On the verge of death, a far too often occurrence, Anna (Linda Lavin) makes a shocking confession to her adult children, Seth (Greg Keller) and Abby (Kate Arrington). Anna’s children are jolted by the revelation and the details.
Who decides what’s really true? Is Anna’s affair with her lover (John Procaccino/Philip Hoffman) imagined or reality? For Anna, what is more important than the truth is her legacy.
Tony and two-time Golden Globe Award winner Linda Lavin’s wit and charm shine through in her portrayal of Anna, a mother of adult twins from Merrick, Long Island.
The audience chuckles with familiarity and delight in the real-world events surrounding Anna’s affair and her tongue-in-cheek relationship with her children. Anna’s children arrive at a pivotal point in their adult lives when they realize that their mother is human and makes mistakes, and has an identity outside of just being a mother.
Younger theater-goers will most likely relate to the adult children in the relationship, while older show-goers will relate to Anna and understand more of the historical references, particularly more of the 1940-50s coming-of-age realities.
Lavin won a Tony Award, as well as Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Helen Hayes awards for her performance in Broadway Bound in 1987. She is a six-time Tony nominee for her roles in The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, Collected Stories and The Lyons. She is a two-time Golden Globe winner for her role as the title role on Alice, the nine-year hit television series, and she recently co-starred with Sean Hayes in the series Sean Saves the World.
Keller’s theater credits include Wit, Of Good Stock and The Who and The What. He has also appeared in television shows like Orange Is The New Black, The Good Wife, Lipstick Jungle and Law & Order. Arrington’s theater credits include Grace, The American Plan and The Qualms. Upcoming she will be playing Maria Saldana in the new Showtime series Billions.
Procaccino’s credits include Broadway performances of A Time To Kill, An Enemy of the People, An American Daughter and A Thousand Clowns. He has also appeared on episodes of The Good Wife, Law & Order, NYPD Blue and Smash.
The two-hour production, limited engagement of Our Mother’s Brief Affair was written by Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg and is directed by Manhattan Theatre Club’s award-winning artistic director Lynne Meadow.
Tickets for Our Mother’s Brief Affair are available by calling Telecharge at 212-239-6200, online by visiting www.telecharge.com, or by visiting Samuel J. Friedman Theatre box office (261 West 47th St.). The show runs through Sunday, March 6. Ticket prices range from $60 to $140.
