Daniel Radcliffe, "Harry Potter" in the wildly successful film series, made his Broadway debut in a revival of Equus in 2008, and proved himself a solid song-and-dance man in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2011. Now he's going for real Big Apple stage cred with an understated performance as the title character in Martin McDonagh's popular play The Cripple of Inishmaan. It seems it was a good choice. The reviews have been glowing – if flavored with a bit more relief than was probably necessary. Radcliffe had already proven himself an actor of subtlety, on both stage and screen.
David Rooney wrote in The Hollywood Reporter that our hero "has never been better, more than measuring up in this flawless ensemble." "More than measuring up" to whom? The "real" actors he's sharing the stage with?
The New York Times's Ben Brantley reported Radcliffe "is entirely convincing as the boy who is regarded as least likely to succeed at pretty much anything in his God-forsaken rural Irish town." Because it's a big surprise when a movie star can convincingly portray someone down-and-out on stage? It's called acting.
Chris Jones wrote in The Chicago Tribune that Radcliffe "reveals chops here I've never seen on stage nor screen." OK, sure, it may be his best work yet. But I don't think it's much surprise when a 24-year old outdoes himself.
And Linda Winer of Newsday said Radcliffe was "wonderful, a low-key company player." Because she expected a stage-hogging ham?
Speaking as a critic, I understand this tendency. It's simply not possible to bring absolutely no prejudices, no skewed expectations, to a production with a marquee star. So let's just say it's a net plus for Daniel Radcliffe and for the Broadway season that he's exceeding those expectations, squarely facing down any prejudices, and proving he's got the goods.
