The Front Page NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (583)
See it if you enjoy stories set in the 20s, fast-paced dialogue, or liked any previous iterations of the play.
Don't see it if you're an impatient person or can't follow fast speaking or quick joke telling. Read more
See it if you want to see a top notch cast having a lot of fun and redeeming themselves in the second 2 acts (it has three acts w/2 intermissions)
Don't see it if you can't sit through the agonizing first act (which really needs to be cut)...it is truly awful
See it if You want new and edgy
Don't see it if You can't appreciate period piece commentary on modern culture.
See it if You like an old fashioned comedy. Nathan Lane once again proves he is s master at comedy
Don't see it if You don't enjoy period pieces that employs a somewhat broad acting technique
See it if you love classic American comedies with an all-star cast of scene stealers! Nathan Lane gives one of his best performances yet.
Don't see it if the long set-up and breakneck payoff structure don't appeal to you. This is three acts of comic subplots than the best tabloid scandal.
See it if you love fast-paced comedies with mystery and suspense. This story is masterfully acted.
Don't see it if you are not interested in newsroom stories about men and their macho-ness. And/or if you don't like fast-paced quirky comedies.
See it if you have the patience to sit through rather a slow first act followed by great acting and comical lines delivered by a great cast
Don't see it if you like all around fast paced show or don't like period pieces, John Goodman, Nathan Lane or John Slattery and many more famous actors
See it if You want to see a stellar ensemble deliver a funny look at the fourth estate.
Don't see it if You don't have the patience for slow beginnings, are not interested in the workings of the press.
Critic Reviews (50)
"It’s unfortunate that the play’s setting necessitates an all-white cast at a time when an ensemble this big without a single colored face glares like high beams in the opposite lane...Though the plot’s resonance with modern times is startlingly clear, this is borderline screwball comedy—the only balm here is that we’re laughing instead of banging our heads against our laptops. Don’t expect profound takeaways."
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"The much-anticipated, talent-stuffed revival has its amusing moments. Old-fashioned screwball plot points conscientiously pile up...O’Brien’s respectfully nostalgic valentine to old-time newspaper journalism could have been subtitled 'Waiting for Nathan'...When he finally comes onstage—menacing little mustache and flipper eyebrows ablaze—the writing actually seems funnier and the style feels fresher, less creaky."
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"How often does a non-musical play from 1928 land on Broadway largely intact and in smashing shape?...Three acts, nearly three hours, and a cast of more than two dozen. Not that it’s at all leisurely, what with director Jack O’Brien encouraging his stageful of cynical, amoral journalists to step on each other’s lines while racing to the phones or cheating one another at poker...The talk isn’t for short attention spans, but it’s darn good stage talk — authentically Twenties Chicago."
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"Through much of the evening, you miss the slam-bang pace of the most famous incarnation of 'The Front Page:' the great 1940 screwball-comedy film adaptation 'His Girl Friday.' And then Lane shows up and everything explodes into life...Lane has given many memorable performances, in such shows as 'The Producers' and the revivals of 'Guys and Dolls' and 'A Funny Thing,' but his show-saving charge to the rescue of 'The Front Page' is as impressive as any of them."
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"A swell revival of the frenetic comedy...Like the industry it satirizes, 'The Front Page' shows its age: The cast is jarringly lily white. Women are an afterthought...But, the pros in 'The Front Page' know how to manage the material and deliver an ink-stained good time. This is a period piece that hearkens back to a time when reporters carried flasks and an HR rep would be tossed out a window if she introduced a dialogue about harassment or proper workplace behavior."
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"It’s a beautifully constructed play, though it takes its time getting started...Burns and Johnson are played with great relish by Nathan Lane and John Slattery and you won’t find a better pair of sparring partners since Lunt and Fontanne...Under O’Brien’s controlled direction, this mob of distinguished players has been artfully arranged...Once we get through all the expository material in Act One, the play picks up speed and doesn’t quit until the very last perfect final scene."
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"The 90-year-old farce is definitely showing wear and tear...Still, you could do a lot worse than this epic cast...Ultimately, whether you go for this 'Front Page' probably has much to do with your tolerance for the blockbuster approach to Broadway—whether you value flashy individual moments and big stars, or whether you prefer a more coherent and transporting experience. Coherent this production is not, but that hasn't yet stopped it from being the most buzzed-about show of the fall."
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"It feels a bit sleazy to watch this play now, a bit tone-deaf. Then Nathan Lane enters in Act II, and he's almost funny enough to smooth over the show's unfortunate dialogue. Sadly, the rest of the cast, except for Goodman, lacks his timing, and Lane just can't do it alone. There's much that director Jack O'Brien could have been done here — multi-racial casting. A female reporter or mayor...For 'The Front Page' to work in our contemporary era, it needs a rewrite."
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