-Matthew-Murphy.jpg?trim=0,0,2,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "I was reviewing Daniel Radcliffe’s new Broadway play — then he brought me on stage – UK Times")
I’m at New York City’s Hudson Theatre, where patrons are eagerly taking their seats, awaiting the start of Every Brilliant Thing. Duncan Macmillan’s one-man show is about someone who makes a list of all the best things about life in order to make their mother believe life is worth living, and the play’s star, Daniel Radcliffe, is making his way through the audience, talking to patrons, handing out notecards. And then… he pauses for a brief second to plot his next move.
“Hi, I’m Dan.” I look up, and there he is. The Boy Who Lived! Standing right in front of me! We shake hands and he gives my starstruck sister-in-law a notecard, explaining that when he says “Three!” onstage during the show, she needs to yell out what it says: “Staying up past your bedtime and being allowed to watch TV.” After she gratefully accepts her assignment, we watch as several people around us decline Radcliffe’s offer to participate onstage near the start of the show. Some are too shy; others shrug him off, completely unenthused by the notion of acting on Broadway with a Tony winner. This, as it turns out, creates quite the conundrum for Radcliffe, who then — despite having already chatted with us — turns again to me.
“Oh god, are you reviewing?” Radcliffe says upon seeing my open notebook, several barely legible lines already scrawled on the page. Well, I was. But the next thing I know, I’m on stage playing a vet, acting out euthanizing Radcliffe’s pet dog. After being a bit too smiley about joining him onstage — and taking a collective deep breath with the rest of the audience to refocus on my very serious role — we lock eyes and share a moment of connection that will stay with me forever. I pat him on the shoulder before resuming my place in the darkened theatre to watch the rest of this hilarious but devastating 90-minute show.
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Radcliffe is no Broadway rookie — this is his sixth production since his Hogwarts days. He moves nimbly between the light-hearted and more serious moments as he divulges the details of his character’s and his family’s mental health journeys. One moment he’s leading the audience in a high-energy, disco-laden dance party; the next he’s detailing the dark realization that he’s depressed and doesn’t know what to do. Macmillan’s script is simultaneously celebratory and heartbreaking, making us laugh and cry, especially when some of those moments worth living for are read aloud: “Ice cream,” “Bart Simpson,” and “waking up late with someone you love.” The intimacy of those interactions with audience members bold enough to participate is what makes his performance feel truly genuine.
Given his massive film success, Radcliffe doesn’t need to be doing Broadway (or probably anything for that matter). His stage work is clearly a labor of love, whereas many of his Harry Potter castmates have drifted away from the industry.
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But as for my “Broadway debut” (yes, that’s absolutely what we’re calling it)? Well, I will certainly never forget looking into Radcliffe’s bright blue eyes and reassuring him that putting his dog down was the “kind thing” to do in that moment, all the while wondering how in the world I was going to explain this to my editors. But it’s exactly the kind of moment that the show celebrates; those brilliant, sometimes singular experiences that shape a person’s life and make the ordinary extraordinary.
At the Hudson Theatre through May 24
