{"id":2126063,"date":"2025-10-31T02:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T02:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2126063"},"modified":"2025-10-31T02:04:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T02:04:15","slug":"laurie-metcalf-bares-her-soul-in-moving-broadway-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/laurie-metcalf-bares-her-soul-in-moving-broadway-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Laurie Metcalf bares her soul in moving Broadway play"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F10%2F114487426.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tTheater review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tLITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 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stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--half\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>95 minutes, with no intermission. At the Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Actress Laurie Metcalf and playwright Samuel D. Hunter are a match made in Middle America.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are few writers who can sublimely craft, and without any condescension, powerful stories set in flyover country as well as Hunter, whose searing \u201cThe Whale\u201d was made into an Oscar-winning movie starring <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/01\/07\/entertainment\/brendan-fraser-drops-out-of-off-broadway-play-grangeville\/\">Brendan Fraser<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And Metcalf, although a rockstar of the New York stage, still explodes with the ferocious Midwest edge she sharpened for years at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. The \u201cRoseanne\u201d actress is never less than nuclear.<\/p>\n<p>Both artists, in the best sense, feel like out-of-towners with a lot of punchy truths to lay on the out-of-touch.<\/p>\n<p>At the Booth Theatre, Hunter and Metcalf \u2014 H&amp;M \u2014 have finally teamed up in \u201cLittle Bear Ridge Road,\u201d an intimate Pacific-Northwest-set drama about lonely, struggling souls that opened Thursday on Broadway.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s a hard-hitting, hard-laughing show that combines topics that you arrive at the theater not itching to confront \u2014 the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/coronavirus\/\">COVID pandemic<\/a>, meth addiction, health insurance, shift pay \u2014 into an absorbing story you leave wanting much more of.<\/p>\n<p>About the rocky reunion of a strong-minded Idaho aunt who holes up in a distant house in the woods and her 30-something gay nephew, an unsuccessful writer who\u2019s come home after losing his dad, \u201cLittle Bear\u201d isn\u2019t so much a living-room play as a Lay-Z-Boy play.<\/p>\n<p>A his-and-her\u2019s reclining couch on a wheel of beige carpet is the only scenery, and the estranged pair bond and spar over that most hot-button of subjects: TV shows.<\/p>\n<p>You know the fights. Was that series finale pretty good? Or was it the most disappointing hour of television the world has ever experienced? \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d \u201cLost,\u201d \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d you name it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock star in \u201cLittle Bear Ridge Road\u201d on Broadway. <span class=\"credit\">Photo: Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That\u2019s a more novel idea to explore than you\u2019d think. The <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/30\/real-estate\/bougie-nyc-cinema-just-hit-a-wild-new-price-high\/\">theater<\/a> usually does a fine job of pretending that TV is, at best, a passing fad, when it\u2019s really the national pastime. That\u2019s how people connect now, like it or not \u2014 by disconnecting.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah fits Metcalf like a couch cupholder fits a McDonald\u2019s fountain <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/24\/lifestyle\/coca-cola-to-bring-back-fan-favorite-after-five-years-and-reactions-are-mixed\/\">Coke<\/a>. She\u2019s a hospital nurse whose at-home bedside manner could be described as: Needs work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her default gruffness, though, conceals wicked smarts, a knack for mischief and a keen eye for what makes people tick. The RN is a real nuisance alright, but we love her all the same. Metcalf is uproariously funny and bruisingly honest in the part. Every dart Sarah throws hits the bullseye.<\/p>\n<p>Stranger \u2014 to my mind, admirably so \u2014 is Micah Stock\u2019s awkward Ethan, who\u2019s reluctantly back in a town he hoped to never step foot in again. A loner of a younger generation, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising if the oddball worked the afternoon shift at an arcade, chuckling at his own jokes until he clocks out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Ethan (Stock) goes to live with his Aunt Sarah (Metcalf). <span class=\"credit\">Photo: Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But Ethan is not a wallflower either. His insecurities, typical millennial ones, manifest themselves in a big, eccentric, self-deprecating personality. And expressive Stock stands up well to Metcalf \u2014 you can\u2019t very well cower next to Laurie \u2014 despite some weighty emotional outbursts not quite ringing true.<\/p>\n<p>Stock is at his best with John Drea, who makes a splendid Broadway debut as James, a compassionate grad student Ethan starts dating.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A stunner of a scene between the two that demonstrates Hunter\u2019s piercing understanding of normal people is a meant-to-be-encouraging conversation about receiving extra money from parents. What\u2019s $100,000 from a house sale? It could cover the rent for a year. The hopeful chat warps into a venomous attack that makes the audience sweat bullets.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The play\u2019s ending is a controversial talker. <span class=\"credit\">Photo: Julieta Cervantes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cLittle Bear Ridge Road\u201d spans 2020 to 2022 \u2014 remember that romp of a time? \u2014 and Joe Mantello directs the action sleekly and simply without obnoxious indicators of passing years, like fake snow or a changing wall calendar. The actors, making subtle adjustments in physicality and demeanor, have got that covered.<\/p>\n<p>And then comes the ending.<\/p>\n<p>Clever Hunter toys with the idea of controversial TV finales with the last moments of his play. It\u2019s a talker, that\u2019s for sure. People have debated the coda with me since I first saw it at Steppenwolf more than a year ago \u2014 like it\u2019s Episode 86 of \u201cThe Sopranos.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rather than blacking out with finite closure or a \u201cLittle Bear Ridge Road\u201d bear hug, Hunter lands on a thoughtful, open-ended suggestion that Sarah and Ethan really loved each other all along, in their walled-up way, and the nephew will eventually figure his life out.<\/p>\n<p>In short: Don\u2019t stop believin\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\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 celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theater review LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD 95 minutes, with no intermission. At the Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St. Actress Laurie Metcalf and playwright Samuel D. Hunter are a match made in Middle America.\u00a0 There are few writers who can sublimely craft, and without any condescension, powerful stories set in flyover country as well as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2126064,"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":[25174],"tags":[344468,21741,333101,350667,24047,345886],"class_list":["post-2126063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-broadway","tag-entertainment","tag-laurie-metcalf","tag-plays","tag-theater","tag-theater-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Laurie-Metcalf-bares-her-soul-in-moving-Broadway-play.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126063","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=2126063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2126065,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126063\/revisions\/2126065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2126064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2126063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2126063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2126063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}