Review by Ron Fassler . . .
In 2011, Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities opened at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center. With strong reviews and healthy ticket sales, it moved to Broadway, where it enjoyed a run of 7 months. There was no national tour, and although film rights were sold, a movie was never made. All of which is to say that bringing it back to Broadway 15 years later, in a new production at the Hudson Theatre, offers audiences to once again appreciate what a well-made play it is (not for nothing was it a Pulitzer Prize finalist). Set in 2004 in the well-appointed Palm Springs home of Lyman and Polly Wyeth, it supplies five actors with meaty parts locked in a family drama loaded with comedic zingers. With so many families divided politically, the often-arch dialogue resonates even stronger due to our current struggles as a nation. And due to the star power of this revival, it has unsurprisingly become the toughest ticket on Broadway, as well as one of the most expensive. Is it worth hocking jewelry to see it? Well, that all depends on how much devoted fans of Julia Louis-Dreyfus want to see her in her Broadway debut.
Yes, even with such major theatre veterans as Allison Janey, Ed Harris, and Lily Rabe, let’s get one thing straight: the buzz around this production is all about Louis-Dreyfus, a beloved television star, podcaster, and activist, whose career has been a series of successes that keep surpassing one another. So, it gives me great pleasure to report that as Polly, her timing is impeccable, her grasp of the stakes unmistakable, and she physically inhabits the role while layering the subtext with finesse. It’s hard to believe she hasn’t been in a play onstage since she attended Northwestern University in the early 1980s. And, in Other Desert Cities, she is not the only one making their Broadway debut. The cast’s youngest actor, Joe Keery, known mainly for his work on Netflix’s Stranger Things over five seasons, comes off winningly as a stage natural. It’s entirely possible, too, that he hasn’t appeared in a play since college either as his bio features no theatre credits. His portrayal of baby brother Trip, is the real deal. It’s going to be exciting to see over time how Keery’s career in the theatre develops.
On Scott Pask’s detailed living room set, lit beautifully by Natasha Katz, the Wyeth family cozily (and sometimes not so cozily) are gathered for Christmas. Lyman (Harris), a former actor turned GOP stalwart and U.S. Ambassador, is a likable patrician-like guy. Polly (Louis-Dreyfus) is his stand-by-your-man wife, a former screenwriter who, with her sister Silda (Janney), once wrote a series of movies about a Gidget-type teenager named Hilary. Born Jewish, prior to ascending to her cultivated status as a Republican sidekick of Nancy Reagan’s, Polly wields her caustic tongue like a weapon. Their daughter Brooke (Rabe), an author, is returning to their Palm Springs oasis for the first time in six years with the gift of copies of her new book, which is the crisis upon which the story turns. More a memoir than fiction, Brooke is trying to work her way through the trauma of losing her beloved older brother Henry to suicide, who is never discussed and has been all but been erased from the family’s trove of framed photos. Younger brother Trip (Keery), who was only five when Henry died, is somewhat peripheral but, when prompted, is on the scene offering keen insight.
An evening with these characters gives Baitz the chance to explore family dynamics set against the hotbed of American politics with commendable restraint. For a 2026 audience, time has only enriched such debates, and it is a pleasure to hear scintillating dialogue like this that rarely feels strained or overripe. John Benjamin Hickey has directed his actors with a gentle hand and empathy, which translates into not interfering too much (the best direction shouldn’t appear like direction at all). All the relationships onstage are clear with Louis Dreyfus, Harris, and Keery delivering impeccable performances. However, Lily Rabe has been encouraged to be more obtrusive than the rest of the family, which seems like a deliberate choice considering she is somewhat of an outsider. The issue is that there’s a stridency that could have been more closely attended to. As for Allison Janney, there is an expected, almost leaden quality that creeps in. Silda is alcoholic and a descendant of Edward Albee’s Claire, a dominant supporting character in his 1966 masterpiece, A Delicate Balance. The role cries for a lighter approach and, perhaps over the course of its sixteen-week run, both she and Rabe will find their own delicate balances.
Special mention must be made of the hair and wig design by Robert Pickens. In the case of Louis-Dreyfus, her hair seems to bounce and flounce like the real thing and helps immeasurably in making her look every inch the queen. And I’ve never seen such a perfect headpiece on Harris, who has used wigs of varying degrees of subtlety and success over the years. Tom Broecker’s costumes are shrewdly rendered and the sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman makes it possible to hear every word.
Other Desert Cities is most emphatically what Broadway does best, the kind of show where, on a single set, a quintet of actors gets to strut their stuff, guided by a supremely skilled writer. No gimmicks — the play’s the thing.
Other Desert Cities is at the Hudson Theatre, 141 W 44th Street, NYC, now through January 17, 2027. For further information please click here.
Photos by Emilio Madrid.
Headline photo: Allison Janney and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
