Lobby Hero (2018)

So, here's a non-spoilery review of #LobbyHero since today was only the third day of previews... All around, it was fantastic. Not gonna lie, I originally bought tickets for a very superficial reason - to look at a cute boy. I'm not familiar with Kenneth Lonergan's work at all, and only read the Lobby Hero script maybe a month ago to get the basic gist of the plot. But this play was honestly one of the best I have ever seen on Broadway, and it's surprisingly not just because of my fierce devotion to Chris Evans and everything he does in his career. The entire cast was so well-rounded and talented, Michael Cera was perfect as the dorky, socially awkward security guard, @briantyreehenry was very moving as Cera's boss who has a LOT on his plate in his personal life to say the least, and @belpowley was PHENOMENAL as the rookie police officer, Dawn. Tiny little British girl nails the role of spunky 20-something Long Island cop to the point where she instantly became my favorite character, and I would LOVE Lonergan to somehow write her into more of his work. I actually feel guilty that I had never heard of Bel before this play and am checking out the rest of her work as soon as possible.



The plot as a whole centers on misogyny in the workplace (and in general), feelings of inadequacy, police brutality, racism, and the unjust court system towards poor folks, and surprise, surprise...it's set in the late '90s. It's humbling to see how little has really changed when most people tend to think about how far we've come in 20 years. Both the dialogue and the cast's emotions were so moving, there were a couple times where real tears were shed and it was absolutely heartbreaking. Brian had a scene in particular where his emotions were so raw that it was easy to forget he was just acting and wasn't actually in severe emotional turmoil.

The company did such an amazing job with conveying that these characters are real people with real thoughts and feelings, to the point where you come away either loving or hating them as if they're people you know in your personal life.  Speaking of "hating"...Mr. Evans. He played a villain for once, probably the most crooked, gross cop you could imagine, and he was damn convincing. I found myself being disgusted by him at a few points and then he'd do something adorable like wiggle his eyebrows or saunter around the stage like a cowboy and it really makes you realize how versatile he is as an actor, that he can adopt a totally different persona so well. He is SO much more than Captain America and I'd honestly like him to play more bad guys in the future. It's the complete opposite of his personality, but DAMN, he owns it like a pro. He also put on a very convincing "Brooklyn cop" accent...honestly, he had the whole cop persona down pretty well.

Overall, Lobby Hero was excellent and I feel so very, very lucky to be able to see it four more times after tonight. I'm absolutely bummed that it's only running through early May. If you have an interest in straight plays or theater in general, please go see this production. It and its cast deserves every ounce of love that Broadway can show. Thank you so much for reopening the Hayes with it, @2stnyc ❤

THIS MAN. THIS SWEET BOY. 😍😭 Can I talk about how lovely Chris Evans is for a second?

During the curtain call last night, there were no screaming, giggly girls like I expected (thankfully), and the crowd absolutely adored him. He got so much applause and theater goers were just raving about him on the way out. I am so, so proud of this guy more than words could ever express.

But this is what I really want to mention. Seeing his face as he looked over the crowd as they were clapping for him made everything stressful about yesterday - the wind, the cold, the long hours, the constant anxiety over the unknown - so worth it. He was absolutely beaming and actually blushing (!!!), it was so adorable. The look on that sweet little face meant everything.