PREMIERE:
Coastal Elites was originally intended, by playwright Paul Rudnick and director Jay Roach, to be presented as a theatrical work on stage – but the pandemic changed all that. The result might have helped when it came to casting, because by having its characters communicate remotely in Zoom-like monologues, converting the drama to TV allows for cast members to literally phone it in. Hence, this HBO version lands Better Midler, Sarah Paulson, Issa Rae, and others, delivering their performances in lengthy single takes. But you have to ask yourself: Do you really want to see one more hour (or more) of talking heads coming at you from a computer-screen-type experience? For a full review,
see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower, and for background info on the show,
see Mike Hughes' Open Mike.