Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s Plaza Suite is met with scathing reviews… as couple are deemed only redemption of her ‘vastly priced, celeb circus’ West End debut

By Wikirub On Jan 29, 2024

Sarah Jessica Parker’s West End debut has been met with a slew of scathing two star reviews following the show’s debut on Sunday night.

Plaza Suite, where the SATC star features alongside her real life husband Matthew Broderick, was unveiled at the Savoy Theatre in front of a slew of star in the wake of uproar over the obscenely priced tickets.

The revival of Neil Simon’s triptych of sketches, which the couple took to the Broadway stage previously, is directed by John Benjamin Hickey and helmed by the superstar couple, aged 58 and 61 respectively.

The plays, all set in suite 719 in New York’s Plaza Hotel, are called Visitor From Mamaroneck, Visitor From Hollywood and Visitor From Forest Hills – and while the fusty stories were criticised, the couple were praised for carrying the play.

With tickets reaching nearly £400, nearly every review gives a nod to the price tag, with a gaping divide among critics as to whether it is worth it for the SJP star and her spouse, who returns to the West End after The Starry Messenger in 2019.

Sarah Jessica Parker’s West End debut has been met with a slew of scathing two star reviews following the show’s debut on Sunday night alongside her husband Matthew Broderick

Plaza Suite was unveiled at the Savoy Theatre in front of a slew of star in the wake of uproar over the obscenely priced tickets

Plaza Suite’s website lists the play as: ‘A delightfully witty exploration of love and marriage, Plaza Suite had New York City audiences enchanted with its charm and its starry cast….

‘Now, from January 2024, London’s West End gets the chance to witness two world-class performers and Hollywood icons transform into three unique couples, each finding themselves entangled in hilariously outlandish situations within the walls of the legendary Plaza Suite hotel room.’

The Independent’s Alice Saville was wholly unflattering, with as lacklustre two stars for her review of the play alongside the scathing prose: ‘Real-life couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick cannot save Neil Simon’s dated romcom’.

The Guardian branded the play ‘a celebrity circus’, with Arifa Akbar blasting the audience’s feverish excitement – complete with stealth phone usage and prolonged applause – despite the play’s alleged ‘flat and forgettable’ form.

She penned: ‘The production seems effectively to coast on the fame of its two stars. What a low, lazy bar to set at such a high price (some premium “package” seats have reportedly sold for £395)…

‘Times are tough for the arts but commercial theatre can surely be braver than this.’

Sarah Hemming, of The Financial Times, gave a lukewarm three stars but placed more blame on the age of the play and its fusty writing than the stars.

She wrote: ‘More than 50 years on, the comedy has aged; each act, though short, feels overextended, while the scenes never really explore the loneliness and pain that can lurk beneath the comedy.’

Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski joins the masses in commenting on the ticket price, noting that it is Sarah’s presence which warrants ‘printing money’ with the price.

Plaza Suite’s website lists the play as: ‘A delightfully witty exploration of love and marriage, Plaza Suite had New York City audiences enchanted with its charm and its starry cast’

PLAZA SUITE: The Reviews

THE INDEPENDENT

Rating:

The husband-wife duo are not always in on the jokes… The jokes feel effortful and small “c” conservative: landing them would be a stretch for far more accomplished stage actors than Parker and Broderick, who are just about good enough here.

Real-life couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick cannot save Neil Simon’s dated romcom

THE GUARDIAN

Rating:

This is a celebrity circus. Even costume changes get audience oohs and aahs. It seems oddly disproportionate because, as exciting as it may be to see Sex And The City’s Carrie Bradshaw on stage, the production is flat and forgettable, not testing either actor’s seasoned skills on the boards (though this is Parker’s debut in the West End).

That adaptation has a corny, period look but its performances are more nuanced than they are here.

It might be that the play has dated badly (and this production makes little effort to give it a fresh spin), or that it does not fare well under such blunt, vaudevillian treatment.

THE STAGE

Rating:

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s combined star power struggles to enliven this outdated matrimonial comedy.

Do you have a hankering to see Carrie Bradshaw and Ferris Bueller in the flesh? Why else would anybody rush to this mechanical revival of Neil Simon’s dull and dated 1968 comedy.

The glitzy casting of Sex and the City star and her actor husband also accounts for the much-discussed, eye-watering ticket prices. Even their biggest fans must be thinking: they’d better be worth it.

THE I

Rating:

Relationship discord plays out amid the Regency-style décor and before anything to do with the play itself, there dawns the disconcerting realisation that despite Parker and Broderick’s 32-year relationship they manifest almost zero chemistry together on stage.

John Benjamin Hickey, a Tony Award-winning actor, is the director of only his second production. A more experienced hand might have curbed some of Parker and Broderick’s worse excesses, but goodness knows what anyone would do with the third act

THE EXPRESS

Parker and Broderick throw themselves into the roles, with exaggerated physical and vocal tics playing to the gallery. The laughter flows but it’s also ridiculous and rather uncomfortable when viewed with modern eyes.

SJP fans, of course, will happily fork out to see their idol in the flesh and she makes a confident, accomplished West End debut. I’d rather see what she can do next time with more substantial material.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

Rating:

Parker, in particular, is a joy, bringing zest, precise detail and sharp comic timing to her characters. But it’s not quite enough to blow the dust off the play and its creakily dated depiction of the sexes.

More than 50 years on, the comedy has aged; each act, though short, feels overextended, while the scenes never really explore the loneliness and pain that can lurk beneath the comedy.

TIME OUT

Rating:

it feels like a decent premise let down by lumpen writing and low-level misogyny, but there’s some solid physical business and [the third section is] definitely the most overtly fun sequence.

I’ve moaned, but it’s an unusual prospect, a comedy that would almost certainly never have been revived were it not for the attachment of the two leads.

Parker’s presence (her West End debut) is basically a license to print money – the top-priced tickets are over £300 – but I don’t think this is a cynical choice of play. Indeed, they could have made life a lot easier for themselves with material that’s easier to sell. But they really give it a go.

WHAT’S ON STAGE

Rating:

Parker’s honesty, her vigour, and her pure gift for comedy both physical and verbal, disguise some of their obvious shortcomings. She’s a revelation.

THE TIMES

Rating:

Are the VIPs any good? The audience at the performance I saw had already made up its mind on that score, breaking into prolonged applause, Broadway-style, when they made their entrances in the first instalment.

THE EVENING STANDARD

Rating:

John Lee Beatty’s set is a clunky idea of five-star decor, the supporting cast almost unnoticeable and the whole thing occupies a very rarefied niche of New York society. But complaining that a Broadway show is “too New Yorky” is as pointless as whining about its high ticket prices in London.

Plaza Suite is pretty much sold out because people will pay for sensational event theatre and the chance to see a star in the flesh, especially one this consistently fascinating. If you can afford it, Sarah Jessica Parker – with Broderick as Ken to her Barbie – is worth it.

THE TELEGRAPH

Rating:

The Sex and the City star and her husband Matthew Broderick are superb in Neil Simon’s sexually inhibited 1968 hit. But are they worth £395?

DAILY MAIL

They say chintz is coming back into fashion, but it’s still a slightly frumpy, frowning spectacle. However, frisky performances lighten the visual load and lift the spirits. Whether that justifies the admission price, gentle reader, only you can tell.

But it’s a top-of-the-range revival of a comic antique. All you need, ladies, is a Mr Big who will not flinch at the price tag – which is a good test of his character too.

The show follows three different couples in one famous hotel room, and Jessica stars alongside real-life partner Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick

Sarah is pictured at the gala performance of the show on Sunday night

He wrote: ‘If you don’t know or care who Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are and aren’t some sort of crazed Neil Simon completist, then there’s definitely no reason you need to see ‘Plaza Suite’. If you’ve come for the leads – well, they put on a show for you. Maybe it would have been nice if it was a different show…

‘If you’ve essentially checked into ‘Plaza Suite’ to spend two-and-half-hours with Sarah Jessica Parker, you’re unlikely to be complaining to the manager.’

While a number of reviews carried an eye-watering two stars, the feedback was not all bad, with The Evening Standard reporting: ‘People will pay for sensational event theatre and the chance to see a star in the flesh, especially one this fascinating’.

The Times added to the fanfare surrounding the tickets, with Clive Davis penning: ‘And with the power couple come Broadway prices…

‘Part of me feels guilty writing in praise of this venture, which comes with a top-price ticket of £300. Utter madness, I hear you say. And you would be right’

Sarah Crompton of What’s On Stage echoed her peers in stating that superstar Sarah is the lure of the play, with a mediocre three stars.

She penned: ‘Parker’s honesty, her vigour, and her pure gift for comedy both physical and verbal, disguise some of their obvious shortcomings. She’s a revelation.’

The Stage’s Sam Marlow gave another two star review and penned: ‘But this is largely his wife’s show. That’s an achievement on Parker’s part, I suppose, given that the three women she plays do little more than fuss, flirt and twitter, feebly beating their wings against the bars of the cage of domesticity and monogamy…

Checking in: Matthew Broderick in the hit Broadway production of Neil Simon’s Sixties comedy about marriages teetering on the brink in a New York hotel room

‘And perhaps it’ll be enough for the fans. There’s nothing subtle about any of it – yet one mystery remains: of all the plays in the world, why choose this one?’

The i’s Fiona Mountford was scathing in her review, insisting the married couple lacked chemistry in their performance and largely failed to illuminate the stage.

Alongside her two star rating, she penned: ‘I could not wait to check out of Plaza Suite… There dawns the disconcerting realisation that despite Parker and Broderick’s 32-year relationship they manifest almost zero chemistry together on stage.’

She claimed that the third installment saw Sarah masquerade ‘soulsapping levels of performative hysteria’ as she depicted a desperate mother.

The Daily Mail’s Patrick Marmion wrote: ‘You want showbiz? You want celebrity? You want reassuringly expensive A-lister stardust?..

‘Here it comes in the shape of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, with their hit Broadway production of Neil Simon’s Sixties comedy about marriages teetering on the brink in a New York hotel room…

‘With a few tickets retailing at an eye-watering £300 (decent seats are £75-125 and good ones £200), it’s pulling a notably well-heeled crowd – TV favourite Hannah Waddingham was among the guests at the gala performance last night…

‘And I’m not sure who’s stooping lower with the Moet & Chandon vending machines – the producers, the punters or the wine-makers. But John Benjamin Hickey’s production doesn’t scrimp on the stage set.’

Dressed for Ladies Day at Ascot: Sarah Jessica Parker in Plaza Suite