{"id":2028324,"date":"2025-09-17T07:26:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T07:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2028324"},"modified":"2025-09-17T07:26:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T07:26:15","slug":"james-corden-delivers-a-masterclass-of-comedy-in-new-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/james-corden-delivers-a-masterclass-of-comedy-in-new-play\/","title":{"rendered":"James Corden Delivers a Masterclass of Comedy in New Play"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">What does a painting mean? What does friendship comprise? What does money buy us? How do we measure value? What should something cost?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The still-striking thing about Yasmina Reza\u2019s much-performed Tony-award winning play, <i>Art<\/i>, is that it plonks these questions\u2014very seriously and very wittily\u2014into the center of a friendship between three men that spans warm, toxic, and transactional.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The really great thing in this all-star revival <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/artonbroadway.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:(Music Box Theatre, booking to Dec. 21);elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">(Music Box Theatre, booking to Dec. 21)<\/a> is those men are played by Bobby Cannavale, Neil Patrick Harris, and James Corden, the latter serving up an early-season comedy masterclass.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The play, which was first performed in 1994, seems initially too simple. Three men are trying to understand why one of their number, Serge (Harris), has bought a painting. It\u2019s an all-white canvas, five by four foot, and was bought for $300,000. Mockery and derision ensue.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>James Corden \/ Matthew Murphy<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cYou paid three hundred thousand dollars for this s&#8211;t?\u201d Marc (Cannavale) says, as Serge unveils his purchase, setting the tone of dismissive disbelief for the rest of the play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On one level, <i>Art<\/i> is the theatrical extrapolation of the question of what art is, and how its value is calculated. It recalls <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DLZqh64ub6F\/?hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:a wonderful scene;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">a wonderful scene<\/a> in the second series of <i>Absolutely Fabulous<\/i> in which Edina (Jennifer Saunders), observing the sneer of a snooty gallery employee, tells her, \u201cYou only work in a shop you know, you can drop the attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Reza initially seems to be asking us: Has not only Serge been conned, but we all by the pompous evangelism of contemporary art devotees?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">However, Reza is not interested in focusing solely on such an easy target. Serge is not budging an inch in his commitment to his beloved work. He can see other colors in the canvas; for him it\u2019s a symphony of depth and meaning. Marc just thinks he\u2019s lost his marbles. If Cannavale plays Marc with a righteous sneer, Harris gives Serge a Niles Crane-ish, suffer-no-fools, unyielding belief in aesthetics and artistic purity.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Bobby Cannavale \/ Matthew Murphy\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Jrb87lXKLLtGZ6XEwWMu3Q--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/thedailybeast.com\/830dda116c6632f2e69fdb4df595796c\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Bobby Cannavale \/ Matthew Murphy<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The cushion between them\u2014or, more accurately, a weather-vane who swings wildly between both\u2014is Yvan (Corden), who just wishes everyone could get along, especially as he is soon to be married and already stuck between various warring factions of his and his bride\u2019s families when it comes to wedding plans. If Cannavale and Harris are the rigid door-stops of debate, director Scott Ellis makes Corden into the play\u2019s fuzzy border territory, wisely giving him moments of physical comedy to play every bit as hilariously as he delivers his lines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It is Yvan\u2019s revelation of one of his pre-nuptial conflicts that Corden serves with full comedic relish\u2014around four minutes of recalled argument, deflated exhaustion, and exaggerated whimpering. It is glorious, and this Broadway season\u2019s first showstopper.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The clever thing about <i>Art<\/i> is that it doesn\u2019t indulge easy philistinism, simply deriding the painting and Serge for buying it. It revels in both Marc\u2019s dismissal of the all-white canvas, then asks us\u2014through Serge\u2019s eloquent defense\u2014to consider that it might be something profound and to be cherished. Marc also seems a possessive bully; Serge criticizes him for how he treats those who disagree with him. Yvan is cowed by them both.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As they insult, evade, then confront each other, <i>Art<\/i> shows how (straight) men communicate\u2014their ease, trash-talk, need to control, and finally their belief in a friendship they seem to be on the verge of destroying. As positions are taken and intransigence takes hold, echoes ring from today\u2019s harshly polarized political and cultural era. The play becomes less about what the art is worth, and the worth and value of the men\u2019s friendship. (The silent, very funny munching of olives proves a key moment in the restoring of relations.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It says something about Reza\u2019s skills as a playwright and Cannavale, Harris, and Corden\u2019s lovely, off-kilter chemistry that we really do care when a felt-tip pen is produced near the end to deface the painting. We\u2019ve just been laughing about how stupid it is to pay so much money for an all-white painting, yet here we are also horrified at it being defiled.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Bobby Cannavale and Neil Patrick Harris \/ Matthew Murphy\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/W92ogYdIRlBdvfH4DQmxKQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/thedailybeast.com\/1926c2511fe16b40e46ae537234168a4\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Bobby Cannavale and Neil Patrick Harris \/ Matthew Murphy<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Reza and her 2025 Broadway cast are expert movers of focus and boundaries. Corden\u2019s Yvan seems to be a patsy, not wanting to choose between Serge and Marc, and hoping they can remain friends\u2014not least because this wedding has left him a husk of a human. He still wants, he tells them tearfully, the port-in-a-storm comfort their years-long friendship provides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">We laugh at his tears seeming quite so pathetic, then go very quiet when Corden convinces us, minutely tweaking the performance, how genuinely devastated Yvan feels by all the rowing and acrimony. And then, we are back to laughing when Yvan signals that he feels just as Marc does\u2014that the painting is a joke, as is Serge\u2019s embrace of it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But that isn\u2019t the end of <i>Art<\/i>. The white canvas is never hung during the play until the very end, when our focus is rooted on it. Both the characters and we the audience suddenly view it in all seriousness, understanding its depth, maybe even seeing in it all that Serge sees in its brushstrokes. The final words, belonging to Marc, are their own jolting revelation. In <i>Art<\/i>, ultimately, the work of art is everything and nothing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does a painting mean? What does friendship comprise? What does money buy us? How do we measure value? What should something cost? The still-striking thing about Yasmina Reza\u2019s much-performed Tony-award winning play, Art, is that it plonks these questions\u2014very seriously and very wittily\u2014into the center of a friendship between three men that spans warm, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2028325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[345013,22467,373610,373767,373766],"class_list":["post-2028324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-bobby-cannavale","tag-james-corden","tag-neil-patrick-harris","tag-serge","tag-yasmina-reza"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/James-Corden-Delivers-a-Masterclass-of-Comedy-in-New-Play.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2028324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2028324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2028324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2028325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2028324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2028324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2028324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}