John Cotter (Peter Gerety) mentors Mike McAlary (Tom Hanks) on New York City journalism in LUCKY GUY (photo by Joan Marcus)
Broadhurst Theatre
235 West 44th St. between Broadway & Eighth Ave.
Tuesday – Sunday through June 16, $87-$152
www.luckyguyplay.com
Tom Hanks makes a terrific Broadway debut as New York City journalist Mike McAlary in Nora Ephron’s consistently entertaining Lucky Guy. Hanks, who won back-to-back Oscars in 1993-94 for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump and starred in Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, uses his general likability to endear the audience to McAlary, a fiercely ambitious reporter who shifted between New York Newsday, the Daily News, and the Post from 1985 to 1998, breaking some of the most important stories of that time, including the 77th Precinct corruption scandal, which made his career. The show is set up as a kind of Irish wake, with a group of McAlary’s colleagues drinking and telling stories about the Pulitzer Prize winner’s life and dedication to his chosen field. Among them are Courtney B. Vance as his longtime editor, Hap Hairston; Hanks’s former Bosom Buddies costar Peter Scolari as Daily News scribe Michael Daly; Peter Gerety as mentor John Cotter; Michael Gaston as subway columnist Jim Dwyer; Richard Masur as bombastic newspaper editors Jerry Nachman and Stanley Joyce; and Danny Mastrogiorgio as journalist Bob Drury. Maura Tierney, in her Great White Way debut as well, plays McAlary’s wife, Alice, who spent many a night worrying about his safety as he investigated dangerous stories, while Christopher McDonald is his fast-talking lawyer, Eddie Hayes. David Rockwell’s scenic design evokes the look and feel of a city newsroom, with lots of smoking, cursing (much of it courtesy of Deirdre Lovejoy as reporter Louise Imerman), drinking, and fighting for “the wood” — the story that is teased at the top of the front page, while a big logo at the rear of the stage announces which paper McAlary is writing for at that time.
Journalist Mike McAlary (Tom Hanks) becomes part of the story in LUCKY GUY (photo by Joan Marcus)
Ephron, who spent part of her early career as a journalist, did plenty of research in writing Lucky Guy, and she pulls no punches in portraying McAlary — whose battle with cancer while still trying to do his job was an inspiration to Ephron, who was fighting myelodysplastic syndrome while finishing this play — warts and all, exploring his jealousy of Jimmy Breslin, his lack of loyalty to his employers, his near-fatal drunk-driving accident, and his famous failure when he refuses to back off of a story that implodes in his face. Ephron also avoids overplaying the sympathy card as the cancer begins to eat away at him. Director George C. Wolfe keeps things moving smoothly even as the characters go from reenacting the various tales to addressing the audience directly, sharing personal insights into McAlary and New York City journalism. Despite being about a man who tragically died too young, at the age of forty-one, written by a woman who also died tragically, at the age of seventy-one, both of whom still had a lot to give to this world, Lucky Guy manages to be a funny, irreverent, and, ultimately, uplifting two hours, led by an immensely talented actor who has seamlessly made the transition from Hollywood to Broadway.