Read Melissa Rose Bernardo\u2019s \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606 review here.<\/a>]<\/p>\nIn the opening scene, we see Bert Allenberry (Hanks, wearing a terrible wig) and his younger companion Cyndee (Kerry Bish\u00e9) wandering through the Fair, wearing buttons adorned with the phrase \u201cI Have Seen the Future.\u201d<\/p>\n
And indeed they have, since it turns out they\u2019re scientists from the year 2089 who have ventured back in time. While there, Bert strikes up a conversation with two strangers, Carmen (O\u2019Hara) and her young niece Virginia (Kayli Carter, coming across as much older than her character), offering them the VIP passes he won\u2019t have time to use.<\/p>\n
Returning to the year 2089, Bert enthusiastically regales his colleagues, including his associate M-Dash (Santiago-Hudson), with the glories of the past, including the food that\u2019s \u201call animal protein and fat\u201d and the \u201cbest tasting cake in the history of my birthday.\u201d Fascinated by the Fair and eager to see the lovely Carmen again, Bert makes a series of return trips, each time arriving on the same time and location that he met her originally.<\/p>\n
Which inevitably leads to repetition, as the meeting is replayed over and over, in Groundhog Day fashion, only without the witty variations. Along the way, Burt, Carmen and Virginia take in the Fair\u2019s various attractions, about which Bert, having done extensive research, knows a lot. But the repeated time travel takes a toll on him when he discovers blood coming out of his ears at the cliffhanger end of Act 1.<\/p>\n
Playing to Hanks\u2019 strengths, the play emerges as a love story, although the relationship between the two central characters is insufficiently developed. What seems to interest the writers more is Bert\u2019s increasing wonderment at the past \u2014 \u201cCream? From a cow?\u201d he asks incredulously while ordering a cup of coffee \u2014 and showcasing their extensive knowledge of 1939 New York. The references come fast and furious, including The Hot Mikado, Toots Shor\u2019s, the Astor Bar, Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story at the Shubert, the Automat, Earl Wilson, and every daily newspaper published during the time. Bert also takes great pleasure in speaking the era\u2019s distinctive lingo, tossing out expressions like \u201csawbuck\u201d and \u201ctwo bits\u201d with the enthusiasm of someone learning a foreign language.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all\u2026a bit much, including the stultifying barrage of sci-fi jargon in the scenes set in the future. And like so many time-travel stories, This World of Tomorrow too often resorts to cheap irony, as when Bert talks about the Fair\u2019s Japanese Pavilion \u201cdedicated to the Eternal Peace and Friendship between the United States and the Emperor of Japan.\u201d But that\u2019s better than the hokey scenes set in a Greek diner where the proprietor (Jay O. Sanders, having a good time) dispenses heavily-accented advice in oracle fashion.<\/p>\n
All of this hokiness might have been more palatable if director Leon had provided some flair or imagination to the staging. But the flat, sluggish proceedings (the play runs two-and-a-quarter hours but feels longer) never come to life, with a scenery malfunction at the attended preview performance providing a literal reminder of the overall ineffectiveness.<\/p>\n
And yet, it\u2019s still Hanks up there. He\u2019s one of America\u2019s most beloved actors for a reason, and his charisma, playfulness and humor shine brightly over the material. And O\u2019Hara is even better, delivering the sort of luminous performance that has made her one of Broadway\u2019s most beloved performers. Their combined star power makes This World of Tomorrow a must-see event, even if you never shake the feeling that it would have worked much better as a film.<\/p>\n
This World of Tomorrow opened November 18, 2025, at The Shed and runs through December 21. Tickets and information: theshed.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kelli O\u2019Hara and Tom Hanks in This World of Tomorrow. Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin Tom Hanks has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-44411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3_This_World_of_Tomorrow_The_Shed_Production_Photos_2025_HR_Final_Credit_Marc_J_Franklin.jpg\")
Kelli O\u2019Hara and Tom Hanks in This World of Tomorrow. Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin<\/p>\n