Meryl Streep settled in New York in 1975. She found her first role in the play Trelawny of the ‘Wells’ at the Vivian Beaumont, the only Broadway theater away from Times Square. He shared the stage with Mandy Patinkin ( Homeland ), who was also making her debut. Barely a few months later, Streep was up for the Tony Award for a Tennessee Williams, 27 wagons of cotton, and between plays she appeared in film castings, such as John Guillermin’s King Kong, from which she was rejected by producer Dino De Laurentiis for ugly, or Julia with Jane Fonda, a role she got that horrified her, both for her on-screen styling and the way her presence had been cut in the editing room.
Streep believed her place was in the theater until Robert De Niro, who had seen her in The Cherry Orchard with Vivian Beaumont himself, recommended her to Michael Cimino for The Huntsman, the film that would give her her first Oscar nomination. But what would have become of Meryl Streep if, instead of arriving in Manhattan with her bags and receiving enough yeses, the industry had overlooked her talent? Solo asesinatos en el edificio, which premieres its third season on Disney this Tuesday, has fun with the idea.
Oliver Putnam, the character played by Martin Short, directs a new play on Broadway after being persona non grata due to a high-profile failure, and in the cast he has who he thinks is a revelation: Loretta Durkin, a woman who leaves present as a surprise to the audition and that captivated him with its dramatic depth. From her youth she was waiting for an opportunity in a theater industry that always relegated her to the back of the stage, not fit to grab the spotlight.
With her tiny apartment filled with memorabilia from a career that barely took off, the character serves as a meta game for those who remember Streep’s theatrical beginnings, especially when Loretta exhibits the dramatic skills of the three-time winner Oscars, while Streep pokes fun at the comic and melancholy nature of fiction.
This game is one of the pieces that helps structure a season focused on Broadway, which is as much a part of the cultural DNA of New York as of Solo asesinatos en el edificio. As expected, once again there is a corpse: that of Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd, Marvel’s Ant-Man), a Hollywood star seeking critical acclaim on stage with Death rattle , a theatrical whodunnit in which Charles (Steve Martin) also works. This places the protagonist trio, completed by Mabel (Selena Gomez), in a compromised situation. How can they resume their true-crime podcast, the one that delights the young woman so much, when Oliver wants to go ahead with the set-up and doesn’t like having a killer on his team?
Jesse Williams, settled in New York since leaving Grey’s Anatomy for Broadway, and Ashley Park, who in addition to being Emily’s friend in Paris is a respected musical actress, complete the cast of the series nominated for the ‘ Emmy for best comedy.
