Kelli O’Hara, Brian d’Arcy James and More Toast the Broadway Opening of Days of Wine and Roses

Brian d’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara in “Days of Wine and Roses”(Photo: Joan Marcus)

Days of Wine and Roses, starring Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James, celebrated its Broadway opening at Studio 54 on January 28. The musical drama, written by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel and directed by Michael Greif, is based on JP Miller’s 1958 teleplay, which in 1962, was turned into a feature film directed by Blake Edwards. The film famously starred Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick as Joe Clay and Kirsten Arnesen, a couple whose lives are slowly destroyed by alcohol addiction.

“It’s important that we have art that is used to make sense of things that are hard,” O’Hara said to The Broadway Show on the opening-night red carpet. “It is what art was founded on, it’s what created it in the first place and we must continue to do that.”

James similarly took an opportunity during the festivities to acknowledge the people he represents on stage every night. “I’m playacting when I do this,” he said. “I’m not really going through this in reality. And there are so many people whose lives are devastated. What I hope that they experience—the people that come see this story—is the fact that we’re doing this in a way that honors that complex, arduous thing.”

“This is not going to be wrapped up in a pretty little package with a bow at the end,” added David Jennings, who takes on the role of Jim Hungerford. “But it’s gonna be something that makes audiences think—and hopefully love yourself.”