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That Championship Season
SOURCE: Theater Mania
Wearing heavy-rimmed glasses and, initially, a pork-pie hat, Sutherland is totally convincing as James, a high school teacher haunted by the belief he’s become anonymous.

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The Champs Reunite, Bearing the Nation’s Scars
SOURCE: The New York Times
2 out of 5 stars
Mr. Sutherland, in his Broadway debut, is the most credible of the lot, quietly conveying a shrunken man poisoned by passivity and resentment.

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Scots legend Brian Cox reveals team of all-star actors behind Broadway hit
SOURCE: Daily Record
Despite impressive reputations – none more so than Sutherland, who became one of the biggest names on TV playing agent Jack Bauer in 24, and Noth, who played the man in Sarah Jessica Parker’s heart in Sex and the City – his co-stars have given him his place and he’s clearly touched by their respect. He said: “I don’t see myself as an elder statesman. But the others do and the respect they show me is overwhelming. “Guys like Kiefer and Chris have had amazingly accomplished careers but they are incredibly respectful towards me and it’s very humbling. It’s a good group to be with.

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“Championship Season” has not aged well
SOURCE: Reuters
Playing against type in his Broadway debut, Kiefer Sutherland brings nervous, wiry intensity to James Daley, Tom’s resentful, underachieving brother, whose ambitions were impeded by family responsibility.

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Starry cast is smooth in ‘Championship Season’
SOURCE: Yahoo News
4 out of 5 stars
As James, Sutherland admirably plays against type in an unshowy role as a mousy, unappreciated man — he’s even lost his teeth — who aspires to more in life. Far from the imposing Jack Bauer, who intimidated and outwitted countless bad guys on “24,” James is small and weak, frustrated and angry. “I am a talented man being swallowed up by anonymity!” he rails. It’s rather a shock to see him sink into a couch toward the end, resigned and looking even smaller.

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Stage Dive: The Faded Glory of That Championship Season
SOURCE: NY Magazine
He’s also running the school board via James (Sutherland), a priggish little monster visibly vibrating with neutered apoplexy. (Sutherland generates the most interesting frisson here, working against his typical screen persona: I want to see him play more angry little men.)

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REVIEW: ‘That Championship Season’ looks back upon former glory days
SOURCE: New Jersey Newsroom
Cox does not quite convince as a veteran athletic coach from the coal-cracking region — he’s more United Kingdom than States in manner — but the other actors, including the late playwright’s son, Jason Patric, believably get drunk and dirty.

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Review of “That Championship Season”
SOURCE: Stu on Broadway
Kiefer Sutherland, playing against type—no super agent Jack Bauer here—is very believable as a milquetoast, self-pitying principal whose grandiose plans for himself are saddeningly heartbreaking.

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That Championship Season – Theater Review
SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter
3 out of 5 stars
Kiefer Sutherland brings nervous, wiry intensity to James Daley, Tom’s resentful, underachieving brother, whose ambitions were impeded by family responsibility.

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In New York, ‘Good People’ a sign of hope for this theater season
SOURCE: Washington Post
2 out of 5 stars
The news is not quite so encouraging, however, at Broadway’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, where an A-list cast (Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Noth) is wrestling with the shopworn mechanics of “That Championship Season,” which opened Sunday night. The 1972 play, a portrait of ex-high school basketball players who, 20 years earlier, cheated their way to a state title, has not aged gracefully, an unfortunate reality reinforced by several rather mismatched performances.

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That Championship Season
SOURCE: Entertainment Weekly
Grade: B
Sutherland masterfully submits to the role of the perfect, obedient team player who’s been setting picks and taking charges on and off the basketball court his whole life but now decides, unrealistically, that he wants his share of the glory. Even when he just sits in one of Coach’s red velvet chairs, he seems at risk of being swallowed into oblivion by its cushions. This seemingly passive role is a total departure for Sutherland, who’s most famous for playing clear-eyed heroes and hot-blooded derelicts.

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Photo Credit: Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com

Enter By 11:59:59 EST on March 23, 2011

SOURCE: BradMirman.com and OurStage.com