Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Review Roundup: JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN Opens On Broadway
www.broadwayworld.com: The moral dilemma at the center of one of the greatest dramas of all-time comes to life on Broadway in John Proctor is the Villain, opening tonight! The new play stars Stranger Things breakout, Sadie Sink. Read the reviews!
I saw John Proctor is the Villain when CMU put it on earlier this year and I loved it! The story was a wild ride and I loved how elements of The Crucible were incorporated into the script. Thus, I was super excited to see that a Broadway production would be mounting this year. I was delighted to see in this article that the vast majority of the reviews were positive. In the vein of practical curiosities about the logistics of doing this show, I wonder how the rights to use the song “Green Light.” Do they pay the rights for every performance or is it a package deal? Especially since the script calls specific for that song, I wonder if there is a pre-negotiated rights package from the initial writing of the play. From a design perspective, I wonder what the various designers' inspiration/mood boards looked like. It’s set in 2018, everything is fairly modern, but I wonder if there are Easter Eggs specific to 2018 hidden amongst the set, costumes, and props.
I’m glad to see John Proctor is the Villain did so well after opening on Broadway! Out of about twenty reviews, only one was negative and three were neutral. Praise for the show was especially centered around Bellflower’s ability to write young characters in a way that felt honest, but not forced or pandering at all. As The Guardian puts it, “John Proctor Is the Villain doesn’t feel like a show designed to goose youth” and I would agree completely. Too often, plays written for/about young adults either feel stale and out-of-touch with how real young adults speak, or rely too much on pop-culture references and buzzwords to make the script feel more topical to today’s youth. I think Bellflower’s account of 2010s youth culture is one of the most accurate we’ve seen on stage ever. This is proved by rave reviews following the ‘high school opening” of the show from a few weeks ago. After inviting hundreds of New York teens to watch a performance of John Proctor before the official opening, the teens in attendance agreed overwhelmingly that the show felt refreshing and representative of today’s youth.
I saw John Proctor is the Villain when CMU put it on earlier this year and I loved it! The story was a wild ride and I loved how elements of The Crucible were incorporated into the script. Thus, I was super excited to see that a Broadway production would be mounting this year. I was delighted to see in this article that the vast majority of the reviews were positive. In the vein of practical curiosities about the logistics of doing this show, I wonder how the rights to use the song “Green Light.” Do they pay the rights for every performance or is it a package deal? Especially since the script calls specific for that song, I wonder if there is a pre-negotiated rights package from the initial writing of the play. From a design perspective, I wonder what the various designers' inspiration/mood boards looked like. It’s set in 2018, everything is fairly modern, but I wonder if there are Easter Eggs specific to 2018 hidden amongst the set, costumes, and props.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad to see John Proctor is the Villain did so well after opening on Broadway! Out of about twenty reviews, only one was negative and three were neutral. Praise for the show was especially centered around Bellflower’s ability to write young characters in a way that felt honest, but not forced or pandering at all. As The Guardian puts it, “John Proctor Is the Villain doesn’t feel like a show designed to goose youth” and I would agree completely. Too often, plays written for/about young adults either feel stale and out-of-touch with how real young adults speak, or rely too much on pop-culture references and buzzwords to make the script feel more topical to today’s youth. I think Bellflower’s account of 2010s youth culture is one of the most accurate we’ve seen on stage ever. This is proved by rave reviews following the ‘high school opening” of the show from a few weeks ago. After inviting hundreds of New York teens to watch a performance of John Proctor before the official opening, the teens in attendance agreed overwhelmingly that the show felt refreshing and representative of today’s youth.
ReplyDelete