It looks like Will Ferrell will be returning to television. HBO has agreed to broadcast his upcoming Broadway one-man show You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush.Usually when I see actors play on Broadway, I think they're slumming it and I wonder if this is the case for Ferrell. His recent movie appearances weren't that great (I just rented Step Brothers and wasn't really impressed). It seems like his star is starting to fade (despite forward-thinking innovations such as Funny or Die).
Ferrell took his Bush parody out of storage to play it on one of the recent SNL election specials. I thought it was a very clever, subtle way to advertise his upcoming stage performance and remind people that he used to play the character virtually every Saturday night.
All this being said, I wouldn't mind scoring tickets to a live performance of this show because, truth be told, Ferrell's version of Bush was funny. If it turns out that I can't, then at least I'll be able to catch it on HBO and probably DVD shortly thereafter.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-11-2008 @ 2:16PM
Aaron said...
I don't think an actor moving to Broadway is particularly slumming it. It's an extremely lucrative industry, and a chance to move to a totally different medium. It's not just a TV show on a stage, it's a radically different experience. I know several people in the Broadway circuit, and they all make very good money. Now, if Ferrell can't do anything else after this, then maybe he's jumped his own shark, but at this point I wouldn't say he's "slumming it" by any means.
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12-11-2008 @ 5:33PM
Butters said...
Compared to the money he makes on a film he is definitely slumming it. Movie actors that go to Broadway usually do it for one of two reasons, because they want to try a different medium or because they want to be taken as a serious talented actor.
You may know people on the Broadway circuit that make "good money" but a three month run on Broadway will not earn Ferrell any where near the $20 million he could earn making the a movie in the same three months.
12-12-2008 @ 4:22PM
Franklin said...
This news is a call to stay away from Broadway and HBO. Will Ferrell is the most un-funny so-called funny person in the history of the Earth.
Well...unless you have the emotional maturity of a 12-year-old boy.
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1-15-2009 @ 12:30PM
Jennifer said...
It's true that he will not make a fortune in this limited engagement Broadway run but I also don't think he is slumming it. He's taking a character that everyone has seen on TV and bringing it to a new venue and, hopefully, a different audience. Will Ferrell fans will certainly have something to look forward to but so do fans of political satire. I'm with Brad on this one - I would love to score some tickets to this one...especially after watching this video my friend e-mailed me this morning - check it out!
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/66c84fd4a5/broadwayspace-will-ferrell-on-his-broadway-debut-from-broadwayspace
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