We really don't care about theatre do we?

was one of the sisters married to the guy in Florida, or divorced, or something like that - I don't remember.

She was Mattie Fae, the aunt -- Violet's sister, Little Charles's mom.

South Pacific, then. Kelli O'Hara, my expectations of whom had originally been low but were raised slightly, was a bit of a letdown. Perfectly good singer, sure, and indubitably more tasteful than Reba McEntire, say, and maybe Mary Martin is a you-can't-go-back-again kind of deal, but she wasn't quite Mitzi Gaynor-in-memory either, and singing wasn't the only issue - I was kinda missing the chemistry that Brantley saw. She did get better/more affecting as the show went along, which I guess is part of the character arc, but seemed kinda tired? Again, no one can be Pinza, but Szot was excellent as expected, with the same relationship caveats. Lowering the romantic temperature highlights the more thoughtful themes, of course, which was probably by design. The surprise was Morrison. I expected him to fall slightly lower than average on the taste scale, maybe making too much of the Timberlake resemblance, but he was more than adequate on both singing and acting fronts. My real stars, though, were the supporting players - Danny Burstein demurely showstealing as Luther Billis and Loretta Ables Sayre wonderful as Bloody Mary, plus the Sea-bees and Li Jun Li as Liat. The production varies between simple but correct and simple but mildly :o. Overall perhaps not worth the hosannas, but I'd still jump at a chance to go again.

I almost had to jump into the Billis part in hS.

who's going to the Polish outdoor Macbeth in Brooklyn?

i should say o'hara's honey bun was fantastic. that's more her speed, plus it had burstein.

Chicago takin over dem Tonys

play
direction
acting
acting
set design too
boo-yah

What kind of drugs make Patti LuPone screech like that? Such a narcissistic horror.

Deanna Dunagan's speech was super, but I thought Ben Brantley nailed Osage's weakness (and I liked it) in yesterday's NYT Week in Review, right down to the Carol Burnett vibe:

Yet even as its squabbling kinfolk take turns vivisecting one another in red-hot blue language, it becomes clear that “August” is also built for comfort. There’s not a confrontation or revelation in it that hasn’t been prefigured by dramas of five and six decades ago: by William Inge, in particular, but also Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Clifford Odets and the Edward Albee of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

Audiences whose frame of reference is fixed in television are more likely to see parallels with the sitcom “Mama’s Family,” in which a chronically discontented mother keeps trying to top herself in insulting her grown-up progeny. Acted with undeniable verve by a big ensemble (itself a rarity in Broadway dramas these days), this Steppenwolf production allows theatergoers to feel they’ve experienced a Significant Play without being in any way challenged.

Well, after having a character fellate a chicken drumstick in Killer Joe, Letts wrote a Broadway play instead of an off-Broadway one.

I mean I saw 'Equus' that one time it was showing here and I wanted to care there were horses and great lighting and nudity and EVERYTHING but then after a while I just snuck out and drank some booze in the bar. I like my theatre to be reeeeeeaaaallly groundbreaking and 'controversial' or at least ridiculously musical and over the top otherwise I just don't want to pay that kind of money to sit on my arse and watch people 'have feelings'.

Subversiveness is overrated.

I'm pretty Quaker in my theater tastes. Gimme a 30-seat theater and the alchemy of turning something ordinary into something extraordinary. And use lamps instead of stage lighting if possible.

Having a sledgehammer-obvious Native American character in the attic is overrated.

Oh sure, I'd agree with that. But what are some better American plays written since 1995?

And I don't know if she's overrated as much as overlooked -- I haven't read reviews praising her symbolic role in the play. Though I would say that it adds to the scale of the play having someone outside of the family and the sheriff in the script.

Actually I do like quite naturalistic stuff with really subversive undertones. I'm not asking for people rolling around nekkid in peanut butter and jelly with flashing lights (lights, lights,lights..) screaming out 'APPLE' or nothing, I just want something a little more original.

But what are some better American plays written since 1995?

If i could afford to go I'd know, maybe.

I'm with you there. That's why I go to museums when I go to NYC.

OK, who's got an extra Polish Macbeth ticket? (I probably shdn't go anyway...)

http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=569220

In the heights: tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7 - I have an extra free ticket if anyone wants it!

BUMP

haha, I thought that was a musical about Brooklyn Heights until I looked it up just now.

so i guess you don't read the arts section, huh...

lol title of thread otm

I do read it sometimes, but I kind of have a musical theatre filter.

if anyone wants to see Rock of Ages, a new 80s rock musical featuring songs of whitesnake, bon jovi, pat benetar, etc., pls to webmail me and i will send you an email with free tix details. lol. (this time you don't have to go with me, if it helps).

btw in the heights was great! and britney spears was there. a winnar is me.

i also saw A Man for All Seasons last weekend. Langella was awesome. the first act's a bit slow, but the second totally makes up for it.

YES, XP (if it doesn't suck)

these are previews tix?

I cannot attest to sucki/nonsuckiness bc I've not yet seen it. Yes, it's starting previews tomorrow (today).

but Thomas More has all the good lines in A Man for All Seasons; the drama is gamed.

he made them really clever! also we had a moment of silence for paul newman after the show. how sweet.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/homepage/pix/kafka2.jpg

Pictures like this drive everyone away from theater.

Unrelated to the photo above, I'm in the middle of directing Alan Ayckbourn's two-evening, six-hour play The Revengers' Comedies at a large state university. We open in three weeks. After years of doing storefront theater in Chicago, it's nice to be doing in a show in a 420-seat theater with all the trimmings.

tza, pls tell me about tix pls!

good luck Eazy. i'm bugging out just now designing my first stage show (production and set design) for the first scottish production (2nd in the UK) of tennesee williams' "and tell sad stories of the deaths of queens". it's just under an hour. i can't imagine the stress a six hour show would involve.

will post pics if i get any good ones. the show is sold out so i don't even know if i'll get to see it!

After reading quite a lot of plays this year I've just been reading a review of 'The Norman Conquests' and thinking about catching at least one of them for a first outing ever ever at a theatre:

http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php

(good luck jed)

cheers j.

btw, i am coming to london in november to see this:

http://www.forcedentertainment.com/?lid=1081

come and see it, i can't guarantee it will be good but i'm making the 400 mile trip to see it so you can tell i'm a fan.

Ah, Riverside Studios, keep meaning to go to their cinema.

Not knowing whether it will be good is the best recommendation, in my book. I'll be there (not sure which day)

i'm there on saturday. it would be great to see you (this time).

let me confirm that though, i didn't buy the tickets but i'm pretty sure they were for sat.

Yeah, same here - let me know..

anyone interested in seeing lucia di lamermoor tomorrow night, i can get you tix. email me.

that's lucia di lammermoor tomorrow night. lol.

I would if I didn't already have plans... next time?

I didn't know about that Norman Conquests happening at the Old Vic -- looks great.

The epic I'm working on is overwhelming at times, but it's coming together well. Main thing I've learned is that Ayckbourn knows exactly what he's doing with his stage directions, even if it's not until tech that they make perfect sense instead of just being a moment of color.

Yesterday, I saw a run-through of a stage adaptation of George Saunders's short story Jon at a theater here in Chicago. Opens in a few weeks, and it was really extrordinary.

i would have liked to see this new seagull, and also dr. atomic, but of course i'm not going to becz they're expensive and i never have any time anyway. :(
living in new york can be frustrating.

Eazy, what did you say about Dr. Atomic screenings (I think this was on a Facebook status update or something)?

I crashed Dr. Atomic at intermission in Chicago, and loved it. I figured some folks would be leaving at intermission, especially season ticket holders, and ended up getting an eleventh-row seat. That was the Peter Sellars production. The new one looks good if a bit more obvious -- I'm planning to see the live screening of it in November.

xpost!

Yeah, I would go see that with you.

Noon on the 8th in Evanston could work fine for me.

will keep you in mind, forks! i can't go tomorrow night (stupid class), but i saw this production last year and it was great. i can also attest that diana damrau sounds AMAZING. am going to doctor atomic on 10/25 (not free but whatever) and i can not wait!!!! the music is niccce.

gabb, sorry bout rock of ages! i didn't see your msg on the thread... that's why i initially said interested parties should email me (webmail me if you don't know address) so i could forward along the ticket acquiring info.

it was a pretty hilarious show in that there was a silly girl-meets-boy story line thrown together so that at key moments of heartbreak they could burst into 80s song. finally won me over about halfway through the first act with foreigner's "i want to know what love is." also, they let you drink in the theater. that helped. don't see it running too incredibly long, but former american idol contestant constantine was not bad.

also, for major lols, i am seeing mary poppins on sunday! was considering the language of trees as well, but i need more time not spent in dark rooms, i think. especially before weather is bad.