Mr. Saturday Night is the story of Buddy Young Jr., an outrageous and outspoken comedian who found fame, if not fortune, in the early days of television. Now, some 40 years after his TV career flamed out, Buddy seeks one more shot at the spotlight, and while he's at it, one last shot at fixing the family he fractured along the way.
There's one thing to kvetch about with 'Mr. Saturday Night': it would be better as a straight play than a song-and-dance show. Jason Robert Brown has composed a bland point-A-to-point-B score that's not as hilarious or textured as the text. Similar to 'Tootsie' before it, the star here is the scenes, not the tunes.
It's an evening of ba-dum-bum punchlines in this vein at the Nederlander Theatre, where 'Mr. Saturday Night' marked its official opening Wednesday night. Low-key ballads in classic Broadway cadences by Jason Robert Brown and Amanda Green are interspersed throughout the proceedings, amiably directed by John Rando. But they are not such prominent features as to distract from the main focus, which is the funny business - sometimes tender, other times cruder and more caustic - derived from the notion that Crystal's semiretired Buddy Young Jr. is over the hill.
2022 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Billy Crystal |
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Billy Crystal |
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Amanda Green |
2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Amanda Green |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Contribution to the Theater Award | Billy Crystal |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Awards | Shoshana Bean |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Awards | Billy Crystal |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Musical | Mr. Saturday Night |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Billy Crystal |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Lowell Ganz |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Babaloo Mandel |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Shoshana Bean |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Mr. Saturday Night |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Video/Projection Design (Play or Musical) | Jeff Sugg |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Billy Crystal |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Mr. Saturday Night |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Jason Robert Brown |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Jason Robert Brown |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Billy Crystal |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Shoshana Bean |
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