Rob Van Dam would cite “synchronicity” that Macaulay Culkin was ringside for WWE’s return to New York on Monday. Raw took place at ‘The Mecca’, Madison Square Garden, mere blocks from where Macaulay’s brother, Kieran Culkin, also a diehard WWE fan, was starring alongside Ric Flair enthusiast Bill Burr in the Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross.
Wrestling fans that are also cinephiles may be most familiar with the 1992 film adaptation of the play, starring the late Jack Lemmon and Al Pacino (amongst other heavy-hitters), but this new all-star cast compiled for the comeback gives you an added realization why it was originally written for the stage. The notorious “coffee’s for closers” line is never uttered (the Alec Baldwin character was strictly written for the screen), but the Broadway revival sealed the deal for being a performance to remember – a play every pro wrestling booker should see with pencil in hand.
After nearly 41 years removed since the David Mamet classic last shined on Broadway, previews for Glengarry began on March 10. The recently renovated Palace Theatre was packed to see Culkin, Burr and Bob Odenkirk lead you into the desperate underbelly of salesmanship.
Audience members were first introduced to a lavishly dim Chinese restaurant in Chicago. The interior had old cathedral tones, but the discourse was far from pious as the first act contained three two-person scenes with all the major players.
Odenkirk’s Shelley Levene made his profanity-laden pitch to Mitch & Murray’s stoic stooge, John Williamson to acquire ‘top of the card’ leads in hopes of making a big sale. The real estate agency has ruthlessly created a contest amongst their 1980s suited slicksters where sales wins get you “on the board,” while remaining off of it gets you fired.
Culkin may be one letter off from the “Roman” he’s known for in Succession, but the Academy Award winner doesn’t miss a step (quite literally) in the role of ultimate sales shark Richard Roma. Just strictly in age, Culkin is the babyface of the cast, but he slithered around the stage like a methodical Jake Roberts in the squared circle. Culkin made the most of the environment around him, be that schmoozing some schlub in a restaurant booth or flinging papers in a recently robbed office. He took advantage of the ‘in-betweens’ and if you are a seasoned fan of wrestling, you know that’s the most important aspect in drawing an audience. If CM Punk wasn’t busy dealing with Seth Rollins in a steel cage down the street, he’d be grinning like a butcher’s dog at Kieran’s attention to detail.
The audience had their fair share of smiles too with Burr, who nailed the role of the hot-headed David Moss, a salesman who is feeling a set of steak knives sink into his back. The part was written for him four decades ago, back when a young ‘Billy Broadway’ up in Boston was watching Wade Boggs field grounders to third base at Fenway. Burr was seamless in his dirty discourse with his dance partners, making him fit right in with an epic group of actors.
Burr alongside Odenkirk and the legendary Michael McKean furthered a fascinating tie into the cast’s strong connections with the Breaking Bad universe. Zero notion if Odenkirk or McKean are wrestling fans, but wrestlers should be fans of theirs.
Odenkirk entranced as Levene. Shelley has been down on his luck for quite a while, and ‘The Machine’ was doing everything he could to sell his bravado to his superiors, his peers and himself. He played to the back of the house and brought everybody along for the ride in the B.S. he was slinging, whether he believed it or not.
McKean as the ‘fight-from-underneath’ George Aaronow felt like the Ricky Morton of the show in that he was a low-key MVP in his selling – not the kind that would get him “on the board” but in sympathy. How he reacted was his specialty and it elevated anyone who shared lines with him that in turn, got him big pops from the crowd.
So what can wrestling learn from Glengarry Glen Ross? A lot, but much like selling it doesn’t take a lot. Pairing “simplicity” with “presentation” may be the key components in keeping the audience captivated (with “always be closing” as the subconscious mantra). Mamet is organic in his dialogue, yet he keeps it simple enough that the actors can make it their own with those aforementioned ‘in-betweens.’ Then you pair up your star cache with a great set in a straightforward story you’ll have a house that’s easy to sell.
But always remember what Culkin’s Roma hammers home in act two: “You never open your mouth til you know what the shot is.”
Limited seats are still available for performances of Glengarry Glenn Ross: GET YOUR TICKETS
