...and if you were wondering, with the exception of Craig, who has presence and charisma to burn, it, er, sucked eggs.
I mean, it was godawful -- miserably acted by a large, surprisingly amateurish ensemble cast, and directed by some putz would-be avant-garde auteur who makes a justifiably forgotten asswipe along the lines of Tom O'Horgan seem like Orson Welles.
Basically, it was the contemporary equivalent of a pretentious "experimental" college production of a Shakespeare play from the early 70's. I.e., incoherent trendy cringe-inducing bullshit trying to rip-off the mercifully (lost in the mists of history) Living Theatre. You know -- the kind of crap it was de riegeur to subject yourself to at some downtown dive like La Mama.
And when I say that, I know what I'm talking about, i.e. I was in a couple of those shows back in the day.
In any case, it's all but unwatchable -- if you're in the neighborhood of Broadway, save your money.
11 comments:
Hey Steve - years ago we visited Broadway to see Quentin Tarantino in a,play he directed. Your response about Craig was similar to our take
of QT. The reviews were scathing.
The only good thing about the evening is that we walked into a bar for a drink.
Leaning against the bar was Burt Sugar (70's +, the famous boxing scribe.
He had on his classic fedora surrounded by a handful of young 20' s women.
My friend walked up to him and Burt poked him in the stomach- Kid you
could have been a contender - lol
Play,was "Wait Until Dark"
We could have warned you ahead of time. As a rule, theatre blows chunks. But, I bet this was not your idea... went along to get along.
As a great coach once said, "There are two good plays: South Pacific and Put The Ball In the Bucket."
A few years ago, we saw Alan Cumming do Macbeth on Broadway - except for a couple of very small parts, it was a one-man show, and it was harrowing, in the best possible way.
Daniel Craig was probably the draw here, right?
I've always wondered how many big screen actors are talented enough to pull off theatre, but don't live close enough to New York City to try things like this out...
Shady Dame here:
First, Getawaygoober, theater doesn't always "blow chunks" and no, he didn't "go along to get along." Simels was a theater major, as he pointed out in the column.
Second, donetrawk, Craig has done a lot of traditional theater, including Shakespeare, and he lives in Brooklyn.
Some shows are great (like the revival of "The Front Page") and some shows suck (like this one, in spite of its historical pedigree ... bad acting by amateurs who didn't understand the lines they were speaking, cheap production with flea market sets, etc.). And you couldn't drag me to another rock musical. But sometimes it's fun to get out the house and do something. Otherwise, why live in NYC?
Next up for us: Robert Plant and Alison Kraus.
I've come to the unhappy conclusion after several such experiences that most American actors (especially those who have only trained in this country) simply cannot read verse.
I remember an early-'70s production of "The Tempest" at Webster College in St. Louis, where after every scene the actors sang a Beatles song.
Oy gevalt.
I've seen quite a few screen actors on stage and most of them were very good. Some were fantastic (Cumming, Alan Rickman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen) - but I look at that list and they're all English or Scottish, so there's that.
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