'Other Desert Cities' Broadway review — an A-list ensemble faces off

Read our review of Other Desert Cities on Broadway, a revival of Jon Robin Baitz's family drama starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery, and Lily Rabe.

Summary

• Other Desert Cities follows the drama that arises from a memoir that would expose a politically prominent family's secrets when published
• The A-list ensemble includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery, and Lily Rabe
• The show has a standout performance from Keery and exciting bits of verbal sparring but is largely awkwardly directed
• The show is recommended for fans of the cast's acclaimed film and TV work and fans of the Tony Award-nominated original production from 2011

Other Desert Cities is one of those classic American dramas that serves to have an impressive cast of actors play a family and fight with each other for a few hours. Jon Robin Baitz’s play, set in Palm Springs on Christmas Eve 2004, alerts us to this fact right away, as adult siblings Brooke (Lily Rabe) and Trip (Joe Keery) and their parents, Polly (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Lyman (Ed Harris), have just finished a tennis match. It foreshadows the intense volleying, powerful serves, and crucial break points to come.

When Brooke announces she has written a soon-to-be-released memoir about their family trauma (without asking anyone for permission), everyone's decorum quickly implodes. Alas, despite Baitz’s well-made play and an A-list cast, this revival is under-directed by John Benjamin Hickey, which leaves the actors feeling unmoored. Though Other Desert Cities has interesting points to make about family dysfunction, ethical obligations, and political complicity, particularly in the Republican party, the piece’s relevancy is overshadowed by the awkward production.

The entire Wyeth family are complex and morally gray, slippery and in some cases monstrous, and this cast doesn’t fully capture their shifting tides. As an ensemble, they struggle to work together and to elevate each other’s performances. Rabe, miscast and miscalibrated, flubs crucial moments and never manages to make Brooke likable, which sets the play off-balance. Allison Janney, as the alcoholic aunt Silda, plays it safe and is underutilized. Harris and Louis-Dreyfus feel underprepared, at times stumbling over lines. The unexpected standout is Broadway newcomer Keery, who is singularly grounded in his character and delivers a top-notch, memorable rendition of one of the play’s less flashy roles.

As problematic matriarch Polly, Louis-Dreyfus gives an often hilarious but occasionally unsteady performance in her own Broadway debut. She seems uncomfortable on stage, unsure what to do with herself when she isn’t speaking, and flounders in her character's more calm and serious moments. All this makes the shadow of Stockard Channing, who played the role on Broadway in 2011, loom especially large, and ditto for that of the entire original production.

But whenever Louis-Dreyfus gets to be cruel, slinging barbs while she smiles and overenunciating insults with a scoff, she hits her stride. Thankfully, there’s a lot of vicious comedic material for her to savor, to the delight of Veep fans who miss Selina Meyer. In moments like this, when all the production's puzzle pieces align, there are some excellent, crackling moments of familial sparring. If only there were more.

Other Desert Cities summary

Writer Brooke Wyeth returns to her parents’ house in Palm Springs seeking their blessing to publish a memoir, which rehashes painful family history. It discusses her brother, Henry, who joined a cult, was implicated in a bombing, and committed suicide, as well as the way her family (mis)treated him and (mis)handled the situation. Her parents, Polly and Lyman, once big in Hollywood and now big-deal Republicans, freak out, while her brother Trip and aunt Silda (fresh out of rehab) are more supportive. Over one particularly dramatic Christmas Eve, the family debates, slings insults, and unearths some secrets.

Other Desert Cities premiered in 2010 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The original 2011 Broadway production earned five Tony Award nominations, including Best Play, and this is its first Broadway revival.

What to expect at Other Desert Cities

The play is set in Palm Springs at the lavish house of Polly and Lyman Wyeth, and scenic designer Scott Pask has outfitted the stage in beautiful mid-century modern style, complete with stucco brick; large, paneless windows; a sunken living room; an open fireplace; and breeze blocks.

For audiences new to Other Desert Cities, there are delightful twists in the play as secrets come out. Likewise many will come in already loving the starry cast from their notable roles on TV shows like Veep (Louis-Dreyfus), Stranger Things (Keery), and The West Wing (Janney). While some cast members's Other Desert Cities performances echo their famous roles, others show off something new, especially Keery, who got mid-show applause at my performance for a particularly well-executed monologue.

The play runs 2.5 hours with an intermission, and it contains some purposefully politically incorrect language, played effectively for laughs by Louis-Dreyfus.

What audiences are saying about Other Desert Cities

On online forums like Show-Score and Mezzanine, some theatregoers at early performances praised the acting and writing, while others criticized the casting, performances, delivery, and the play itself. As of writing, the show holds an 80% audience approval rating on Show-Score, a review aggregator.

• “Smartly written, still relevant and wonderfully acted.” - Show-Score user Gennad
• “Very repetitive, bordering on boring. The set was very realistic but a bit stagnant. It lacked creativity. The energy between characters wasn’t matched.” - Mezzanine user Jada Hester
• “A completely fine production of an alright play.” - Mezzanine user Alex Scotti

Read more audience reviews of Other Desert Cities on Show-Score.

Who should see Other Desert Cities

• Fans of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s impressive body of work — Veep, Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine — will love getting to see her delivering fiery, Selina Meyer-style insults up close.
• Fans of Allison Janney, a stage and screen veteran, will enjoy her performance as another messy maternal figure.
• Stranger Things fans will get to see Joe Keery in a new light, showcasing his stage acting chops.
• Anyone who loved the original production of Other Desert Cities should see this revival, if only to reflect on both versions and on how the play feels with another decade of historical perspective.

Learn more about Other Desert Cities on Broadway

This production makes a clear case for Other Desert Cities’s topical themes and it is well-suited to our current political moment, but the direction and cast cannot fully rise to the occasion in this unsatisfying revival.

Learn more about Other Desert Cities on New York Theatre Guide. Other Desert Cities is at the Hudson Theatre through January 17.

Photo credit: Other Desert Cities on Broadway. (Photos by Emilio Madrid)