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Inside Opening Night of BURN THIS with Keri Russell, Adam Driver & More!
Oct 31, 2022
The first revival of Pulitzer Prize Winner Lanford Wilson's Burn This officially opened just last night, April 16, at the Hudson Theatre. Stars Academy Award Nominee and three-time Emmy Award Nominee Adam Driver (Pale), Golden Globe Award Winner and Emmy Award Nominee Keri Russell (Anna), Tony Award Nominee David Furr (Burton) and Tony Award Nominee Brandon Uranowitz (Larry) celebrated the special occasion on Monday, and we're taking you inside the big night below!
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Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
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Lanford Wilson's beloved play, Burn This, is back on Broadway, featuring a stellar cast led by Adam Driver, Kerry Russell
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Brandon Uranowitz, and David Fur, and I caught up with all of them just minutes after the opening night curtain rang down
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Welcome back to the stage. How does it feel, and what's made this so special for you this time around
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This cast, and working with Michael has really made it special. being sadly older
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I don't know even doing it at this theater I really like this theater
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feels very intimate it's all kind of seemed like the timing was right and the right people were involved
0:41
I kind of lucked out what's it been like sharing the stage
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or what isn't like sharing the stage with these glorious three other actors tell me what that experiences
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that you can kind of do no wrong not that you can't do wrong
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going to be bad, but if you try something out, you're going to find three people who are
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going to be right there with you Except our little fight We can really we can wing that It nerve It nerve
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But it's a huge adventure. And it just, it feels, it's so exciting and everything
1:21
It's nerve-wracking, exciting, incredible. And I love the play. I love working with all these actors
1:28
And it's just a huge challenge. And it's been incredible. Just talk about the play
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Everybody loves this play, generation after generation. What do you love about the play, and why do you think people love this
1:39
I love it because it's about people caring about things. I think it's about this time where people are incredibly selfish
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and they care about their art being good. And it's before, like, you have to pay for a house or taking care of your kids
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It's like when you create something and you want it to be the best it can be
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or when you want your love to be the best, most passionate thing it can be
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And I think that's the time. in these characters' lives. And it's just like in a really creative moment in a life
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And that what they all going through And they just lost someone So everything is very big and raw and intimate and on the surface And I just think it a very raw exciting time to be alive
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For me, it's the first time I'm doing a straight play in New York
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but it's also the first time I'm getting to play a gay character on Broadway
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And that's just really important for me, and it's a really special thing to finally be able to do
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You know, I've been around the block. And I do feel like people know me and they know my work
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but I really do feel like this is sort of my real introduction
2:47
to the theater community. So it's a special, it's a big watershed moment for me
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and I'm loving every second of it. There's the play itself. I was obsessed with this play for the original production
3:00
I mean, how well would you know the play? Like, sadly, not that well
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I knew Lampert. I knew, you know, 5th of July in Talley's Folly, but like for whatever reason this I mean I had read a couple of scenes obviously
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you sort of can go through any sort of acting training without encountering Lanford Wilson on some level and probably burn this and so I did read a couple of scenes but I never actually read it cover to cover And I so glad that I did
3:28
It's beautiful. It's stunning. Why do you think people are so attracted to this piece
3:34
Well, I think, I mean, I think first of all, it's a bit of a, you know
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they get mesmerized by what and who pale is. And I think, you know, there can be a bunch of different pales
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depending on who's playing it. So that's always like, what is this actor going to be
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And so that's part of the character, the actor who's playing it. And then beyond that, you know, I think it's always timely because these characters are getting a little bit older
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and starting to think about their choices in life and where they've gotten complacent, what they've compromised
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and, you know, a little bit of the loss of the freedom that came with their youth
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And I think that's something that is timeless because there's always people that are getting a little bit
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bit older and thinking like boy when I was younger I was more passionate more artistic more free
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and what happened to that do I want that or am I happy with you know some of the compromises that I've made so
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