You Can Thank Keanu Reeves for Bill & Ted’s Broadway Debut

The same scene makes me cry every time. We enter a dimly-lit room. A collection of people in odd, futuristic clothing sit patiently. They are then joined by a magic box from which two young gentlemen emerge. Those young men then offer words of wisdom to these future folk, leading to them all performing a bit of air guitar in unison, showing the future of unity that is possible should Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan succeed.

Yes, I know it’s a silly movie, but that scene gets to me! I think that’s partly because I’ve watched Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure for decades, and the positivity of the titular duo always appealed to me. That has only increased as I’ve gotten older and been further exposed to the awful world, which I have now forced two sweet, innocent souls to bear witness to.

Still, there’s hope that my kids may end up with the kind exuberance demonstrated by Bill and Ted (minus the obligatory slurs that seemed required during the 80s), and their real-life counterparts, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Their friendship has stood the test of time. They first met while auditioning for the roles that would expand their careers, and now, they bring their journey to the stage.

Reeves and Winter are currently starring in Waiting for Godot at the Hudson Theater in New York City. It is currently in previews and fetching a hefty price tag for tickets, which is a damn shame, but, unfortunately, par for the course with how Broadway operates. Winter made his Broadway debut as a child, but this will be the first time Reeves sets foot on a Times Square Stage, and the whole thing was his idea.

“I was in a hotel room,” Reeves recently explained on Morning Edition. “I was thinking about what Alex and I could work on again. And then it just struck me: Waiting for Godot.” That was three years ago. Now, the pair is together again, having last appeared side by side in the more intentionally emotional third Bill & Ted film, and their years as friends (and people) are informing their performance.

“Having experienced a lot of highs and lows and loss, the play is a lot more personal to me now,” Winter noted in the interview. “That’s what the play is about in some ways, running away from that pain. The whole joke of Waiting for Godot is this constant distraction, distraction, distraction from the immediate present.” And look, who couldn’t use a distraction from their immediate present?

I wish I could see the duo breathe new life into the play, but taking out a second mortgage on theater tickets seems irresponsible. I’ll just continue to get welled up by the sight of those young, hopeful dudes being presented with a beautiful future of peace and harmony, and try to ignore the fact that the third movie reveals that never ended up happening, but also it might, but also that may be thanks to their kids— and look at that, I’ve already forgotten about all the awful things in the world.