A Must See
Do the Right Thing on Broadway?!
“Do the Right Thing” is considered one of the greatest American films of all time. In 1999, it was deemed to be “culturally significant” by the U.S. Library of Congress, and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry, one of just six films to have this honor in their first year of eligibility. The film takes place on the hottest day of the year in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York. Three businesses are the epicenter of the block: a storefront radio station where deejay (Samuel L. Jackson) plays all of the hits; a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, notable as the only white-owned business on the block. Sal employees his sons, Vito and Pino, and one black employee, Mookie played by Spike Lee. Racial tensions overflow when two of Mookie’s best friends Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), who constantly blasts Public Enemy’s rap song “Fight The Power” on his boom box; and Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), who complains that Sal’s “Wall of Fame,” includes no people of color, demand a neighborhood boycott. The boycott ends with devastating consequences that highlight the societal ills faced by people of color. The movie reaped an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and won Best Picture and Best Director awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Other notable members of the cast included Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Rosie Perez and Frankie Faison.
The idea of “Do the Right Thing” as a play is an exciting thought, but will it actually make it to Broadway? Although there are no definitive dates in place, it seems Spike Lee has said yes.
“Do The Right Thing” has popped up in our newsfeed with the first ever co-naming of a Brooklyn street after the film, commemorating where the movie was set.
With the historical unveiling of Do The Right Thing Way on Stuyvesant Avenue, we can only hope that the play will follow soon. Tell us, would you attend a Broadway play of Do The Right Thing? Who would you cast?