A Steady Rain

SOOOOOOO late on the review so may as well keep it brief.
AMAZING performances.
Hugh Jackman is NOT TO BE MISSED on any of his Broadway appearances in future.

Just walked out of the show. Amazed by how these two men completely transformed themselves into corrupt Chicago cops with a bare bones stage (just 2 chairs and lighting). Definitely recommend it. Bonus, at the end they raised over $ 40k Broadway Cares by auctioning off their (sweaty) undershirts… impressive!

As a New Yorker who lived in Chicago for a while, I found this dark Chicago police drama unfortunately too believable.
With the caveat that I definitely prefer straight plays to musicals, and I know many feel the opposite way, I thought they did an amazing job. Two men on stage, no break, and fairly heavy material. I was there during Broadway Cares time and they could not have been more gracious with the audience. Only one week left, but I would definitely recommend it for those who like serious theatre (and who can tolerate a bit of bad language).

Jackman and Craig were excellent Saturday night in ‘A Steady Rain’. Both actors appeared relaxed and at-​home on stage, and the underlying story was funny, touching, and (infrequently) disturbing.
Saturday night, the actors took time after the play to raise money for charity by auctioning off their undershirts (in lieu of set pieces, which is the norm), much to the happiness of the female audience members.
Great evening all around. Highly recommend.

Ahh… a dark lit stage. 2 hot men and little ol’ me. It’s just Hugh (Wolverine) and Daniel (007) in my view and a whole lot of intense sighing… no that’s not from the play. That’s just me…
I find the storyline in it’s purest form a tale of two childhood friends dealing with detrimental consequences from one wrong decision. There’s nothing to get the blood flowing, when you hear Hugh start off with his charming rogue self spew out profanities like smooth ganache cream. Daniel is no slacker, even though he’s the straight-​laced character of the two. He more than holds his own, in fact, during his solo scenes, he captivates the moment and draws in the audience with his passion.
The sparse backgrounds do not detract from the dual focus on the actors, the slow building music is also very minuscule but only used when the scene calls for it.
The aftershow with Hugh and Daniel hawking their t’s for the cause of Broadway Cares is hilarious. I haven’t seen so many women scream since I heard squeals from Twilighter fans at the movies. Hugh and Daniel were gracious and sweet when meeting fans, including yours truly who got the pics and the autographs to prove that life is good.
For poor peeps like me, if you still have your valid student ID, you can wait at the box office before it opens to buy 1 – 2 tickets for $ 31.50. The theater only lets 20 student seats in the back row at this price, but they’re pretty good seats since the theater is small.

I’m not sure why the other reviews only gave three stars to this brilliant production (albeit minimal production). To see this dynamic duo in person and up close was really a great experience for us. They both perform with an energy that film really can’t capture. To be fair, we had great seats and were only 20 or so feet from the stage, so this experience may vary with your seats.
I won’t give away too much about the story itself, but the way it came together was really magical. It is a minimal production, so if you are expecting a big Broadway production with huge sets go somewhere else. There is basically just enough to get the story through, but the acting really stands on its own. Just think two really good story tellers by the dinner table.
There is no intermission, so come prepared to sit for about 1:40 without making a sound. We sat next to a woman who obviously was having a life-​changing experience watching this thing and sushing people left and right. I’d imagine given the star power of this play and the ticket prices, this is not unusual. Also, our show had an «auction» at the end, which was for the Broadway Cares Charity. Kind of fun, but ultimately it was these two guys shilling donations and literally selling the shirts (or wife-​beaters) off of their backs! Sweat and all! It was fun for me, just because they break character so you see a little of their real personality.
Ok, enough gushing, but bottom line is that this is worth the money if you can still get tickets!

Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig in A Steady Rain by Keith Huff. I liked it. Interesting. Not your typical Broadway show. It is definetely a play, not a musical. Set (or lack there of) is minimal– 2 chairs and 2 spotlights. 2 run-​down Chicago cops, both with their own individual issues in life and work. Good twits in the story line. Plenty of offensive language.
Great makeup job on Daniel Craig– didn’t even look like himself.
I would reccomend it to friends.

I sat in for the previews for this play, 007 vs. Wolverine. Seriously, it’s the first thing that comes to mind when you put both of these actors together, right?! Well, I’d heard only good things about Hugh Jackman on Broadway and knew that Daniel Craig had done well with his many roles in on the London Stage.
I found Jackman to be way over the top in his portrayal, a characterture man in blue. Sorry Hugh, but you’re better served doing musicals and cartoon characters as you’ve done in the past.
Craig was spot on and convincing as the whipped friend to an alpha dog. The squirrely little mustache did a lot to change his usual craggy masculine features. Dan’s acting chops are weighty. I got a kick out of how both actors did the Chicago cop accent, working through their own Brit and Aussie ones to get there.
During the performance some rude fool’s cell phone began ringing. At first those of us in the audience thought it was part of the production, then soon realized this wasn’t the case after the caller’s repeated tries, three of them in total. By that point, the disturbance had garnered the ire of the actors on stage, both of whom broke character to ask the person politely to turn off their phone.
This interruption could not have occurred at a worse time during the performance. The two actors were heavily into an emotional outpouring, raising intensity towards a climax which was cut off at the knees by the irritating and constant cell phone ring. Kudos to both actors for picking up exactly where they had left off once they had addressed the cell phone cretin.
The screen backdrop was the only prop aside from the two chairs the actors sat on. The backcurtain images were HD and popped out as if you were really out on the grimy urban streets. The storyline, a dated good cop bad cop, would have garnered a better reception — at least by the ladies in the house– if both the hottie actors had found a way to tear their shirts off during one of the scenes. Sigh.