ARCADIA - First Preview- Page 2

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/26/11 at 11:57pm

Jordan- I heard many people complaining about not being able to hear at intermission too. I was in the mezz and didn't have trouble, but the couple next to me struggled. The guy asked the girl if she wanted to leave and exchange the tickets for a later date when the sound would be "fixed." She said she didn't know if she was invested enough to see it again, so they stuck out the sound for act 2.

[rjm516]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 12:02am

I saw this 2 summers ago in the West End, and while it is certainly an impressive work, I don't think I could sit through it again. I realize that you can't interchange different productions like that, but I think it's the source material in this case. Even with Raul, I just can't bring myself to see it again, which makes me sad bc I want to see him in everything he does. (Maybe if I lived in NYC it would be a different story.) But this isn't the type of show I can see more than once. But I am glad I saw it the first time, if that helps anyone.

[kyle4]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 3:18am

i saw the preview tonight... LOVED THE SHOW... and i wrote about it on my cute and sexy blog... here is the link to the arcadia stuff...

http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/2011/02/pad-about-you.html

good night!!!

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 4:55am

I remember being in high school and seeing the orginal production at Lincoln Center - or should I say, I remember seeing the First Act of the Orginal Broadway Production, I couldn't get involved with the show and was bored out of my friggin mind during it. It actually almost turned me off to theater - it actually did for a little bit.

I'm somewhat intelligent but I couldnt figure this one out.

[mallardo]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 5:52am

I'm with the crowd that thinks it's a masterpiece - and, yes, The Real Thing is great as well but having seen both plays in the past year I'll take Arcadia.

I truly don't get the incomprehension some people are expressing. It's a play of ideas, yes, but they are clearly, dramatically and often comically expressed. The play is fun!

[After Eight]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 7:26am

"The play is fun!"

I guess people have different conceptions of what fun is.

"Fun" is about the last word I'd use to describe this play.

And yes, I understand it.

I just hate it.

[Frank8]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 11:07am

Wow. I liked it alot. I had no problem with the sound. The two young actors, Bel Powley and Tom Riley were new to me. They are great.

[PurpleFanta]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 11:09am

I was there last night as well. I sat in the rear mezzanine and I didn't have a problem hearing the actors, but I had a problem understanding several of them, especially the young woman playing Thomasina. And because of that, I left the play very, very confused.

It was a very intriguing work, and it certainly had me thinking throughout, but I had no idea what happened at the end. Several people around me were also very confused. I'm excited to go back once I've soaked the play in a little bit, and hopefully I'll be able to take everything in.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 11:12am

I find Tom Stoppard to be, mostly, insufferably pretentious- and his works to be so mired in some idea that it's impossible to discern a human heart. That being said, Arcadia is one of his plays I actually do like- on the page. I'm curious to see the production, because I adore Raul Esparza.

That being said- Kyle, your "review" consists mostly of talking about sexy Billy Crudup is, how sexy Septimus was not, and whether or not Raul has gained weight. Seriously?

[kyle4]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 11:59am

kad

are you talking about my blog post...

http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/

on my sexy new blog/website.... thetheaterbuff.com ?

i DID discuss how sexy billy was when i saw him in the original production... i AM dissatisfied with the way they styled the current septimus (tom riley)... and, yes, i wondered aloud if raul esparza, who seemed rather svelte at my gym recently, was wearing padding...

there is a scene where he prominently eats a sandwich... so i was guessing he was and wondering f anyone cared to WEIGH in about why...

was all this done "seriously" (to quote you)...

um, YEAH !!!!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 12:47pm

lol. on so many counts.

Why Valentine eats a sandwich on stage? Because it's iN THE TEXT. Did you think Stoppard like, added it because the apparently-fattening actor got hungry? (FWIW, I saw him last weekend and he looked great.)

And while we're in shallow waters, I actually think Billy Crudup has gotten less attractive in the past few years, and it makes me sad. Stage Beauty, anyone?

Updated On: 2/27/11 at 12:47 PM

[Katurian2]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 1:09pm

Well, he's getting a bit old! I don't think he'll ever hit the good-looking mark he did in Stage Beauty (le sigh/drool), but he's still a very attractive guy. MORE importantly though, he's walked away with the last 4 shows I've seen him in, so by now I've made it a point to see a production for the sole purpose that he'll be in it, since he's reliably fantastic.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 1:27pm

Oh yeah, he's still cute. I didn't mean to imply he was an ogre or something.

I have actually managed to never see him on stage, so I'm particularly excited about that! You know, and that Raul something-with-an-E guy. He's pretty good at that acting thing too.

Updated On: 2/27/11 at 01:27 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 1:46pm

We've really come to the point where we're discussing how Billy Crudup, BILLY F'IN CRUDUP isn't attractive?!

Oy.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 1:52pm

You know, Stoppard is just. too. confusing. We had to find something comprehensible. Don't be mean to the intellectually inadequate, okay?!

[kyle4]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 2:21pm

luv

you are missing my point entirely...

first... billy crudup is SIMPLY older... he is undeniably still HOT... also, some of his lines are clearly "mary louise parker pregnancy drama"-oriented... but, HOT... no question !

as for the sandwich... cool, it is in the script... i did not know... that is why i queried on my SEXY BLOG

http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/

is he wearing padding? i saw him recently too.. as i described... and he did not appear that hefty... did they pad him to accomodate the sandwich-eating part of the show.?.... slightly overweight guy, thoughtful, likes to eat...

someone in the theater community must know if he is padded or not....

kyle four wants to know !!!!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 2:28pm

I... am not... missing... your point.

I... am merely... expressing my... opinion. And... answering your... question.

(With a little due respect, you don't seem like you give a sh*t about an even semi-serious discussion, but if you do: I never took the sandwich bit in the script as suggesting anything about Valentine's weight; I think it's more about that action indicating his attitude toward what's going on.)

Thank you, kyle4, for bringing our attention to the truly important things about one of the greatest plays of the 20th century.

Updated On: 2/27/11 at 02:28 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 2:52pm

It's really one of the most important plays of the twentieth century?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 2:53pm

Well, importance and greatness are both up for debate. But I do think it's one of the best. JMO, but I'm a pretentious nerd and I dig Stoppard.

[mallardo]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 3:19pm

Why is it pretentious to like something that has some intellectual content? Every time a Stoppard play comes around the P-word seems to appear.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 3:20pm

I don't always apply it derogatorily.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 3:30pm

Didn't Tony Kushner write an essay at one point about the value of pretentiousness in plays, his specifically? Maybe?

I don't know if 'Arcadia' was as culturally important as maybe 'Coast of Utopia' was. I don't think books on Fermat's Last Theorem and the Chaos Theory were passed around like 'Russian Thinkers' was when 'Coast' was at the Lincoln Center. But I do think 'Arcadia' along with 'R&G Are Dead' is Stoppard's most accessible and emotional play. 'Utopia' was probably greater in scope, so I reacted more to it (and it's amazing cast), but 'Arcadia' succeeds in making some very complicated (in my opinion) concepts into some very basic emotions that everyone can appreciate.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 3:45pm

He did, and oddly enough, it's sitting right next to me. It's in Thinking About The Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness.

The Coast of Utopia is sort of a different animal, culturally, I think, because I'd argue that it falls into the genre of historical drama (or history play, whichever term you prefer) way more easily than does something like Arcadia. I do agree that as Stoppard goes, Arcadia is pretty accessible, but I actually find Rock 'n' Roll to be much more emotionally engrossing than Arcadia... though I know a lot of people really disagree about that.

I also think that part of the problem with Arcadia and accessibility is that people get hung up on the math, and think they need to understand it to understand the play, which they don't. But they let their hangup there confuse and distract them, and then stay frazzled for the rest of the play, because they aren't paying attention to the story, which is where the emotion's going to be. But that's all part of the general problem -- I think people let the material that Stoppard draws from and references scare them away from his work. I remember seeing my first Stoppard play and being nervous after hearing all this stuff about how he was too heady and had no heart, and was very pleasantly surprised.

Updated On: 2/27/11 at 03:45 PM

[mallardo]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 3:57pm

I think that's exactly right, luvetheEmcee. Well put.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 2/27/11 at 4:33pm

I look forward to seeing this. I'd much rather see a Broadway production of "On the Razzle", though.