Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (584)
See it if You want to see an intelligent play done with razor sharp accuracy by a perfect cast.
Don't see it if You have no interest in a classic play done to perfection.
See it if you love a great story with superb acting
Don't see it if If your not into classic drama
See it if It put me right to sleep. This is not a fair review. I'm sure the performances were great. That said, it put me right to sleep.
Don't see it if You don't like period classics or don't have good seats. (I dealth with both.)
See it if Family power struggle makes one woman ruthless and cold, another loving and crushed. There is hope for the daughter.
Don't see it if No surprises in the plot or character development, but everything is very well done. Story and characters 80, acting and production 100.
See it if you want a great evening in the theater. You deserve the experience of seeing this classic of character driven passions and shifting power!
Don't see it if you are not interested in great theater. Perhaps you might want to avoid it if you are emotionally fragile. The climax is hard to watch
See it if you want to see masterful storytelling (by Hellman) in a worthy revival starring an all-star cast, all at their absolute best.
Don't see it if you can't abide a faithful revival of a "period piece". [Perhaps this type of theatre isn't for all, but I can't imagine not being rapt.] Read more
See it if Hellman's 1939 anti-capitalistic melodrama shines like a new penny w/Sullivan's majestic direction & glorious performances by entire cast
Don't see it if At times, lethargic writing to score dramatic points but not harmful My eve, Linney played Regina & was magnificent as was Nixon's Birdie
See it if You love classic, familial, drawing-room dramas about deceit and power -- especially those with strong, central female characters.
Don't see it if You prefer modern plays that deal with current issues, and not those about wealthy, greedy, white Southerners from the early 1900s.
Critic Reviews (59)
"A nimble, exhilarating revival...In Regina, Hellman created one of the stage’s great antiheroines and a glide bomb of a role. Now, in Daniel Sullivan’s production, two actresses get to detonate it...You should see it twice. When top-drawer actors bestride the stage in a tremendous role and some truly killer gowns, it’s time to clear the calendar...Mr. Sullivan’s confident production doesn’t deny melodrama, but it prefers psychological and social detail over Southern gothic fripperies."
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"Daniel Sullivan directs Hellman’s Alabama tale with a crisp vigor that smooths over its melodramatic bumps...The cast is uniformly strong, and outstanding work comes from the leading ladies…'The Little Foxes' may not command as high a prospect in the pantheon of American drama as more poetic work by Tennessee Williams or Eugene O’Neill, but it’s cunningly built and packs a punch...This is such a richly satisfying revival, I’m going back for seconds."
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“The play isn’t subtle; it’s just delicious…My cast suggested that the switch would not materially alter the effect of the production, which is solid but not transcendent...It’s largely in the calibration of the men’s roles that the production falters…Under Sullivan’s somewhat grandstanding direction their pacing and affect suggest something too close to comedy…What remains powerfully effective is Hellman’s dissection of the way a systemic lack of power can turn into manipulative fury."
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"Daniel Sullivan's impeccable production for Manhattan Theatre Club never overstates that modern-day relevance; he simply lets the play's rock-solid construction and lucid themes speak for themselves via a first-rate cast and exemplary design team...This is a superbly cast production with incisive character work from McKean, Goldstein and Benz...This is a production as classy as it is smart, shining a spotlight on a playwright who is too seldom revived on Broadway."
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"Linney shines in the role of Regina, her deep voice and deceptive dimples perfectly suited for the character’s commanding presence...Perhaps Nixon seems like the lesser Regina only because she is so brilliant as Birdie...Of course, this repertory-style casting demands comparison of the two stars, and Nixon’s Regina and Linney’s Birdie are in no way disappointing. It’s still a treat to watch these masters at play, along with the rest of the vibrant cast."
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"Director Sullivan has done brilliant work with this revival. His casting is flawless, his team of designers couldn’t be better chosen, and the technical detail that has gone into the production is amazing. But he took a chance in letting two A-list stage actors alternate in the roles of Regina and Birdie—and the coup pays off because it encourages us to look deeper into both characters."
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"The Manhattan Theatre Club production, staged with a rock solid hand by Daniel Sullivan at the Friedman Theatre, is flawless. Which is to say tastefully mean-spirited without any need to overemphasize what is eminently self-evident. Visually, it’s sumptuous...The casting couldn’t be better...The revelation of the production, however, is Thomas...In all, a rich, satisfying deep-dive into miserableness and ill-will. Couldn’t be more fun."
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"Which version of this production to see?...There is one I’d favor over the other, and that would be the evenings on which Nixon plays Regina..Regina’s incessant scheming and her itch for enrichment are developed with a more rewardingly sinister edge in Nixon’s Regina...Whoever plays whom, Sullivan’s production reaffirms that 'The Little Foxes' is crackerjack theater, worthy of exalted rank in the American canon."
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