Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf

[edjames]

I am a bit "perplexed" by this production. I am anxious to see what the critics say and others on this list who might go to see the production.

 

Last night's performance was not heavily attended. The last 5-6 rows of the orchestra were almost empty. The couple in front of me bolted at intermission, but, excuse me for saying, they truly looked like tourisits who were in the wrong show. If I had to guess most of the audience was there on TDF or other dsicounted seats.

 

Let me start by explaining why I went to see this show. I'm a fan of the Steppenwolf theater Co from Chicago and they have had some great successes with their shows (August:Osage County). Actor/Writer Tracey Letts and Amy Morton are very talented. I thought it would be interesting to see these two tackle this classic Edward Albee drama.

 

Of course, the movie with Taylor and Burton burns in my mind and I have a hard time getting the image of Taylor out of my mind when I see this show. Kathleen Turner did a great job several seasons back in a Broadway revival.

 

Alas, for me, this time, Amy Morton just didn't do it for me. Her performance is good by she has brought a different interpretation of Martha to this stage. Her Martha is less aggressive, far less drunk and tamer. Tracey Letts on the other hand brings a rousing and spirited interpretation to George and has the upper hand in this relationship. He is cunning, ascerbic and very aggressive.

 

So, I'll wait for other's to chime in with their thoughts and opinions. Will the critics be kind? 3hr+ and 2 intermissions.

 

ED

[hornytwells]

HI Ed

 

I am going next week, but I know we disagreed on the last play (honestly, I wasnt trying to offend you, just offered a differing perspective) so am interested to read your reactions. The omens looked promising for this one, so it was interesting to read your thoughts. Maybe we will agree on this one!?

[+ Lucky]

3 readers of the NY Times have chimed in with their reviews of this show. All 3 give it five stars...or dots, in this case. It is called "sterling" and "terrific." In all, 7 readers voted on it, for a total of 4.5 dots. Of course, you take that for what it is worth. Could be Tracy Letts posting one of those!

[operalover21]

I love this play but simply didn't get the raison d'etre for this production. I liked nothing about it. I LOVED the previous revival with Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin. But this mess is ill-conceived from top to bottom.

[+ Cash4Trash]

I'm with edjames on this one. I liked Tracy Letts a lot, thought Amy Morton missed the mark by a mile, Honey was barely adequate and God knows what Nick was doing.

This production got raves in Chicago. Not warranted in my opinion.

[operalover21]

I'm with edjames on this one. I liked Tracy Letts a lot, thought Amy Morton missed the mark by a mile, Honey was barely adequate and God knows what Nick was doing.

This production got raves in Chicago. Not warranted in my opinion.

 

My experience with theater in Chicago (like opera) is that EVERYTHING gets raves there. I think it's some sort of provincial thing. I saw a production of HISTORY BOYS there that got raves like nothing you've ever seen.

It was mediocre at best (admittedly, I saw the NYC production 7 times and adored it). They didn't even attempt English accents. Played it in Midwestern accents which then made the context of play nonsensical. They omitted lines (like the great one about Anne of Cleves) because I guess they thought the Chicago audience wouldn't get it.

[+ WilliamM]

My experience with theater in Chicago (like opera) is that EVERYTHING gets raves there. I think it's some sort of provincial thing. I saw a production of HISTORY BOYS there that got raves like nothing you've ever seen.

It was mediocre at best (admittedly, I saw the NYC production 7 times and adored it).

 

On the other hand, I saw a production on "Manon" with Natalie Dessay and Jonas Kaufmann which lived up to the reviews. Did the current well-reviewed production of "Detroit" play Chicago before New York?

[edjames]

HI Ed

 

Maybe we will agree on this one!?

 

Never any offense taken. You are a guy with a decided point of view.

Will we agree on this one? My first reaction was, well, that won't be any fun!

However, if we do, I'll buy the first round at the saloon of your chocie!

Open's tonite, so reviews in tomorrow's papers.

 

HLOL

 

ED

[hornytwells]

Haha, thanks Ed-I absolutely welcome different opinions, thats what makes for interesting discussion. and likewise I dont get offended if someone disagrees with me, as long as the criticisms offer another viewpoint its always interesting to debate! I will let you know when I see it next week!

[operalover21]

On the other hand, I saw a production on "Manon" with Natalie Dessay and Jonas Kaufmann which lived up to the reviews. Did the current well-reviewed production of "Detroit" play Chicago before New York?

 

Well, I hated that MANON. Overacting by everyone. Then again, isn't that the point of French Grand Opera?

[+ Lucky]

The Ben Brantley review for the NY Times is out:

 

"But the soul ache this superlative staging leaves behind is accompanied by a feeling far more emotionally enriching: the exhilaration of a fresh encounter with a great work of theater revitalized anew."

 

"...Tracy Letts, making an electrifying Broadway debut ..."

 

"That the night will indeed end in wholesale destruction is a given for all who know the play. But never before have I felt such a prickly sense of dread as the three acts unfolded in all their symphonic discord. Mr. Letts and Ms. Morton make clear that beneath the couple’s mechanical antagonism lies a profound emotional dependence with gnarled roots embedded deeply in love. We sense from the beginning how high the stakes are, and as we watch George and Martha perform their devilish waltz ever closer to the precipice, the tension becomes almost unbearable."

 

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/theater/reviews/tracy-letts-in-whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf.html?hp

 

(Ed, maybe you saw the wrong show! This show is Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.)

[+ Lucky]

Raves also from the Daily News, saying: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” still packs a wallop that leaves you shaken."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/theater-review-afraid-virginia-woolf-article-1.1183362

 

The NY Post says: "The story, in which two married couples share a boozy, increasingly unhinged night, has lost none of its power to keep an audience on edge."

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/theater/woolf_still_plenty_of_bite_84HHJkHffcl03X1IkJ0eIO

 

Theatermania: "It's not just in the play's opening moments that Letts and Morton capture the complex realities that lie underneath the vitriol hurled by George and Martha. Throughout, both deliver performances that are a marvelous balance of blistering rage and deep compassion that's accompanied by the rigor of two individuals steeped in academics. And repeatedly their exceptional work can induce laughter, while also provoking sadness and perhaps even a little fear, as George and Martha's battles and maneuvering escalate." http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/reviews/10-2012/whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf_63301.html?cid=homepage_news

 

Newsday:"... this is one of those forget-everything-you-know evenings, as immediate and surprising and unflinching as Edward Albee's marital stunner must have felt, in some different ways, in 1962."

 

Okay, I think that I will see it.

[operalover21]

God knows where those reviews are coming from. I saw a completely different play, obviously

[+ Cash4Trash]

My sense is that they are reviewing the intent of this production and not what's actually on the stage. Tracy Letts deserves the raves.

[edjames]

Lucky,

So I dropped an "F"! I chose to use it elsewhere.

Let me point out that the NYTimes review is not by it's lead critic, Ben Brantley. It's written by Charles Isherwood.

The Daily News? Really? Does anyone still read that paper?

I suggest we wait a few weeks and see if these reviews spark box office business...once again, I saw the show last Thursday and the theater was definitely "not sold out".

Yes, Lucky, I do suggest you see it for yourself and judge it for yourself.

 

ED

IMO...it just did not work for me, although I found Tracey Letts performance terrific.

 

ED

[+ Lucky]

Ed, I forgive you for misspelling Woolf. I missed entirely that the review was written by Isherwood, and I thought that I had even checked! My mind is turning to jello. I'll let you know what I think after seeing it. I haven't forgotten your London trip...

[edjames]

I haven't forgotten your London trip...

 

I missed a Hoovillian dinner last night because I was working on theater tickets for London and time slipped away. (I met up with everyone at 20C later on...)

I have one opening left, Saturday night! Not sure what show I will book.

 

I've booked "Matilda the Musical", presented by the Royal Shakepeare Co on Thursday evening. It's been the big hit of the season in London and won the Olivier for best Musical along with 7 other awards. but, not to worry, it'll be on Broadway in the spring, 2013. Matilda the Musical is a musical written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin. It is based on the children's novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. It concerns a precocious 5-year-old girl who loves to read and how she overcomes family and school obstacles and helps her teacher to reclaim her life.

 

Also, a Saturday matinee of, "A Chorus of Disapproval," an Alan Ayckbourn. The story follows a young widower, Guy Jones, as he joins an amateur operatic society that is putting on The Beggar's Opera. He rapidly progresses through the ranks to become the male lead, while simultaneously conducting liaisons with several of the female cast. Many of the songs from The Beggar's Opera are kept within the play, usually being sung with their own, new context.

 

And, "Kiss Me Kate." You know, the 1948 Cole Porter musical.

 

And, a Sunday matinee, of Shakepeare's Twelth Night starring Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry.

 

Tomorrow I book my one remaining opening, Saturday night. I had a difficult time with dates/times. Alas, National theater is practically sold-out and I hate to waste the time and effort going over there and waiting in the cancellation line. John Lithgow is doing The Magistrate and Frances De la Tour is doing People, a new Alan Bennett play. I am hoping these will appear in theaters at the NT Live spring season here in the USA.

 

Other than that it's the usual round of so-so selections, Les Miz, A Chours Line, Top Hat, Cabaret, and others to chose from, but nothing really exciting me. I'll do some more research tomorrow...or I'll ring up Liz at Windsor and ask her if she's been out and about in the West End lately...

 

ED

[+ Lucky]

Ed, may I suggest that you start a separate thread on the London trip? It could get lost here.

[operalover21]

My sense is that they are reviewing the intent of this production and not what's actually on the stage. Tracy Letts deserves the raves.

 

I think you're right on the money with that one. I think a great many critics do that. I agree about Letts but it wasn't enough for me.

[skynyc]

I found this take on the production very interesting, and wonder if the reason it was so different is because the director was a woman, who allowed Martha to come across as a bit of a victim here. As one reviewer said, the playing field in this production was certainly more level than in some earlier incarnations.

I went with friends who all were very stunned by the Martha portrayed here because as we said at the first intermission...she reminded us so much of a woman we all had worked with...and she ended pretty tragically as well. It made this Martha seem very real, which Kathleen Turner's did not. (But then again, since when has Albee written realistic characters. They are usually so heightened that they are just beyond recognizability.)\

[+ WilliamM]

I found this take on the production very interesting, and wonder if the reason it was so different is because the director was a woman, who allowed Martha to come across as a bit of a victim here. As one reviewer said, the playing field in this production was certainly more level than in some earlier incarnations.

 

Tracy Letts's George reflected what I remember of the college world in the early sixties. (Note: I remember a lot). It helps that Letts is a resourseful actor, who has the art of turning on a dime down to a science. Amy Morton's Martha fit the same pattern; her status would have been much stronger if she was recognized as a strong and admired professor, not solely as the college president's daughter. I was reminded that Martha probably has a much more boring day-to-day life that George, who has a real job. It's also difficult to believe that Martha is an older version of the college 'slut,' at least as played by Morton.

 

I also liked Madison Letts as young professor on the make for a much higher professional status. Suitably sleazy.

 

On the other hand, I may be getting too old for three hours plus yelling and arguing, no matter how witty and interesting.

 

Alao, I was very nice to meet you yesterday, skynyc.

[+ Lucky]

I agree with WilliamM. I also may be too old to endure three acts of arguing and yelling, so mean too. But, the acting was very good, and I liked the set.

skynyc and WilliamM, thanks for being good company at lunch.

[operalover21]

I agree with WilliamM. I also may be too old to endure three acts of arguing and yelling, so mean too. But, the acting was very good, and I liked the set.

skynyc and WilliamM, thanks for being good company at lunch.

 

I don't know. I'll take 3 hours of Edward Albee's yelling and arguing over Arthur Miller's preaching any day of the week. Of course, I'll always argue that Albee was the FAR greater playwright. Miller was just an overpraised hack.

[+ WilliamM]

I don't know. I'll take 3 hours of Edward Albee's yelling and arguing over Arthur Miller's preaching any day of the week. Of course' date=' I'll always argue that Albee was the FAR greater playwright. Miller was just an overpraised hack.[/quote']

 

I do not agree with you one hundred percent. But, I would love to see more of Albee's full-length plays revived on Broadway.

[operalover21]

I do not agree with you one hundred percent. But, I would love to see more of Albee's full-length plays revived on Broadway.

 

So what percent do you agree with me?

Albee is god. Most of his plays have been revived again and again.