The Royal Family

News & Features

About

Video & Photos

Venue

Story

Reviews

Cast & Creative

Ask a Star Video

What a Hoot! The Royal Family’s Ana Gasteyer on Everything from Defying Gravity to Lindsay Lohan

Videos

On Opening Night, Broadway's Royal Family Has a Ball

News

The Royal Family Gets a Second Extension on Broadway

Final Bow

The Royal Family Exits

First Person

Rosemary Harris: My Royal Family Reunion

Photo Op

All Hail The Royal Family! MTC's Broadway Revival Opens

Word of Mouth Review

Did Angie, Kathleen and Matt Laugh Along with The Royal Family?

News

Just in Time for Opening, Tony Roberts Returns to The Royal Family

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About The Royal Family on Broadway

Previews: Sep 15, 2009 • Opening: Oct 8, 2009 • Closing: Dec 13, 2009

Broadway Plays Comedy

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Venue

Samuel J Friedman Theatre

261 West 47th Street
New York, NY 10036

Hearing Assistance

Assisted Listening Devices are available free of charge at the podium in the corridor just outside the entrance to the Orchestra.

Wheelchair Access

Wheelchair accessible seating may be purchased by phone, in person and online.

Elevators and Escalators

An elevator, located at the right of the box office lobby, provides easy access to all levels of the theater.

More Theater Information

Story

Meet the Cavendishes, the ultimate theatrical family in 1920s Manhattan. Matriarch Fanny is an ailing grande dame who longs to return to the stage. Her middle-aged daughter, Julie, reigns as the biggest star on Broadway. Granddaughter Gwen is being groomed to enter the family business, though her stockbroker boyfriend can’t understand why she would want to. Also in the mix are Fanny’s ne’er-do-well son, Tony, a movie star on the run from a scorned woman and various legal scrapes; Fanny’s not-so-successful actor brother Herbert and his (mediocre) actress wife, Kitty; and others who come and go at the family’s posh East Side duplex.

Critics’ Reviews (7)

A collection of our favorite reviews from professional news sources.

""The Royal Family is suffused with the radiance of pure, inexhaustible love of an ancient craft. The passion at the play's heart is forever. You may find yourself moved to tears. Rosemary Harris and Jan Maxwell are giving the kind of performance that turn agnostics into true believers. It's something close to a miracle.""

The New York Times

Ben Brantley

""Effervescent! This comedy is graced with a terrific collection of actors. Jan Maxwell hilariously raises neurotic indecision to a fine art. Reg Rogers is wonderful. Ana Gasteyer is supremely comic. Director Doug Hughes never lets any of the actors descend into cartoons, which makes the play's ending all the more poignant.""

Associated Press

Michael Kuchwara

""The Royal Family is royal inside-theater delight. There are many pleasures in Doug Hughes' sumptuous joy of a revival. The legendary Rosemary Harris gives a thrilling and ravishing performance. Hughes clearly knows that comedy is serious business.""

Newsday

Linda Winer

""A fine showcase for two marvelous actresses, Jan Maxwell and Rosemary Harris. They are a joy to behold. Maxwell's elegant, high-cheekboned beauty and comic dexterity suit the part perfectly. it's imposible to imagine an actress who would be more likable or funnier. Harris similarly makes us laugh and breaks our heart. She is masterful. Under Doug Hughes' sprightly direction, the ensemble performs gamely.""

USA Today

Elysa Gardner

""The Royal Family is a love letter to the stage and an amusing look at the lunacies of the theater. Jan Maxwell squeezes her juicy role for all it's worth. She is a riot, while Tony Roberts is terrific.""

New York Daily News

Joe Dziemianowicz

""Dazzling comic performances from a superb cast who go for broke and emerge triumphant. With exquisitely juicy material and over-the-top bravura performances, it persuades you that there's nothing funnier than actors playing actors. Under the stylish, pitch-perfect direction of Doug Hughes, it's crucially, believably human and it works beautifully.""

The Record

Robert Feldberg

""The Royal Family is one of those ageless comedies with extravagant, often brilliantly comic banter that is sure to beguile audiences. Rosemary Harris etches a sassy, valiant Fanny while the ever-elegant Jan Maxwell stops the show. It's very early in the Brodway season to predict the spring's Tony Award contenders, but this classy staging of The Royal Family sets a high bar for subsequent shows to beat.""

New Jersey Newsroom

Michael Sommers