by Tim Leininger

James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris and Bobby Cannavale in ART on Broadway – Photo by Matthew Murphy

            Friendship, like any other relationship, requires work, and over time complacency can spoil the fruits of years of what used to be dedication and commitment. Sometimes a friend will naturally evolve into something different that another friend doesn’t seem to recognize due to their inability to adjust to the changes that are happening before them. Such is the drama inherent in Yasmina Reza’s smart and engrossing comedy, Art, translated by Christopher Hampton, and directed by Scott Ellis. This Broadway revival is running through Dec. 21 at The Music Box at 239 W. 45^th St. in New York City.

            Set in Paris, Serge (Neil Patrick Harris) has recently purchased a painting for $300,000. He’s quite proud of this purchase and looks to get the opinion of his friend Marc (Bobby Cannavale) about the piece. The painting is all white with some interpretive ideas of lines running across it if you look at it in the right light. Marc thinks the piece is awful and admonishes Serge for wasting his money on such a terrible piece of art. Separately, the two consult with their friend, Yvan (James Corden), about the piece, who doesn’t want to upset their friendship any more than it already appears to be by choosing sides. Besides, he has a wedding coming up and he would prefer if his friends were on good terms for it.

            Art isn’t about art. The painting isn’t really anything more than a catalyst to the real themes of the story on how friendship can become spoiled by people’s inability to acknowledge that everyone changes. As we grow older our self-worth and self-image alters, and we have to choose whether or not those around us can take that journey of change with us or leave them behind; or do we recognize the changes that a friend may make and recognize them for being the individual that they are now versus the one we knew 15 years ago when first met.

Bobby Cannavale and Neil Patrick Harris in ART on Broadway Photo by Matthew Murphy

            Marc is a controlling person, and he has trouble acknowledging Serge’s growing maturity. Meanwhile, both men have pitying opinions of Yvan, who is a bit wishy-washy and manipulatable by others. At one point, as Yvan looks at the painting and claims to see colors that aren’t there, not because they exist on the canvas, but because he feels he needs to see something beyond what is actually there.

            The three stars are all excellent. Cannavale and Harris each give their characters their own degree of arrogance but coming from different sides of the spectrum. Cannavale laces Marc with condescension while Harris peacocks Serge with a newfound arrogance of someone who feels he has eclipsed the more boorish mentality of Marc. Cordon brings the comic relief of the trio, especially in a hilarious machine gun paced monologue about how he was tied up on the phone debating wedding plans. His journey as Yvan starts off as placating before growing more of a backbone in addressing his more assertive friends. Though a comedy, the drama between the three become serious enough that as the play reaches its jaw-dropping climax, it keeps you guessing if there will be a happy ending for the trio, or the three dissolving their friendship, or an ending where there is at least amicable reconciliation. Reza’s characters are complex and no matter how it ends, there is an assuredness that the characters will all have been irrevocably changed by the final curtain.

Neil Patrick Harris and James Corden in ART on Broadway. Photo by Matthew Murphy

            The design hasn’t really changed much from the original production. The set, consisting of a marble coffee table with two chairs and a sofa of modern design framing it. Most of the play is set in Serge’s home, with a couple separate scenes in Marc’s and Yvan’s homes, so the same set pieces are used for all three scenes. The one material change between scenes is the up-center wall that rotates to show paintings that represent the homes of Marc and Yvan; paintings that provide visual representations of their personalities that contrast the white piece that Serge owns.

            Art is a comical, yet very important, reminder of the importance of nurturing friendship. The excellent trio of Cannavale, Corden, and Harris, under the direction of Ellis exemplify that we can grow apart and not even realize it until something as simple yet cataclysmic as a white painting drops into the middle of it and washes the canvas of that friendship clean, creating the choice of if that friendship is worth preserving.

ART

TICKETS: https://artonbroadway.com/

PRODUCTION: Written by Yasmina Reza; Translated by Christopher Hampton; Directed by Scott Ellis; Scenic Design: David Rockwell; Costume Design: Linda Cho; Lighting Design: Jen Schriever; Sound Design: Mikaal Sulaiman; Original Music: Kid Harpoon; Casting: Jim Carnahan, CSA, Alexandre Bleau, CSA; Fight Direction: Rick Sordelet, Christian Kelly-Sordelet; Associate Director: Kasey Graham; Marketing Director: Anna Pitera Devito; Advertising: AKA; Press Representative: Polk & Co.; Ticketing & Revenue Director: Ben Simpson, ATG Entertainment; Production Stage Manager: Julia Jones; Company Manager: Joy Sims; Production Management: Aurora Productions; General Management: 101 Productions, LTD, Christopher Taggart

CAST (in order of appearance)

Bobby Cannavale as Marc

Neil Patrick Harris as Serge

James Corden as Yvan