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. She shared the stage with Mandy Patinkin (Homeland), who was also making her debut. Just a few months later, Streep was up for the Tony Award for a Tennesse Williams, 27 wagons of cotton, and between jobs she appeared at film castings such as John Guillermin's King Kong, from which she was discarded by producer Dino De Laurentiis for ugly, or Julia with Jane Fonda, a role that she got and that horrified him, both for its styling on screen and for the way in which its presence in the cutting room had been cut.
Streep believed that her place was in the theater, in fact, until Robert De Niro, who had seen her in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard in Vivian Beaumont himself, recommended her to Michael Cimino for The Hunter, the film that would give her first Oscar nomination. But what would have become of Meryl Streep if she, instead of arriving in Manhattan with her suitcases and receiving enough yeses, the industry had overlooked her talent? Only Murders in the Building, which premieres its third season on Disney this Tuesday, has fun with the idea.
Oliver Putnam, the character played by Martin Short, is directing a new play on Broadway after being persona non grata after a notorious flop and in his cast he has who he believes to be a revelation: Loretta Durkin, a woman who showed up by surprise at the audition and that captivated him with its dramatic depth. She had been waiting since her youth for an opportunity in a theater industry that always relegated her to the back of the stage, unfit to monopolize the spotlight.
With her tiny apartment filled with memorabilia from a career that almost took off, the character serves as meta game for those reminiscing about Streep's theatrical beginnings, especially as Loretta showcases the three-time Oscar-winning actress' dramatic chops while Streep is having fun. with the comic and melancholic nature of fiction.
This game is one of the pieces that helps to structure a season focused on Broadway, which is as much a part of the cultural DNA of New York as Murders in the Building Only. Of course, there is a corpse again: that of Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd, Marvel's Ant-Man), a Hollywood star seeking critical acclaim on stage with Death Rattle, a theatrical whodunnit where Charles (Steve Martin) also works.
This places the leading trio, completed by Mabel (Selena Gomez), in a compromising situation. How can they resume their podcast on true crimes, the one that delights the young woman so much, when Oliver wants to continue with the montage and it is not convenient for him to have a killer on your team?
Jesse Williams, who has 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 an Emmy for Best Comedy. .
