Broadway's Dog Day Afternoon Reimagined as a Tender, Timely Heist

On Broadway, Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Dog Day Afternoon reimagines the 1975 classic as an actor-forward drama directed by Rupert Goold. Jon Bernthal’s Sonny Amato is charismatic and deeply felt, with Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Sal; the production foregrounds character, love, and political conscience rather than a simple heist. The show uses David Bowie cues and a New York–tinged sensibility to explore Sonny’s queer love for Leon and broader social stakes, including trans rights and economic inequality. While it departs from Lumet’s film, it remains a humane, timely portrait of people on the edge of the night.