Better Late
by Larry Gelbart

Name: Better Late
Brand: Larry Gelbart
SKU: 9780573699511
Rating: 3 (5 reviews)

Better Late Book Cover — Better Late Cover

Highlights

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120 minsPresent DayRole(s) for Senior Actor(s)Interior SetContemporary Costumes/Street ClothesComedy

What readers are saying

Readers find the premise of the play interesting and engaging, though some feel that the writing becomes repetitive. The drama captures attention, but the moral seems too obvious at times.

Interesting premiseEngaging dramaWriting gets repetitive

Synopsis

As Better Late opens, composer Lee Baer is forced by his wife, Nora, to take in her ex-husband, Julian, after a recent stroke.

Tension builds between the two as Julian makes it more and more difficult for Lee to get any songs written.

All the while, family and relationship dynamics are tested when Julian and Nora’s son, Billy, reveals that he is going through a divorce of his own.

How long will Julian stay, and how long will it take until Lee cracks?

This biting December-December-December romance is a not-to-be-missed romantic comedy.

Press Reviews

"Better Late is part a damn-it-all, Mel Brooks-like feast of sardonic one-liners in denial, and part a sad and caustic plea for marital compassion."
— Chicago Tribune

"A breezy entertainment on serious themes, Larry Gelbart’s Better Late explores love, divorce, aging and death with a mature sensibility and a decidedly mainstream comedic tone… always diverting and admirably unsentimental."
— Variety

"Impressive… funny, deliciously sharp and ultimately moving… it had everyone of every age engaged and entertained for 90 straight minutes… Yet the piece doesn’t settle for being just a comedy for grown-ups. Indeed, beneath that veneer of comic genius lies a big and generous emotional heart, happy to explore the complex subjects of friendship, marriage and mortality, and unafraid to tackle profound questions on the ineffable nature of love and fidelity."
— New City Stage

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Nora Baer Four years older than Lee, his dynamic wife.	female	—	Four years older than Lee, his dynamic wife.
Billy Cowan 32. Still a child of divorce.	—	32	32. Still a child of divorce.
Julian Cowan 73. Not one for going gently into the night.	—	73	73. Not one for going gently into the night.
Lee Baer A middle-aged composer, with a tongue as sharp as the mind that hones it.	—	—	A middle-aged composer, with a tongue as sharp as the mind that hones it.