Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (585)
See it if "Blue" cast was exquisite in a definitive production that shows the timelessness of the story despite being set in period
Don't see it if You will be tempted to see both blue and green casts which might be too much heartbreak for one Tony Award season
See it if For brilliant acting by entire cast led by L Linney and C Nixon. Written 1939, set in 1900, relevant in 2017: gender, class, race, power.
Don't see it if If you don't like provocative theatre about the social issues that transcend time.
See it if If you love to see Laura/Cynthia in roles they were meant to play. Interesting to hear the other reviews from friends with alternate casts
Don't see it if Don't like shows about real domestic challenges in history
See it if you want to see a brilliant and faithful production of this classic play. Linney (Regina) and Nixon (Birdie) are absolutely astonishing!
Don't see it if classic/southern plays don't appeal to you. This is a straightforward period piece that never feels dusty, or irrelevant.
See it if Terrific cast - master class in acting. Beautiful production.
Don't see it if You don't have an attention span. Like a good. Over it requires you to pay attention to the characters, their actions and relationships.
See it if you are interested in seeing a cast who is phenomenal at their roles-each person owns the role. The costumes are beautiful.
Don't see it if you don't enjoy seeing a show with misogyny and racism, or if you don't enjoy slower-paced plays.
See it if If you love riveting plays with witty dialogue and masterful performances.
Don't see it if If you don't like straight plays.
See it if You appreciate a well-crafted period drama
Don't see it if You want a modern play
Critic Reviews (59)
“'The Little Foxes' is an example of old-fashioned but still magnetic playwriting: a tightly constructed play with crystal-clear exposition, sharply defined characters, a theatrically colorful time and place, and a powerful, anticapitalistic theme, as resonant today as during the Depression. Linney's Regina, as good as it gets, captures all this vixen's charm, craftiness, daring, viciousness, unscrupulousness, and ambition. Nixon makes Birdie a completely convincing counterpoint character.”
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"This blissfully cynical work is as juicy a three-act play as anyone would hope to find in American theater annals...The ensemble supporting Linney and Nixon are first-rate and go an impressive distance to underline the incipient evil rotting these Southern vines...Linney and Nixon are surely enjoying the challenge they’ve given themselves and each other, but, were push to become shove, they might see that the former is a more appropriate Regina and the latter a more appropriate Birdie."
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"Lillian Hellman’s 1939 play 'The Little Foxes' is a considered a classic of 20th-century drama and after seeing Manhattan Theatre Club’s version, I understand why...A master class in acting...Expertly directed by Daniel Sullivan, this production is strong in every aspect. 'The Little Foxes' seems to predict a future that is here...The cast is all at the top of their game and this is a splendid production."
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"On opening night, Linney played Regina and Nixon played Birdie, and they are excellent in those respective roles. Less wonderful is Nixon’s Regina and Linney’s Birdie...The rest of the cast alters their respective performances not one iota in responding to these very different interpretations from the two female leads...That minor objection aside, Sullivan delivers a triumvirate of consummate mendacity in the perfectly wedded performances of Goldstein and McKean."
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"A first-rate cast...The role of Regina suits Linney well; she captures both the steeliness and the traces of charm. However, she is almost overshadowed by Cynthia Nixon’s superb performance as her sister-in-law Birdie...Linney and Nixon are so persuasive in these roles that is hard to imagine them in reverse...Daniel Sullivan directs with a sure hand. The play is far from subtle, but, with such a fine production, it is very entertaining."
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“Tremendously satisfying…Director Daniel Sullivan provides a rip-roaring production dripping with melodrama and histrionics, but never going over the top into camp territory. Linney’s Regina is a monster of deceit and narcissism…Richard Thomas as Horace, Regina’s ailing, conscience-stricken spouse, provides a fiery curtain speech as he denounces his wife while Michael McKean and Darren Goldstein are suitably wily as the grasping Hubbard brothers.”
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“When Birdie’s unspoken truths bubble over in a second-act emotional meltdown, Linney’s delicately daffy and devastating performance elicited the only exit applause of the night. With her broad vocal register shading in every color, it was as arresting a scene as I’ve seen on stage all season. Nixon...is firmly in her element as Regina…Director Daniel Sullivan’s finely tuned production features a strong ensemble cast.”
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“Laura Linney’s Regina makes Southern gentility organic without losing the character’s edge. Imperiousness fits like a bespoke glove, avarice is palpable. So much emotion is internalized, however, one misses flashes…Cynthia Nixon inhabits Birdie from the moment she enthusiastically flutters onstage...Altogether splendid. Director Daniel Sullivan excels at this kind of solid drama. His characters exist naturally and, for the most part, distinctively.”
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