In long-running TV sitcom Seinfeld, Jason Alexander was unforgettable in his portrait of the repressed George Costanza, a rampant egotist undercut with doubt and alienated by modern life – essentially acting out the foibles of Seinfeld writer Larry David.
Now, Alexander will once again voice David’s social disgraces as he takes over from him in Fish in the Dark, the Broadway comic play that David also wrote. He joins the production from 9 June onwards, with the play’s run extended to 19 July, playing lead character Norman Drexel.
“Finally I can enjoy the show,” joked David on announcing the news. “Not only was I fortunate enough to write for Jason Alexander on Seinfeld, but I also had a ringside seat watching his brilliant, indelible performances. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I heard he was replacing me.”
Alexander’s career started out in the theatre, and he won a Tony award in 1989 for his performance in the musical Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. “I left Broadway 25 years ago because Larry David co-created the show that would change my life and career,” he said. “It is totally amazing that he also created the show that would bring me back to Broadway. I am thrilled I get to do this hilarious play for him and with this wonderful cast. It is quite simply more fun than any bald man should have.”
The play has been an enormous financial success, making a record-breaking $14.5m in advance sales – tickets were so sought after, Alexander tweeted that even he couldn’t get one. But the reviews weren’t so strong. Many critics found it old-fashioned and cliche-ridden, with the LA Times’s Charles McNulty fairly representative: “This is an overextended sitcom that would like to become a farce but settles instead for some hoary Neil Simon middle ground.”
