BROADWAY RECALL: Memorial Plays

Welcome to BROADWAY RECALL, a bi-monthly column where BroadwayWorld.com's Chief Theatre Critic, Michael Dale, delves into the archives and explores the stories behind the well-known and the not so well-known videos and photographs of Broadway's past. Look for BROADWAY RECALL every other Saturday.

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, the time of year when all of New York starts looking like a Jerome Robbins ballet.  But while it’s fun for us to play host for Gotham’s esteemed U.S. Navy guests during Fleet Week, it’s also important to pay tribute to those who have given their lives protecting our freedom.  So this week BROADWAY RECALL remembers some recent Broadway productions concerning those who bravely make the ultimate sacrifice.

R.C. Sherriff's 1928 World War I drama Journey's End, received glowing reviews from the New York critics, but directorDavid Grindley’s compelling production couldn’t find an audience.  Despite many weeks of sparsely filled houses the producers kept the play open until it won the 2007 Tony for Best Revival of a Play.  The first ten minutes of this episode of Broadway Beat features cast members talking about their characters.

John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest led a 2008 revival of Arthur Miller’s classic, All My Sons, about a businessman whose effort to make a profit while supporting the troops during World War II goes tragically wrong.

Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still explored the up-close and detailed information we can now receive about our soldiers overseas through issues involving a pair of war journalists who bring their various wounds back home with them.

Photo of Hugh Dancy and Stark Sands in Journeys End by Paul Kolnik.