Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test

The Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test is our personal and highly opinionated Commuter's Guide to New York theater and cultural events, with an emphasis on Broadway and Off-Broadway theatrical productions. The test is simple: is an event worth the always expensive, time consuming, and too often horrendous struggle to commute to New York City from New Jersey, Long Island, Upstate New York or Connecticut? Only truly great or near-great performances and productions may meet this stiff challenge!

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Location: Princeton, New Jersey, United States

James Camner is an antiquarian dealer of autographs, manuscripts and printed music and books of Opera, Classical Music, Theater, Dance, and Film, as well as a published author of more than 10 books on the performing arts including "How to Enjoy Opera" (Simon and Schuster), "The Great Opera Stars in Historic Photographs" (Dover), "Stars of American Musical Theater in Historic Photographs" (Dover - with Stanley Appelbaum); was for over 20 years a reviewer for Fanfare Magazine and has written feature articles and reviews for Opera News.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

The Farnsworth Invention, a play by Aaron Sorkin at the Music Box. Starring Hank Azaria and Jimmi Simpson, directed by Dan McAnuff. The story of Philo Farnsworth who, according to the play, was the real inventor of television and how David Sarnoff, according to the play, screwed him out of the financial benefits and perhaps more importantly, the glory. This could be the stuff of good theater, and it is, but only to a point. The play feels brittle, there is too much lecturing to the audience, and not nearly enough interacting between the characters. In the end, there is no real character created, only history being told, but because the telling is by a master writer Aaron Sorkin, it's entertainingly told, tautly packaged, and best of all extremely well acted by Hank Azaria (Sarnoff) and most especially Jimmi Simpson (Farnsworth) who is like a young Henry Fonda in the part. A rewarding, if not great, evening in the theater, "The Farnsworth Invention" was worth the commute. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel test grade. B

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