For the first time in more than two decades, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1938 American classic Our Town is back on Broadway for a limited engagement at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The metatheatrical three-act play-within-a-play follows the ordinary small-town existence of residents in the fictional Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, from 1901 to 1904 to 1913, through “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage,” and “Death and Eternity,” as performed on stage by a company of actors, with direct-address narration, commentary, and instructions provided to the audience and performers by the Stage Manager. It’s a theme that is familiar and relatable, with a momentous reminder to enjoy every beautiful second of our fleeting lives to the fullest, while we’re here and still can. Jim Parsons and the cast. Photo by Daniel Rader. In the current revival, conceived and directed by Tony winner Kenny Leon, the all-encompassing humanity of the story is given even greater universality, timelessness, and immediacy with inclusive casting, a time/setting of “Now” in the actual theater (though the play being performed is still set in the early 20th century), and fluid streamlined pacing, without intermission, that clocks in at 100 minutes (the traditional running time is two and a half hours) and flies by quickly, as a metaphor for the transient quality of life and a nod to our present times, when we live at an accelerated pace and constantly feel pressed for time. Leon’s conceit is supported with costumes by Dede Ayite and hair, wigs, and make-up by J. Jared Janas that blend the styles of then and now, the addition of an opening song (“Braided Prayer” by Abraham Jam) that features prayers from the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths, a company that includes a diversity of races, ethnicities, and a deaf actor who speaks and signs, and a Stage Manager who announces the end of the acts and moves us right into the next without pause. A large cast of 28 embodies the main characters and the townspeople, led by a matter-of-fact Jim Parsons as the Stage Manager, who not only oversees the production and sets the stage with descriptions, statistics, and information about the place and the people, but also introduces a guest speaker and takes on some of the minor roles. Per Wilder’s original stage directions, the performers mime much of their everyday actions without the use of props – though Leon interjects the humorous exception of a couple of actors on their cell phones before the play begins, which Parsons takes away while shaking his head, again bringing us into the present moment and “an Our Town for our time.” Anthony Michael Lopez, Safiya Kaijya Harris, Shyla Lefner, Billy Eugene Jones, Michelle Wilson, Jim Parsons, and Katie Holmes. Photo by Daniel Rader. The set, too, is minimal, with two tables, some chairs, an upright piano, side boxes where members of the audience are seated, and a high back wall that rises to reveal the final act, all of aged and weathered wood (scenic design by Beowulf Boritt), with old-time lanterns hanging over the stage and extending into the orchestra section (lighting by Allen Lee Hughes), enhanced by the crowing of a rooster, the clomping of horses, and other scene-setting sound effects (by Justin Ellington), and even the wafting smell of bacon being fried for breakfast, designed to conjure visions in our imaginations and to immerse us in the story – as do the characters entering and exiting through the aisles. We’re made to feel a part of their quotidian experiences of life and, consequently, the inevitability of its end. At the center of the play are the neighboring Gibbs and Webb families, whose son and daughter share a childhood attraction in the first act, marry in the second, and face an untimely death in the third. They’re ordinary people, in mundane situations, on an unremarkable journey, who are part of a typical community, where they go to school, keep house, work, worship, make friends, fall in love, raise kids, and suffer loss, not unlike Everyman. Featuring an affable Richard Thomas and a serious and busy Katie Holmes (whose miming of the household chores of preparing and serving meals sometimes misses the mark) as Mr. and Mrs. Webb, and notable performances by Zoey Deutch as their smart and expressive daughter Emily, Billy Eugene Jones as the good-natured Dr. Gibbs, Michelle Wilson as the perceptive Mrs. Gibbs (both in life and death), and Ephraim Sykes as their lovestruck and lovable son George (who affirms his love for Emily over strawberry ice cream sodas), the portrayals render the characters and their common paths eminently recognizable and sympathetic. Ephraim Sykes, Richard Thomas, and Zoey Deutch. Photo by Daniel Rader. Standouts in the supporting cast include Shyla Lefner as Professor Willard (not the usual man but a woman in this production), introduced by the Stage Manager, again breaking the fourth wall, to present data about the scientific and anthropological history of Grover’s Corners to the audience; Donald Webber, Jr. as the unhappy choir master Simon Stimson, whose drunkenness is the subject of talk around town (and whose understated staggering up the aisle is heartrending); and Julie Halston as the gossiping Mrs. Soames, who delivers the play’s biggest laughs with her overly exuberant expressed love of weddings and illuminates its underlying message with her joyous declaration, “happiness, that’s the great thing! The important thing is to be happy.” Julie Halston (center) with Ephie Aardema Sarnak, Richard Thomas, and Hagan Oliveras. Photo by Daniel Rader. Rounding out the fine ensemble are Ephie Aardema Sarnak, Heather Ayers, Willa Bost, Bobby Daye, Safiya Kaijya Harris, Doron JéPaul, Anthony Michael Lopez, Bryonha Marie, John McGinty, Kevyn Morrow, Hagan Oliveras, Noah Pyzik, Sky Smith, Bill Timoney, Ricardo Vázquez, Matthew Elijah Webb, Greg Wood, and Nimene Sierra Wureh, who populate the town and, ultimately, the cemetery. It’s there that Emily comes to terms with eternity, after questioning, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? – every, every minute?” It’s a vital lesson that Wilder, Leon, and the Broadway cast drive home in this compelling new revival of Our Town, so go see it and appreciate it while you can. Running Time: Approximately one hour and 40 minutes, without intermission. Our Town plays through Sunday, January 19, 2025, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 West 47th Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $74-321, including fees), go online.