The Happiest Song Plays Last – Location, Tickets, Reviews
With The Happiest Song Plays Last, Quiara Alegría Hudes completes her critically acclaimed trilogy of plays, which began with Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Water by the Spoonful. This final play concludes the story of Elliot, an Iraq War veteran who struggles with the memory of his tour, and his cousin Yaz, a music professor and community stalwart in North Philadelphia. The Happiest Song Plays Last finds Elliot back in the Middle East unexpectedly working as a Hollywood action star and Yaz struggling at home and dealing with the surprising final wish from her old music teacher, Agustin.
Maxamoo
Yes, the happiest song plays last, but it doesn’t play best. This final entry in the Hudes’ Elliot Cycle is touching and does a beautiful job of wrapping up the triptych, but it’s the most uneven of the plays. Near-perfect scenes of Elliot (played brilliantly once again by Armando Riesco) coming to terms with his demons and desires, rub awkwardly against sputtering scenes featuring Yaz’s unlikely romance with Agustin.
Yaz does have some gorgeous moments (particularly with Lefty, one of her homeless neighbors), but her storyline is ultimately what underscores Happiest Song‘s core problem, which is its trumped-up sweetness. This play works best when its characters cling to each other in the darkness, when their deepest fears and regrets force them to fall into each other’s arms. As Elliot watches TV coverage of the Tahrir Square protests with awe and Yaz fights for justice at a local hospital, we are swept up in how this play – and our world – yearns and prays for the embrace of community. That’s why, when the play gets cute, it flounders.
If you loved Water by the Spoonful at Second Stage last season, you’ll want to see how Hudes ties a knot on Elliot, one of the best characters in contemporary theater. But if you’re new to Elliot, or haven’t liked him in the past, you probably don’t need to bother with this final song.
Public Opinion
Good vibes on Twitter for The Happiest Song Plays Last:
@btryback: If you can – I highly recommend you go see “The Happiest Song Plays Last” at Second Stage Theatre Company. A. . . fb.me/2T0UOf61S
@DSAllenIAS: Just saw great new play by brilliant Quiara Alegria Hudes. Happiest song plays last. Definitely check it out. https://tinyurl.com/n8tdsep
Have you seen The Happiest Song Plays Last? What did you think? Comment below or tweet to us at @Maxamoo.
Critics’ Reviews
Reviews are mixed, with some calling The Happiest Song Plays Last the best of the Elliot trilogy, while others criticize the unfocused storytelling:
New York Times
Home From One War, Back to Another
New York Post
Hudes’ Iraqi Trilogy Ends with “Happiest Song”
Variety
The third in a cycle of plays by Pulitzer winner Quiara Alegria Hudes suffers from static storytelling, but thank goodness for the live music.
TheaterMania
“Arguably, Happiest Song, which combines two very different story threads and features live music by Grammy nominee Nelson González, is the best of the three, a beautifully written piece that is both compellingly acted and intensely emotional.”
TICKETS
$64.50 – $125.00 (click here for tickets)
DATES
Performances through March 23, 2014
LOCATION
Second Stage Theatre
305 West 43rd Street
New York City
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RUNNING TIME
2 hours and 20 minutes, 1 intermission
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Written by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Featuring Anthony Chisolm, Dariush Kashani, Tony Plana, Armando Riesco, Annapura Sriram & Lauren Vélez