Details

Warren Leight's autobiographical play Side Man won the 1999 Tony Award for 'Best Play'. Set in New York, Side Man is about jazz musicians from their heyday in the 1950's through to their dark years in the 1980's. This covered the period when many great musicians had to cobble together a mix of club dates, unemployment cheques and cash gigs to make a living. These musicians, known as sidemen, and their families made great sacrifices to serve their passion for music. Side Man includes jazz classics by Roy Eldridge, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington. BMG Records have issued a recording of the jazz classics from Side Man. The original New York cast will play for a 12-week limited season of Side Man in London. Side Man website.

Cast/Performers

Jason Priestley, Jeff Binder, Edie Falco, Kevin Geer, Michael Mastro, Angelica Torn, Frank Wood

Creatives/Company

Author: Warren Leight
Director: Michael Mayer
Design: Neil Patel
Costume: Tom Broecker
Lighting: Kenneth Posner
Sound: Scott Myers
Producer(s): Ron Kastner, Anita Waxman, Elizabeth Williams (in association with the original New York producers)

Side Man

Side Man (Play) production archive for QTIX code T1716897097. Details of all Side Man archived productions can be found under the QTIX code: S1749954408

Archive Listings

17 Feb 00
to
10 Jun 00

Apollo Theatre
West End, Greater London
Performance Details => Venue archive

Reviews

The Daily Telegraph: 11Jan01:
[Michael Mayer] s absorbing production features a soundtrack of great jazz and, for all the desolation, you leave the theatre with a spring in your step.

Financial Times: 11Jan01:
As Gene, [Frank Wood] really is remarkable. Charming, evasive, detached, he s never fully alive as a husband or father or friend – because his real life is jazz.

The Times: 11Jan01:
It is a sufficiently strong, sensitive, funny and painful example of that favourite genre, the memory play. [Edie Falco] s Terry rages to alarming effect, and [Frank Wood] gives a remarkable performance as Gene.

User Reviews

The Daily Telegraph (11Jan01): [Michael Mayer] s absorbing production features a soundtrack of great jazz and, for all the desolation, you leave the theatre with a spring in your step.

Financial Times (11Jan01): As Gene, [Frank Wood] really is remarkable. Charming, evasive, detached, he s never fully alive as a husband or father or friend – because his real life is jazz.

The Times (11Jan01): It is a sufficiently strong, sensitive, funny and painful example of that favourite genre, the memory play. [Edie Falco] s Terry rages to alarming effect, and [Frank Wood] gives a remarkable performance as Gene.

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CORONAVIRUS: All venues in the UK were shut down on March 16, 2020, and the restrictions were finally lifted on July 19, 2021. It is important to mention that the UK Theatre Web archive listings (iUKTDb) from March 2020 to July 2021 might not be accurate due to the lack of information regarding rescheduled and cancelled shows.