To Be or Not To Be… a Hit! An American Classic MGM+ Review

Kevin Kline, Laura Linney, and Jon Tenney headline American Classic, an entertaining new MGM+ series about Richard Bean (Kline), a renowned Broadway and film star whose carefully constructed life has just fallen apart.

After a humiliating, very public meltdown, Bean retreats home — tail firmly between his legs. He’s ostensibly there to attend his mother’s funeral, which he immediately reimagines as a fully staged theatrical production. It’s that kind of show.

Bean’s family has owned a disused local theatre for generations, and he convinces himself this is the moment to resurrect it. His plan: stage Thornton Wilder’s Our Town as the first production, honour his mother, generate revenue, and reclaim his reputation as a hometown hero. Small problem, he has no money. Bigger problem, he decides to raise $200,000 anyway and produce Our Town not as the spare, barebones play it was intended to be, but as a lavish Broadway spectacle. Wilder is probably spinning.

The personal complications pile on quickly. His ex-girlfriend is now the mayor, and married to his brother. His niece is an aspiring actress and one of the few genuine sources of joy in his life. And looming over all of it is a developer’s threat to tear the theatre down and replace it with a mall.

Each episode follows Bean as he launches a new production and stumbles through being back home, which is both funnier and more poignant than it sounds. Kline is magnetic, and the ensemble — including Len Cariou, Tony Shalhoub, Jessica Hecht, Aaron Tveit, Jane Alexander, and Nell Verlaque — is exceptional.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhTyEwOxEtc

Kline hasn’t been this good in years, bringing both the bombast and the vulnerability that a role like this demands. There’s real heart underneath the chaos, and the show earns every emotional beat it reaches for.

American Classic is streaming now on MGM+.