If you’re going to have an opening night party for the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge,” it doesn’t hurt to throw it under an actual bridge. That’s just what producer Scott Rudin and his team of producers did, holding the Nov. 12 opening night shindig for director Ivo van Hove’s production of “View” at Guastavino’s, the Italian place under Manhattan’s 59th Street Bridge.
The opening marked the first Broadway production for Belgian director van Hove, who’s turned heads in New York for his Off Broadway shows for more than a decade. But this New York opening felt different for him.
“When I woke up this morning I was very much aware, and really stressed,” van Hove admitted. “You only have one Broadway debut in your life.”
“View” is the first of two Broadway shows van Hove will direct this season, arriving after winning raves and a slew of trophies in London. On the other hand, his spring production of “The Crucible,” starring Saoirse Ronan, will be entirely new. “I’m glad this one was first!” Van Hove said.
Mark Strong, the screen actor well known for his villain roles, makes his Broadway debut in “View” after winning an Olivier in the show in London. He’s a fan of how Broadway handles press nights and critics, who tend to come in the days before the actual opening performance. That’s not how it works in London, when critics comes on opening night.
“Back home you get five, six, seven previews, and then you open knowing half the audience is judging you,” he said. “The system here is really quite civilized.”
(Pictured: Phoebe Fox, Nicola Walker and Mark Strong at the “A View from the Bridge” party)
