Lobby Hero

Lobby Hero is a play by Kenneth Lonergan. It premiered Off-Broadway in 2001.

Lobby Hero
Written by	Kenneth Lonergan
Characters	Jeff William Dawn Bill
Date premiered	March 13, 2001
Place premiered	Playwrights Horizons, New York City
Original language	English
Genre	Drama
Setting	lobby of a middle-income high-rise apartment building in Manhattan, and the street outside

Production history

Lobby Hero premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, on March 13, 2001, and closed on April 15, 2001,[1] reopening at the John Houseman Theatre on May 8, 2001, and closing on September 2, 2001.[2][3] The cast featured Glenn Fitzgerald as Jeff, Dion Graham as William, Heather Burns as Dawn, and Tate Donovan as Bill, and was directed by Mark Brokaw.[4][5]

The UK première was staged at the Donmar Warehouse, in previews on April 4, opening April 10 and closing on May 4, 2002. The cast included Gary McDonald (William), Charlotte Randle (Dawn), Dominic Rowan (Bill), and David Tennant (Jeff), and was again directed by Mark Brokaw.[6] This production transferred to the New Ambassadors Theatre from June 26 (opening July 1) to August 10, 2002.[7]

A revival opened on Broadway on March 26, 2018, at the Helen Hayes Theatre, with Chris Evans (Bill), Michael Cera (Jeff), Brian Tyree Henry (William) and Bel Powley (Dawn) starring. The production is directed by Trip Cullman.[8][9][10][11]

Plot summary

The show follows a security guard in his late twenties, his strict supervisor, and an overbearing cop and his rookie female partner. The show is set in a foyer of a middle-income Manhattan apartment building in the middle of the night.[12]

Character summaries

• Jeff - 27-year-old security guard, unsuccessful with women
• William - Jeff's boss
• Dawn - a female police officer in her 20s.
• Bill - Dawn's senior partner, who shows a romantic interest in her

Reviews

Toby Young said in a review in The Spectator, "Lobby Hero is a fantastic play but I'd be hard pushed to say why. You can tell it's good because, within about five minutes, any sense you have of being a member of the audience, sitting down and watching a group of actors perform on stage, has vanished.... In what amounts to an out-of-body experience, you're totally absorbed in what's going on...Lonergan is particularly good, both here and in This Is Our Youth, at showing how good intentions can be undermined by unconscious desires. Few of his characters are capable of resisting their own malignant impulses."[12]

In her review of the 2018 revival, Marilyn Stasio wrote: "Set in the lobby of a generic Manhattan apartment building, the play looks both kindly and critically upon the kind of characters Lonergan loves to write: working-class stiffs, generally decent people who are unexpectedly challenged by issues of ethics....Helmer Trip Cullman does his best work with small, tight ensembles like this one, so there’s no slack in the emotional tension and no escape from the sticky web that even nice people get tangled up in when they tell lies – especially the lies they tell themselves."[13]

Awards and nominations

2018 Broadway revival

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
2018	Tony Awards	Best Revival of a Play	Lobby Hero	Nominated	[14]
		Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play	Michael Cera	Nominated
			Brian Tyree Henry	Nominated
	Drama League Awards	Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play	Lobby Hero	Nominated	[15]
		Distinguished Performance Award	Chris Evans	Nominated
			Brian Tyree Henry	Nominated
	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play	Brian Tyree Henry	Nominated	[16]
	Outer Critics Circle Awards	Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway)	Lobby Hero	Nominated
	Broadway.com Audience Awards	Favorite Featured Actor in a Play	Chris Evans	Won	[17]

References

1. Jones, Kenneth. " 'Lobby Hero' Extends to April 15 at Playwrights Horizons" Archived September 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, March 23, 2001
2. Lobby Hero Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed September 13, 2014
3. Lobby Hero Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed September 13, 2014
4. Jones, Kenneth. "Laurels and Morals: Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero Opens March 13 in NYC" Archived September 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, March 13, 2001
5. Sommer, Elyse."A CurtainUp Review" curtainup.com, accessed September 13, 2014
6. Billington, Michael. "Review" The Guardian, April 10, 2002
7. Hodges, Amanda."Review Lobby Hero, New Ambassadors Theatre" londontheatrearchive.co.uk, 2 July 2
8. "Chris Evans to Make Broadway Debut in Kenneth Lonergan's 'Lobby Hero'".
9. "Brian Tyree Henry Joins Chris Evans in Broadway Play 'Lobby Hero'".
10. Gerard, Jeremy (November 1, 2017). "Bel Powley Joins Kenneth Lonergan's 'Lobby Hero' Broadway Revival".
11. Lobby Hero Playbill, retrieved April 23, 2018
12. Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit, Michigan: Gale. 2005. ISBN 978-0-7876-3995-2.
13. Stasio, Marilyn. "Broadway Review: Chris Evans in Kenneth Lonergan’s ‘Lobby Hero’" Variety, March 26, 2018
14. Cox, Gordon (May 1, 2018). "Tony Nominations 2018: 'Mean Girls,' 'SpongeBob' Score Big (Complete List)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
15. Evans, Greg (April 18, 2018). "Broadway's 'Harry Potter', 'Mean Girls', 'Angels In America' Among Drama League Award Nominees – Complete List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
16. Cox, Gordon (April 26, 2018). "'Carousel,' 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Lead 2018 Drama Desk Nominations (Full List)". Variety. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
17. "Mean Girls Leads Broadway.com Audience Choice Award Winners; Ethan Slater, Hailey Kilgore Also Take Top Prizes". Broadway.com. May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.