November 14, 1999 was a historic night on Broadway. Uta Hagen led a charity run of “Quem tem medo de Virginia?”, playing the explosive Martha, a role she created in 1962. Lembro-me de Hagen gave a stellar performance on the night, more Equally unforgettable is what Mia Farrow got. No square with roteiro em mãos, it was the longest honey I've ever seen in my life. This talented actor returned to Broadway in 2014 in “Love Letters,” a play you won't want to see again. But once again, reading AR Gurney's “Letters,” Farrow found himself charming, bright, and comfortable.
As expected. I was excited to see Farrow, as was Patti LuPone, in Jane Silverman's new play, “The Roommate,” which premiered at the Fifth Avenue at the Booth Theatre on Broadway, as well as some regional productions. How wonderful to see the big Farrow unboxed without the weight of a wheel in my hand.
She plays Sharon, a 65-year-old woman living in Iowa who needs a roommate. LuPone plays the roommate. Or call her Robin and call her the Bronx. Iowa and the Bronx. That's Silverman's big laugh when Robin or Sharon mention Idaho. On the Richter scale, Idaho is funnier than Iowa and the Bronx combined.
Like Robin from the Bronx, she smokes cigarettes, or Sharon is a total slut. Robin is a vegetarian. Sharon can't believe no one eats eggs! Robin is a lesbian. Sharon takes this news like she just learned a whole new meaning for the word “gay.” Robin grows up and smokes medical marijuana. Noosa, Sharon goes into a coma and I give up.
Unfortunately, Silverman has confused Iowa with Afghanistan. I also confused the “now” period of the play with 1970. I was saddened by Sharon and Robin’s long speech about the macona when I saw the original Broadway production of “Company,” where, even in 1970, there was a smoked dinner maconha no Ato 1 Saiu as a media TV ruim. It’s the best dinner book of any musical Stephen Sondheim has ever written. No matter. Silverman released “The Roommate” by Mary Jane in 2024.
Speaking of news, Robin Sharon at one point told her that she was younger than the President of the United States. Idaho, hurry up! There's a new song on the Rialto.
Farrow gives a performance as frantic, irritable and disturbed as vai até or chao. It is also sabotaged by a sound system that makes her voice sound like she is in another theater room, not the box. All LuPone has to do to elicit laughter is to make every line and every double entendre.
In this 100-minute runtime, Silverman waits a long time to tell us Robyn’s big secret: The Bronx character is not quite what she seems. Da. Robyn doesn’t turn her ladyship into a prostitute, but the years that Sharon takes after her tenant inspires her are the way Broadway has treated prostitution—that colorful, fun, victimless profession—for decades. Ultimately, “The Roommate” sentimentalizes the crime, turning it into something life-affirming.
I often give up on the Broadway season to talk about some of the bad stuff. That caveat aside, “The Roommate” is the saddest display of wasted talent on Broadway since Andre De Shields played the gorilla in “Prymate” in 2004.
Jack O'Brien directs and brings a touch of bravado to the production. Following the great American tradition of theatrical applause upon the star's entrance, O'Brien faces Farrow and LuPone across the box to receive this applause before the piece begins.
