Reasons To Be Pretty

Last week Kevin and I saw Neil Labute's first Broadway production - Reasons To Be Pretty. It's a solid play, not my favorite of Labute's work though. His first two movies, In The Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors were both explosive and exciting in a new way. His current stuff seems light compared to the major dark stuff he was writing in the mid-90s.

I guess he had to mainstream to make it to Broadway.

That said, Reasons... is a completely entertaining production that "confronts America's obsession with physical beauty headlong. Greg's tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his off-handed remarks about a female co-worker’s pretty face (and his girlfriend's lack thereof) get back to said girlfriend."

I'd have cut the intermission and 20 minutes out of it, there were times when I felt like the characters didn't have much to say. But, there was enough sharp humor to keep me interested. Steven Pasquale's character, Greg's womanizing friend, was my favorite part of the show. I was captivated by Steven's performance.

Reasons... officially opens tonight on Broadway.