Katie Holmes Gets a Mixed Broadway Reaction

Posted by Ulinn on October 20th, 2008 at 06:31pm

There’s been an awful lot of buzz lately relating to Katie Holmes’ debut on Broadway recently, with critics arguing over whether her debut was warmly accepted or coldly discarded. Her performance in All My Sons which starts her, John Lithgow, Dianne West, and Patrick Wilson recently opened on Thursday night at the Schoenfeld Theatre.

Despite protesters outside the performance by anti-Scientology groups (what place do they have at a Broadway production? I have no idea), the actress’ performance was met with mixed reviews by critics in the industry. Some were wowed, while some said her abilities in the production produced only yawns.

The New York Daily News’ Joe Dziemianowicz, for example, thought that Holmes made a “fine Broadway debut” and utilized a “rather grand speech pattern that takes getting used to, but she seems comfortable and adds a glint of glamour.” On the other side of the coin, New York Times’ critic Ben Brantley claimed that “The neophyte Ms. Holmes” is a “sad casualty” of director Simon McBurney’s approach to the play, going further to state that “Ms. Holmes delivers most of her lines with meaningful asperity, italicising every word.”

Whether or not her performance was the stuff of legend or poor acting, there’s no question that it has drawn more attention to the Broadway scene.

Under All My Sons