THE OFF BROADWAY PALM THEATRE

THE LITTLE THEATRE WITH THE BIG SHOWS!

The Off Broadway Palm Theatre is located just off the main lobby inside Broadway Palm.  The Off Broadway is a 100-seat theatre with a great view from every seat!  The doors open a half hour prior to showtime for seating. If you chose to have dinner with us, the dining is in a separate dining room. 

PRICES:
Evenings $51 
Matinees $47
Show Only $31 

BETTER LATE

SEPTEMBER 18 - NOVEMBER 1, 2014

The side-splitting, yet touching, comedy about Julian Nussbaum, who, due to illness, is forced to move in with his ex-wife and her new husband. As the days pass, the laughter builds and the awkward situation spirals further and further out of control. 

 Tonight I went to see Better Late at the Off Broadway venue. Currently, I'm immersed deeply into the 7 seasons of The West Wing on Netflix. As I enjoy an actor, I hop onto Twitter and tweet them. Mostly complimenting and once I get a dialogue going, we tweet back and forth.. information and innocuous verbiage back and forth and it thrills me to death!! (I amuse easily)

I don't think the people in the local area understand that WE, the local people who are able to venture to The Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre avails us of INCREDIBLE and delicious Chef-prepared Meals, fabulous personalized service by the staff, the musicians, office staff, as well as brilliant productions. I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO TWITTER TO START A DIALOGUE WITH THEM. All I have to do is wait for the end of that particular show, go to the lounge/bar area and MEET THEM, live and in color and we talk, laugh and get to enjoy and get to know each other. (and MORE FUN!!! I get to 'friend' them on facebook and keep up with the same people off stage so easily and Please Know that I am so humbled by their friendships. EVERYONE, to the last person listed on the play bills, is so wonderful, conversant and nice to me. Again, totally humbling to me.. thank you all. I adore your work down to the last person ever to grace either stage of The Broadway Palm. Thank you, all.) Everyone in this venue is accessible. This is practically unheard of in many other venues where we get to enjoy a production, a musical, whatever. Broadway Palm ALLOWS us to mingle, compliment and 'hang with' their wonderful actors, et al, OFF the stage.

Tonight I was privileged to sit in the audience of an intimate setting of 100 comfortable seats. The cast was basically ALMOST within touching distance. When we watch them, we can almost imagine they are speaking directly to us.

Better Late is a production by Larry Gelbart.. recognize him? Before his death on 9-11-09 was an American television writer, playwrite, screenwriter and author most famous as a creator and producer of the record-breaking hit TV show, M*A*S*H, so right here, the thought and intelligence behind Better Late has already been established.

Mr Gelbart, noted for his soliloquy-esque form of dialogue and that it is incredibly intense and extended, is not lost on this production. I have to sometimes need the use of a name tag, clipped upside down so I can read it, these actors, with their amazingly vibrant and fluid and limber brains seem to remember reams and reams of verbiage and interactive dialogue throughout nearly two hours of constant back and forth.. sometimes exploding in angst and anger. Totally invigorating banter.

Something else about this production deals with a man and woman, who met while she was married to another man. They instantly fell in love and she had to extricate herself from her current relationship, read: marriage.

After the divorce and re-marriage of the lead (and only female in this production: Nora ~ brilliantly played by Nancy Antonio) such a brave and wonderful girl starting the production in a slip.. good one!

to Lee, played by Robert Summers, a master in this performance portraying rage and anger (frankly, I can't deal with that much anger without popping a vein in my forehead and passing out for just shooting someone the 'stink eye' and he has to portray it night after night, sometimes for two shows a day),

and Nora's former husband who suffers a stroke and has to move in with them, Julian ~ played by John Noble and Julian who is amazing as an invalid.. good one, John!

Nora's son, Billy, played by John Keckeisen has his own issues leading to his divorce, but with the interaction and stress of everyone living in everyone else's space and old feelings are brought up and discussed, Billy's situation is sort of sidelined until he has to tell his step-dad (Lee) that he and his wife are divorcing, to which Lee attempts to get him back on track to try to save the marriage.

This production and the gift of the actors to the audience brings us face to face with reality, and mortality. And way beyond. In some ways, pretty gut-wrenching, occasionally funny as all get out but putting that reality up close and right in front of us. Sometimes the laughter was uncomfortable, sometimes with gladness of the actually amusing and laughable.

Good job, peeps.. you kept us riveted, uncomfortable and in the end assuaged our moments of fleeting discomfort letting us realize that we were privy to some incredible acting and a HECK of a lot of brilliant dialogue.. thank you so much. Rock ON, and break many legs for the duration of this great production and beyond.

      

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