Golden Boy

Saw a preview of Clifford Odets' 1937 drama GOLDEN BOY directed by Bartlett Sher at the Belasco Theatre, home of the original New York production and where we also saw Sher's excellent production of Odets' AWAKE & SING a few years ago.

This is the famous play about the gifted young violinist who turns to boxing as an outlet for his rage against society. If you've ever seen MOVIE MOVIE you'll recall the plot was satirised by Larry Gelbart as "Dynamite Hands" starring Harry Hamlin and George C. Scott. The original play has a distinguished production history. The 1937 original featured Luther Adler, Frances Farmer, Morris Carnovsky, Elia Kazan, Martin Ritt, John Garfield, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Lewis and Howard da Silva.
The 1952 revival saw Garfield and Cobb move up to the leads with Jack Klugman, Jack Warden and Joseph Wiseman in the company. The 1939 movie starred William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, Adolph Menjou, Lee J. Cobb and Sam Levene and the 1965 Broadway musical was a vehicle for Sammy Davis, Jr with a Strouse/Adams score

Seth Numrich, Theatre World Award winner for WAR HORSE, is sensational as Joe Bonaparte and the role of his manager's girlfriend Lorna who falls for him is played by Yvonne Strahovski making her Broadway debut. And surprise surprise, she's from Theatre Nepean in Western Sydney!! The Gumleaf Mafia continues its takeover!!
There won't be enough categories at the Tony Awards next year to accommodate the brilliance of Tony Shalhoub as Joe's father, Danny Burstein as his trainer, Danny Mastrogiorgio as his manager and Brad Fleischer as a punch drunk opponent. There isn't a weak link in the company and this will surely prove another smash hit for Mr. Sher. I'll leave everyone else to say "Golden Boy A Knockout!"