The reviews are rolling in for Samuel D. Hunter's Little Bear Ridge Road, which officially opened at the Booth Theatre October 30 after beginning previews October 7.
Tony winner Joe Mantello is again directing the new play, which made its world premiere at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre last year. The work follows the Fernsby family in rural Idaho as an estranged aunt and nephew reunite following the passing of a family patriarch. Playwright Hunter (The Whale) makes his Broadway debut with the work.
Also back from that premiere run are stars Laurie Metcalf as Sarah, Micah Stock as Ethan, John Drea as James, and Meighan Gerachis as Paulette. Understudies Jack Ball, Mary Beth Fisher, and Aubie Merrylees round out the company. Casting is by JC Clementz.
Read the reviews below.
1 Minute Critic (Matthew Wexler)
The Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)
Lighting and Sound America (David Barbour)
New York Daily News (Chris Jones)
The New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski)
New York Stage Review (Frank Scheck, Michael Sommers)
New York Theatre Guide (Gillian Russo)
New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)
The New York Times (Michael Paulson)**
TheaterMania (Zachary Stewart)
The Washington Post (Naveen Kumar)*
The Wall Street Journal (Charles Isherwood)*
*This review may require creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
Mantello's Steppenwolf creative team has also returned for Broadway, including scenic designer Scott Pask, costume designer Jessica Pabst, lighting designer Heather Gilbert, and sound designer Mikhail Fiksel. William Joseph Barnes is production stage manager.
Perhaps the most noteworthy return the production is affording is for producer Scott Rudin, who is producing the transfer alongside Barry Diller. Rudin has been largely absent from the industry since reports emerged of his abusive behavior to subordinates behind the scenes. Though such reports have been published periodically over his career, Rudin stepped away from his professional life following 2021 articles in The Hollywood Reporter and New York Magazine. Published in the wake of the #MeToo movement, both resulted in renewed calls for Rudin to be barred from the industry. Rudin ultimately announced that he would “step back” from Broadway productions and film projects and resign from The Broadway League, installing Kate Horton as executive producer of his then-developing Broadway revival of The Music Man. That revival would open at the Winter Garden Theatre in 2022 starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. Little Bear Ridge Road is Rudin's first official step back. And according to earlier reports, Rudin has more projects waiting in the wings.
Steppenwolf Theatre, a producer on last season's Tony-winning Best Play Purpose and the institution that commissioned Little Bear Ridge Road, is not producing the Broadway transfer.
