Sidney Howard's Late Christopher Bean, a Praised "Find," Extended Off-Broadway

By Kenneth Jones
19 Nov 2009

The Late Christopher Bean star James Murtaugh.
The Late Christopher Bean star James Murtaugh.

The rare New York City revival of Sidney Howard's 1932 comedy The Late Christopher Bean, a satire of greedy small-town folk and corrupt art-world personalities, will get six extra performances Off-Broadway.

The Actors Company Theatre production directed by Jenn Thompson at the Beckett Theatre on West 42nd Street will now run to Dec. 12 rather than Dec. 5. Performances began Nov. 1. It opened Nov. 11.

Critics were glad to see the obscure well-made comedy, and called its themes, laughs and heart contemporary-feeling despite the age of the play. This is the play's first professional production in Manhattan in 77 years.

Six performances have been added.

TACT/The Actors Company Theatre, devoted to unearthing neglected or rarely revived works, reveals a play that is at once a daffy family comedy, a satire about greed and a rueful rumination on loss, love and authenticity. Sidney Howard is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of They Knew What They Wanted. Howard won a posthumous Academy Award for writing "Gone With the Wind."

Here's how TACT bills the play: "In The Late Christopher Bean, Yankee practicality collides with New York's sophisticated Art World as all hell breaks loose when a celebrated painter's early works are traced to the humble home of a country doctor. Both a biting satire on the destructive power of greed and a touching view of a family in turmoil, this feisty comedy will have you cheering for the most unlikely heroines."

The cast of The Late Christopher Bean includes TACT Company Members Mary Bacon, Cynthia Darlow, Greg McFadden, James Murtaugh, James Prendergast and guest artists Bob Ari, Hunter Canning, Jessiee Datino and Kate Middleton.

The Late Christopher Bean has the following performance schedule: Monday, Wednesday–Friday at 7:30 PM; Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM; Sunday at 3 PM. There will be an additional performance on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 7:30 PM. There will be no performance on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26. The final performance will be 2 PM Dec. 12.

Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre is at 410 W. 42nd Street between 9th & 10th Avenues.

Tickets are $27.50-$55 and are available 24/7 through Ticket Central www.ticketcentral.com or from noon–8 PM daily at (212) 279-4200. They may also be obtained at the Theatre Row box office (410 West 42nd Street) between noon and 8 PM daily.