Moon Over Broadway . The Boston Phoenix . 03-23-98

Moon Over Broadway

DIRECTED BY: Chris Hegedus

REVIEWED: 03-23-98

A cross between Noises Off and Faust, this delectable little documentary by Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker chronicles the fraught 1995 journey of the troubled farce Moon over Buffalo to Broadway via Boston. I admit I liked Ken Ludwig's green-room door slammer better than most critics did. But the filmmakers have succeeded in making it look almost perversely unfunny here. Which sets a mood of taut, tiptoeing backstage desperation as director Tom Moore tries to steer a diplomatic course between the shoals of megastar Carol Burnett's salvation-by-shtick approach and the deep water of playwright Ludwig's distress, while such trademark Burnett bits as Shirley Temple impersonation find their way into his limping, 1950s-set farce. The best character is co-producer Rocco Landesman, who demonstrates the nerves double dipped in drollery and steel that must be necessary in his business. Told during the New York previews that a dead body has been found draped between the roofs of the O'Neill and Walter Kerr Theatres, he replies, "It's not Tom Moore, is it?"

--Carolyn Clay

Full Length Reviews
Moon Over Broadway

Other Films by Chris Hegedus
The War Room

Film Vault Suggested Links
Wild Man Blues
Cane Toads
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

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