{"id":2361794,"date":"2026-04-07T02:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T02:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2361794"},"modified":"2026-04-07T02:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T02:05:11","slug":"alden-ehrenreich-is-incredible-in-viciously-funny-first-date-broadway-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/alden-ehrenreich-is-incredible-in-viciously-funny-first-date-broadway-comedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Alden Ehrenreich is incredible in viciously funny first-date Broadway comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F04%2F125112193.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\tBECKY SHAW\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 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--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>2 hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission. <br \/>At the Hayes Theater, <br \/>240 W. 44th St.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Discomfort at the theater usually makes the audience do one of two things: squirm or lean forward.<\/p>\n<p>But the knock-out funny and audaciously awkward revival of the play \u201cBecky Shaw,\u201d which opened Monday night at the Hayes, triggers an uncommon third response \u2014 involuntary outbursts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh no no no no no no,\u201d said a man near me when one of the quintet of East Coasters shot off another uncouth insult. Nobody shushed him, though, because a whole slew of folks couldn\u2019t contain their feelings. It was like the shouting girls from \u201cThe Crucible\u201d took a field trip to Broadway.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t know Gina Gionfriddo\u2019s dark comedy that ran off-Broadway 17 years ago and is regularly produced around the country, its edginess and bottomless appetite for provocation could catch you off guard.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s almost two decades old. Its title is nice and sitcom-ish, like \u201cAlly McBeal.\u201d And its plot hinges on a first date in sweet Rhode Island.\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>Don\u2019t be deceived. What a wicked little play \u201cBecky\u201d is.<\/p>\n<p>This romantic meet-up from hell has been arranged by stressed-out Suzanna (Lauren Patten) and her puppydog husband Andrew (Patrick Ball). She\u2019s a therapist who comes from wealth, and he\u2019s an office worker who aspires to be a writer while dressing like a guitarist busking on the quad.<\/p>\n<p>But why would they send Max, Suzanna\u2019s adoptive brother and her family\u2019s jerk of a money manager, on a blind date with Andrew\u2019s co-worker, the bubbly and naive Becky (Madeline Brewer)? They pair about as well as steak and Twizzlers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A first date goes haywire in \u201cBecky Shaw\u201d on Broadway. <span class=\"credit\">Marc J. Franklin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As the play bounds forward, marching through cultural minefields with gusto, we soon see that everybody, from the try-hard nice to the unabashedly naughty, has a terribly selfish motivation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And the characters we embrace and laugh with the most, just like Larry David on \u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm,\u201d are the brave souls who openly admit it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nobody wears that realist attitude and devilish mischief better than the revelatory Alden Ehrenreich as Max \u2014 the snappy 36-year-old money manager who goes to dinner with Becky.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Alden Ehrenreich is a revelation as Max. <span class=\"credit\">Marc J. Franklin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The fun of Gionfriddo\u2019s play is the way she has this feistiest of characters say, with such wit and boldness, offensive quips and unpopular takes that much of the audience will guiltily agree with.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A crack about the aimlessness of modern protests strikes a nerve today. So does his ice-bucket observation that relationships cannot work when one partner brings a lot more to the table than the other.<\/p>\n<p>Ehrenreich, a major talent who\u2019s been dealt an unfair hand by Hollywood, is given the meatiest material of the cast. But the unique charm and liveliness he brings to it is vital. His idiosyncratic, casually vicious, worryingly lovable Max is one of the season\u2019s must-see performances. Smart and sharp, he\u2019s the lovechild of Jesse Eisenberg\u2019s Mark Zuckerberg and Johnnie Walker.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Andrew (Patrick Ball) and Suzanna (Lauren Patten) set up Max and Becky on a blind date. <span class=\"credit\">Marc J. Franklin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>His Max makes it easy to understand why, despite taking opposite life paths, Suzanna can\u2019t shake her cantankerous brother. <\/p>\n<p>Patten meanwhile is the embodiment of everybody\u2019s college roommate, and watching her pour red wine and anxiously avoid making phone calls brings to mind a mocking word: \u201cadulting.\u201d Immature Suzanna leans on Max, perhaps unwisely, as her existence implodes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her father \u2014 and his, sort of \u2014 has died and she\u2019s struggling with her WASP mother Susan\u2019s fling with a much younger man. Max is ambivalent about all of it, while hubby Andrew is almost claustrophobically touchy feely. Ball, with soft-serve hair, is fine as the least-interesting character.<\/p>\n<p>Max\u2019s ill-fated night with Becky, played with a serial killer\u2019s determination by Brewer, douses every one of these problems in gallons of kerosene. And the flames light up difficult truths about modern courtship and marriages.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Linda Emond is delectable as Suzanna\u2019s WASP mother Susan. <span class=\"credit\">Marc J. Franklin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fanning them is erudite, 60-something Susan, Suzanna\u2019s mother, performed by Linda Emond like she took a knife sharpener to her tongue and then strolled onstage. Susan, neither cutthroat nor passionate, expresses a wise Baby Boomer perspective: That growing up means making hard decisions and accepting consequences. She\u2019s calm, cool and delectably eviscerating.<\/p>\n<p>Gionfriddo\u2019s play clearly covers a lot of risky ground \u2014 gender, race, politics, money \u2014 only it\u2019s so relentlessly hysterical you barely notice the mark it leaves until the appetizers arrive. Adding to the entertainment, director Trip Cullman\u2019s direction is sexy, light and swift.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A word on the Hayes Theater. Since Second Stage Theater made the small venue its Broadway home in 2018, it\u2019s become one of the most exciting doors for NYC playlovers to walk through. That \u201cTake Me Out,\u201d \u201cBetween Riverside and Crazy,\u201d \u201cAppropriate\u201d and \u201cMarjorie Prime\u201d all played here within the last four years (\u201cPurpose\u201d was a rental \u2014 a fantastic rental) is a damn good track record.<\/p>\n<p>Their latest winner is \u201cBecky Shaw.\u201d<\/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 BECKY SHAW 2 hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission. At the Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44th St. Discomfort at the theater usually makes the audience do one of two things: squirm or lean forward. But the knock-out funny and audaciously awkward revival of the play \u201cBecky Shaw,\u201d which opened Monday night at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2361795,"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":[339104,344468,21741,24047,345886],"class_list":["post-2361794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-alden-ehrenreich","tag-broadway","tag-entertainment","tag-theater","tag-theater-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Alden-Ehrenreich-is-incredible-in-viciously-funny-first-date-Broadway-comedy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361794","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=2361794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2361796,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361794\/revisions\/2361796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2361795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2361794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2361794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2361794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}