Sarah Jessica Parker was mobbed by fans as she left the Savoy Theatre in London on Saturday following her performance in her play Plaza Suite.
The multi-award-winning actress, 58, smiled as she signed autographs and chatted to fans.
American star Sarah took time to greet her devotees who stood behind a barrier and could be seen flocking down some stairs to where she was standing near the stage door.
The Sex and the City star dressed casually in a black coat and some matching high-heeled boots.
She had on a pair of cream jeans and could be smiling as she chatted to the fans who had waited to meet her.
Sarah’s West End debut has been met with a slew of scathing two star reviews following the show’s debut in December.
Plaza Suite, in which Sarah features alongside her real life husband Matthew Broderick, was unveiled at the Savoy Theatre in front of a slew of stars in the wake of uproar over the obscenely priced tickets.
The revival of Neil Simon’s triptych of sketches, which the couple took to the Broadway stage previously, is directed by John Benjamin Hickey and helmed by the superstar couple, aged 58 and 61 respectively, who have been married since 1997.
The plays, all set in suite 719 in New York’s Plaza Hotel, are called Visitor From Mamaroneck, Visitor From Hollywood and Visitor From Forest Hills – and while the fusty stories were criticised, the couple were praised for carrying the play.
With top-end tickets reaching nearly £400, nearly every review gave a nod to the price tag, with a gaping divide among critics as to whether it is worth it for the SATC star and her spouse, who returns to the West End after The Starry Messenger in 2019.
The website for the play, originally performed on Broadway’s Plymouth Theatre in 1968, lists: ‘A delightfully witty exploration of love and marriage, Plaza Suite had New York City audiences enchanted with its charm and its starry cast….
‘Now, from January 2024, London’s West End gets the chance to witness two world-class performers and Hollywood icons transform into three unique couples, each finding themselves entangled in hilariously outlandish situations within the walls of the legendary Plaza Suite hotel room.’
The three stories go as followed: ‘Karen and Sam are a long-married pair whose relationship may be headed for an early checkout. Muriel and Jesse are former high school sweethearts who seem destined for an extended stay…
‘And Norma and Roy are the mother and father of the bride, ready to celebrate their daughter’s nuptials — if only they can get her out of the bathroom’.
The Independent ‘s Alice Saville was wholly unflattering, with as lacklustre two stars for her review of the play alongside the scathing prose: ‘Real-life couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick cannot save Neil Simon’s dated romcom’.
The Guardian branded the play ‘a celebrity circus’, with Arifa Akbar blasting the audience’s feverish excitement – complete with stealth phone usage and prolonged applause – despite the play’s alleged ‘flat and forgettable’ form.
She penned: ‘The production seems effectively to coast on the fame of its two stars. What a low, lazy bar to set at such a high price (some premium “package” seats have reportedly sold for £395)…
‘Times are tough for the arts but commercial theatre can surely be braver than this.’
Sarah Hemming, of The Financial Times , gave a lukewarm three stars but placed more blame on the age of the play and its fusty writing than the stars.
She wrote: ‘More than 50 years on, the comedy has aged; each act, though short, feels overextended, while the scenes never really explore the loneliness and pain that can lurk beneath the comedy.’
Time Out ‘s Andrzej Lukowski joins the masses in commenting on the ticket price, noting that it is Sarah’s presence which warrants ‘printing money’ with the price.
He wrote: ‘If you don’t know or care who Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are and aren’t some sort of crazed Neil Simon completist, then there’s definitely no reason you need to see ‘Plaza Suite’. If you’ve come for the leads – well, they put on a show for you. Maybe it would have been nice if it was a different show…
‘If you’ve essentially checked into ‘Plaza Suite’ to spend two-and-half-hours with Sarah Jessica Parker, you’re unlikely to be complaining to the manager.’
While a number of reviews carried an eye-watering two stars, the feedback was not all bad, with The Evening Standard reporting: ‘People will pay for sensational event theatre and the chance to see a star in the flesh, especially one this fascinating’.
The Times added to the fanfare surrounding the tickets, with Clive Davis penning: ‘And with the power couple come Broadway prices…
‘Part of me feels guilty writing in praise of this venture, which comes with a top-price ticket of £300. Utter madness, I hear you say. And you would be right’
Sarah Crompton of What’s On Stage echoed her peers in stating that superstar Sarah is the lure of the play, with a mediocre three stars.
She penned: ‘Parker’s honesty, her vigour, and her pure gift for comedy both physical and verbal, disguise some of their obvious shortcomings. She’s a revelation.’
The Stage ‘s Sam Marlow gave another two star review and penned: ‘ But this is largely his wife’s show. That’s an achievement on Parker’s part, I suppose, given that the three women she plays do little more than fuss, flirt and twitter, feebly beating their wings against the bars of the cage of domesticity and monogamy…
‘And perhaps it’ll be enough for the fans. There’s nothing subtle about any of it – yet one mystery remains: of all the plays in the world, why choose this one?’
The i’s Fiona Mountford was scathing in her review, insisting the married couple lacked chemistry in their performance and largely failed to illuminate the stage.
Alongside her two star rating, she penned: ‘I could not wait to check out of Plaza Suite… There dawns the disconcerting realisation that despite Parker and Broderick’s 32-year relationship they manifest almost zero chemistry together on stage.’
She claimed that the third instalment saw Sarah masquerade ‘soulsapping levels of performative hysteria’ as she depicted a desperate mother.
The Daily Mail’s Patrick Marmion wrote: ‘You want showbiz? You want celebrity? You want reassuringly expensive A-lister stardust?..
‘Here it comes in the shape of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, with their hit Broadway production of Neil Simon’s Sixties comedy about marriages teetering on the brink in a New York hotel room…
‘With a few tickets retailing at an eye-watering £300 (decent seats are £75-125 and good ones £200), it’s pulling a notably well-heeled crowd – TV favourite Hannah Waddingham was among the guests at the gala performance last night…
‘And I’m not sure who’s stooping lower with the Moet & Chandon vending machines – the producers, the punters or the wine-makers. But John Benjamin Hickey’s production doesn’t scrimp on the stage set.’
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
