apparently its sitcom-esque nature lends a welcomed comfortable feel, and we actually want to see the show after watching the video on the Times website. The A-list actors dominated all the press leading up to the opening of “A Steady Rain,” and after reading celebrity-obsessed critic Ben Brantley’s review , we still aren’t quite sure what the play’s about.(Just read his review of Julia Roberts in Three Days of Rain . He even finds a reason to mention her again in this review: Both plays have “Rain” in the title.) While Huff might not be getting deserved or undeserved praise, his play broke all box office records for the highest weekly gross of a non-musical on Broadway. For the week ended September 20, the show grossed $1,167,954. Just off his run directing and starring in The Hypocrites “Our Town” Off-Broadway, Cromer made his Broadway directing debut on Friday night with the first preview of Brighton Beach Memoirs . The Neil Simon play is paired with Broadway Bound , also by Simon and directed by Cromer, starting previews November 16. Reviews aren’t out yet, but we’re thinking good thoughts for Cromer!

Excerpt from:
Chicago On Broadway