If human cancer battles, canines with cancer, and charming British friends don’t tug at the heartstrings, it’s hard to say what will. All four of them comprise Left on Tenth, an innocuous, but hardly a must-see dramedy which recently opened on Broadway at the James Earl Jones Theatre.
In no way should of cancer be taken lightly nor minimized. Nearly everyone knows at least one person who has died, overcome, or is personally dealing with the all too common life threatening illness. But even with the star power of Peter Gallagher and Julianna Margulies, writer Delia Ephron’s memoir- turned- stage- adaptation feels manipulative and melodramatic.
Margulies stars as Delia, the real-life scribe who comes from a family of writers. With her sister, Nora, the pair collaborated on many Hollywood romantic comedies. Delia’s life is upended when Nora dies from leukemia. Three years later, Delia’s husband (also a writer), develops prostate cancer and is laid to rest. After a vexing time with Verizon, the Manhattan based Delia pens an opinion piece in The New York Times which catches the eye of recently widowed Peter Rutter (Gallagher), a San Francisco Bay area Jungian therapist who contacts her, claiming they had dated years before through a connection of Nora.
Do you hear wedding bells chime? Of course you do. This is after all, billed as a romantic play. Peter Francis James and Kate MacCluggage round out Tony award winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman’s cast, playing a multitude of roles, including a well heeled English couple. All four actors seamlessly spin this 100 minute story like a well-orchestrated dance on Beowulf Borrit’s sleek and efficient set that morphs into various settings. Yet everyone from the gay neighbor to the sassy nurse to Peter and Delia’s other confidantes are caricatures with little character development.
Stroman brings personal experience to the work, having lost her own husband, British director Mike Ockrent to leukemia in the late nineties. Two dogs also make an appearance and, much to the glee of theatergoers, they get their own curtain call.
Delia’s memoir, which shares the same name as the play, quickly climbed to the top of The New York Times Bestseller list and is, unsurprisingly, a terrific read. But sometimes themes and ideas, in order to be impactful, are better left…on the page.
Left on Tenth is now playing on Broadway at the James Earl Jones Theatre 138 West 48th Street, NYC through Feb. 2, 2025. For tickets and information, click here