Alex Edelman's JUST FOR US To Return To Boston For Limited Engagement

Brookline native Alex Edelman will return to Boston for a limited engagement of his acclaimed solo show JUST FOR US at the Emerson Colonial Theatre.

Expertly crafted by one of comedy's most distinctive voices, this singular theatrical experience is an exploration of identity and our collective capacity for empathy — and it's also “belly-laugh funny!” (The New York Times). In the wake of a string of anti-Semitic rhetoric pointed in his direction online, standup comic Edelman decides to go straight to the source; specifically, Queens, where he covertly attends a meeting of White Nationalists and comes face-to-face with the people behind the keyboards. What happens next forms the backbone of the shockingly relevant, utterly hilarious, and only moderately perspirant stories that comprise JUST FOR US.

JUST FOR US landed on Broadway this summer following acclaimed international runs in London, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Boston, and Washington D.C., as well as a six-time extended off-Broadway engagement across three venues in New York City, which earned a “Critic's Pick” from The New York Times, a 2023 Obie Award, and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations. The show has been embraced by critics who have decreed as follows:

In its original Boston engagement, WBUR asserted that “Edelman offers thoughtful reflections on our shared humanity, though a smart and hilarious lens.” And The Boston Globe declared the solo show “a smart, air-tight monologue that is relentlessly funny and has something to say.”
The New Yorker raved that JUST FOR US is “Uproarious & tremendously entertaining! Edelman skewers to perfection and has an exceptional eye for the absurd.” 
The Washington Post proclaimed, “The superb JUST FOR US has been chiseled to diamond-cut perfection. It's a joyous, uproarious 90-minute show from one of the funniest minds of this generation – or any generation.” 
The New York Times described the show as a “cultural phenomenon,” and “a brisk, smart provocation of a monologue,” and Time Out hailed the show as, “A portrait of the entertainer as a young Jewish man in a polarized society…without pulling any punchlines. Despite the incendiary issues lurking at the edges of his tale, JUST FOR US is focused on comedy. The laughs are plentiful.” 
The Guardian deemed the show “Exquisitely crafted and deliciously funny.”
And The Telegraph exalted that Edelman is, “one of the most distinctive comic voices of his generation. This is funny, often charmingly self-deprecating writing, delivered with infectious confidence and exuberance and building to a real cracker of a last line. Highly recommended.”

Directed by Adam Brace, JUST FOR US returns to Boston from December 15-17, 2023 at the Emerson Colonial Theatre (located at 106 Boylston Street). The show runs 85 minutes without an intermission. Performance times are Friday, December 15 at 8pm, Saturday, December 16 at 8pm, and Sunday, December 17 at 2pm.

Tickets may be purchased online at emersoncolonialtheatre.com or by calling 888.616.0272. The box office at 106 Boylston Street is open Tuesday through Friday from 12pm to 6pm. Online and phone ticket purchases are subject to standard service fees.

Alex Edelman

is a comedian, actor, and writer. He is known both for his solo shows – three, all award-winning, sell-out hits in London's West End and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – and for his TV writing. His first solo show, Millennial, won the 2014 Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer, the first American show to do so since 1997. Edelman has appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," "Late Night with Seth Meyers," and "Conan," and written on shows like “The Great Indoors” (CBS) and Jenji Kohan's “Teenage Bounty Hunters” for Netflix. He is the creator of “Peer Group” – a show about young people – on Radio 4 and his special “Live from the BBC” is available on Netflix internationally. At the start of the pandemic, he served as the head writer and executive producer of “Saturday Night Seder,” a star-studded 70-minute special, posted on YouTube, that has so far raised $3.5 million for the CDC Foundation (COVID-19) Emergency Response Fund. His comedy album "Until Now" was named one of the best comedy albums of 2020 by NPR's “Bullseye.” He has two differently sized feet.

Adam Brace

(Director) served as Associate Director at Soho Theatre, London where he worked across Comedy, Theatre and Performance Art, and in roles spanning dramaturg, director and writer. In comedy, he has developed a varied range of work including eight Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated shows, two Herald Angel Award-winners, two nominees for the Melbourne Barry Award and two Southbank Sky Arts Awards. Directing credits include all of Alex Edelman's shows, most recently JUST FOR US (2023 Obie Award winner, 2022 Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle Nominee); Leo Reich's Literally Who Cares?! Off-Broadway, Haley McGee's Age is a Feeling (Fringe First 2022, Soho Theatre); all of Sh!t Theatre's multi-award-winning international shows. Other credits include Ahir Shah's HBO Max special Dots and Creative Supervisor on two series of “Soho Theatre Live” on Amazon Prime. Previously, he was a playwright and was produced by Almeida Theatre, The National Theatre and The Donmar Warehouse; his plays are published by Faber and Faber.

About Emerson Colonial Theatre

In its storied history, Emerson Colonial Theatre has debuted such seminal Broadway shows as Anything Goes, Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma!, Follies, A Little Night Music, Grand Hotel, and La Cage aux Folles, and most recently, the pre-Broadway premieres of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, David Byrne's American Utopia, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, and the revival of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. The building, which opened in 1900 with a production of Ben-Hur, is the oldest continuously operated theatre in Boston, as well as being amongst the most magnificent, having retained most of its original period details. A theatre for the community, Emerson Colonial Theatre is once again contributing to the rich cultural landscape of Boston with a new and varied program of Broadway shows, live music, comedy, and special events.

www.EmersonColonialTheatre.com

Photo credit: Emilio Madrid 

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