One Man, Two Guvnors: NT show may come to Broadway?

The New York Post reports that Britain's National Theatre (NT) may bring their critically acclaimed production of Richard Bean's One Man, Two Guvnors, starring James Corden and directed by Nicholas Hytner, to Broadway.

According to the report Producer Bob Boyett hopes to bring the show to Broadway early next year, hopefully in time to be eligable for the 2012 Tony Awards.

There has been no official confirmation.

Richard Bean's slap-stick comedy, One Man, Two Guvnors, is a free adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's 18th century play, "The Servant of Two Masters," and tells the farsical tale of Francis Henshall (James Corden), who in order to make ends meet, finds himself moonlighting for two different guvnors.

One Man, Two Guvnors: Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6000 from his fiancee's dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who's bchaseen killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Holed up at the Cricketers' Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.

The play opened at the NT's Lyttelton on 24 May 2011, following previews from 17 May, where it will end its sold out run on 19 Sep 2011. It will then go on a short Uk tour before arriving in the West End on 8 Nov 2011.

The show opened to critical accalim: Fantastic entertainment and fabulously funny (londontheatreguide.com); An evening of riotous delight (Daily Telegraph); Bubbles over with humour. A surefire hit (Evening Standard); One of the funniest productions in the National's history (Guardian).

The show's star, James Corden, is receving almost universal accolade for his performance in the comedy, with which not only does he deal deftly with the show's farcical elements, but also successfully creates a direct relationship with the audience with asides and ad-libs, as he involves audience members it the mad antics happening on stage.

New York Times' critic, Ben Brantlet, described Corden's work in the show as an "irresistibly" impressive central performance."

James Corden made his Broadway debut in the NT's production of Alan Bennett's 'The History Boys.' In Britain Corden has established himself as one of the country's leading comic actors, having co-created and starred in the BBC comic shows "Gavin & Stacey" and "Horne & Corden."