Steve Carell and the Cast of Uncle Vanya Open on Broadway with a Perfect Blend of Light, Dark and Existential Dread

Lincoln Center Theater's starry revival of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, newly adapted by Heidi Schreck and directed by Lila Neugebauer, celebrated its official Broadway opening on April 24. The cast is led by Steve Carell, making his Broadway debut in the title role, with  Alison Pill, Alfred Molina, William Jackson Harper, Anika Noni Rose, Mia Katigbak, Jonathan Hadary, Jayne Houdyshell and Spencer Donovan Jones rounding out the ensemble that roams lethargically through Vanya's country estate. 

"I think there's a preconceived notion that it'll be dark and brooding and foreboding," Carell said to The Broadway Show on opening night at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater. "It is that at times, but it's not all that. That's what I hope people take away—that there's light and darkness within this production."

Rose, who plays the glamorous and lusted-after Elena, shared a similar sentiment. "People think Chekhov and they think dusty, tired, old," she said. "I don't think that people realize—I didn't realize how funny it is."

Pill, who takes the stage as Vanya's lovelorn niece Sonia, anticipates the piece also striking plenty of modern-day chords. "Chekhov knew some stuff to be able to write people that we have no problem recognizing today," she said, noting the simultaneously dramatic and comical levels of existential dread among Chekhov's famous characters. "When we feel so special that our moment in time... is the only time any of this has ever happened, I think it's wonderful to be reminded that actually, no, humans keep doing the same stuff."