Perez Reviews: American Hero

Every ten years or so comes a movie or a play that attempts to illustrate what life is truly like today.
Thankfully, American Hero, currently playing at 2econd Stage Theater Uptown, does it very very well!
Like a more current and funnier American Beauty, the show is filled with characters who have crushed dreams, failed relationships and so much more!
Whereas a few years ago a similar play may have been darker and more cynical, American Hero is filled with moments of hope and almost non-stop laughter.
Telling the equally bizarre and somehow all-too-realistic tale of three workers at a fancy sandwich shop, playwright Bess Wohl masterfully mines the everyday and mundane into comedic brilliance.
Who knew making a sandwich could be so funny???
The show is about the big and the small. The good and the bad. Working together as a team and how sometimes we get the best of ourselves and each other.
A lot to explore in just 90 minutes with no intermission! A feat executed under the direction of Leigh Silverman.
Thankfully this show has a great cast – all who do a wonderful job. They include Jerry O’Connell, Daoud Heidami and Erin Wilhelmi.
AND Ari Graynor delivers an inspired and revelatory performance as a loose mother who is down on her luck and even more down on herself.
Sitting in that audience we were IN AWE of her comedic timing. Her complete immersion in this character. The way she was able to be big and ballsy yet also intimate and authentic.
She was so invested in every moment! It was a pleasure and a privilege to get to watch her do this part.
Ari Graynor is a superstar! We can’t wait until the rest of the world finds out!!!