IMPRESSIONISM first preview reviews?- Page 2

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 11:07am

Mr. Roxy, why do you feel the need to inform this board of strangers how your wife will feel about the show? I'm not trying to be rude, but shouldn't you just tell us how *you* are feeling about it? It seems like many of your posts have "Mrs R" in them. If she wants to post her thoughts, please tell her to create her own screen name on this board.

[johnnyg]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 1:00pm

Sweden, don't be so sad for Aaron Lazar - he still has been cast in another role on Broadway despite what you might think of the previous one. And honestly, do you really need to blame "A Tale of Two Cities" for an actor's career choice or what you consider the terrible work of another playwrite? Brandi Burkhardt seems to be doing okay after "Tale", replacing a lead role in a sell-out musical. What's your explanation for that? Did you even like Aaron Lazar's work in "A Tale of Two Cities"?

[youknowinsweden]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 2:27pm

When one goes from prominent roles in some quality musicals to a role where he or she is literally on the stage for less than ten minutes with no direct significant contribution to the storyline – I am going to feel for them – no actor wants that. I was huge fan of Aaron and most elements of the show ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ despite the exaggerated negative critic response to the musical – the reference was more of a joke. That being said his role in IMPRESSIONISM is hardly a role that he coveted and clearly took because it was there when nothing else was -the reality for most actors sure, but sad nonetheless to see happen to someone as talented as Aaron.

Rentboy- I really enjoyed the technical aspects of the show. The scene transitions and instrumentals were beautifully done and the costumes were quite lovely. I enjoyed the set(s) as well, not too boring or plain while not distracting from the piece. Unfortunately the piece isn’t very strong to make the whole package complete but… c’est la vie. I really wanted to like this play but I left theater very disappointed.

Did anyone stage door last night? Just curious if Jeremy and Joan signed... it seemed rather crowded when we first exited the theater.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 3:10pm

It seems like the whole show needs clarification. If half the people who saw it last night didn't understand it, then obviously something is wrong - be the actors, direction, design.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 5:16pm

Great point Rentboy...I think it's one of those shows to wait towards the end of previews to see and judge for oneself. I know I'll be waiting until then because the whole concept seems fascinating.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 6:04pm

Despite PG natural nastiness (I think he took an extra nasty pill today) a lot of what I said was in jest.

People bashing a show here without seeing it is nothing new. To soothe your troubled heart PG, I am paying for the tickets & Juniors.

I am not thrilled to be seeing it but she wants to see it so I will go with her. Not everything I want to see she does but she goes along nyway. Many times she said I was right & she was wrong & sometimes the reverse takes place. It is called give & take PG. Try it sometime instead of constantly bashing me.

I thought I could not sleep at night knowing you do not like me . Somehow I managed though

[Frank8]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 6:07pm

Not so bad. I had a good time watching Irons and Allen. The design is quite beautiful. It's a gentle love story. Not something we see much on Broadway. Give it a few performances. I think it will find fans.

[cglaid]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 6:35pm

Did anybody try rushing this? Playbill lists a rush policy on their website, so I was wondering where the seats are. Despite the negative reviews, Joan Allen & Jeremy Irons are two that I cannot miss on Broadway.

[Johnnytoc]

Posted: 3/1/09 at 6:51pm

I did rush and got A101 yesterday.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 4:14am

Based on these comments, it seems that the play is a complex, challenging piece of theatre that a select few will appreciate, while most will find inexplicable, be confounded by, and then hyperbolically shout from the heavens that it's the worst thing they've ever seen.

So, basically, it's this season's TOP GIRLS.

Personally, I can't wait.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 9:14am

MiracleElixir: Maybe, but I really liked Top Girls, and thought this was crap. I mean Top Girls was unconventional, but I liked what it had to say and really kept me engaged. To compare the two I believe is an insult to Top Girls!

I'll be curious to hear what you have to say about Impressionism. Maybe once you see it you can shed some light on the confusion that arose.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 9:20am

TOP GIRLS was one of the strongest productions of last season.

I'll be at IMPRESSIONISM later in the week.

[liotte]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 10:36am

I am going Friday and looking forward to it!

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 11:07am

I'll be happy to share my thoughts WhizzerMarvin, I see it tonight!

(kind of regret my performance date decision, given the weather)

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 10:44pm

I saw the 1st preview and feel that some of the judgements here are a tad harsh, given that the show is in the first few PRE VIEWS. Many of the issues are a matter of direction ( now who's job is that?)ie the pacing in the first act was way to slow.
Allen is luminous, but obviously still trying to find her way in the character. Irons is sl stronger but still really indistinct in the character. The "flashback" sequences don't cleanly connect. The Thomas character and Father character seemed to be wearing the same raincoat! And other than to reasonate w the Cassatt aquatint(sic) WHY would a modern woman be washing her daughter w a basin and pitcher? The author seemed to be pushing. I remember thinking about the photo on display the old Seasame Street song "one of these things is not like the others"... THIS WILL BE SIGNIFICANT. I hope they can fix these little things. I have the feeling something MAY be potentially there but it needs a lot of clearing away. I didn't have any problem w Mason's character walking out w the picture. But then I'm a fan of "An Unmarried Woman".
The blank cheque- an over the top gesture to show how caught up in the moment of transcendence (and trust) Julia is in.
And if we're talking about "falls from glory"- Micheal T Weiss was the lead in his own TV series.( he deserves better)

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 11:43pm

Sometimes, I just don't understand what people want from theatre. Is this an easily digestible play? Perhaps not (though I don't think it's as difficult as some on this board are making it out to be), but anyone who's even a little bit willing to work with a play that doesn't feel the need to offer easy emotional and intellectual beats should at least feel mildly nourished when it's over.

I didn't full-on love the play (the abstract first act was significantly more interesting to me than the more conventional -- if still, very satisfying -- second), but I struggled to see what was so hateable about it. The pacing could be quickened a bit at times, but it was a pleasure to see a play that actively tries to engage you, while being injected with just the right amount of warmth and humor to balance its intellectual viewpoints.

And just to answer earlier criticism, there is in no way inconsistency in the cutaway scenes. They're all depictions of memories that our leads correlate with the artworks on display; for the paintings, it's the moment in their past that they connect to the painting (e.g.: Joan Allen playing her own mother in the child-bathing scene) and for the photos, it's a flashback to the event surrounding their taking of the photograph. Given the construction of the play, it makes complete sense that the photo "flashbacks" would be the characters playing the same people.

Besides the obvious points of looking at something a different way altering our perception of it/them, I found the play to also be a surprisingly moving depiction of our relationship to art in general, and how we thrust our own meanings onto them, and why.

I'm clearly going to be in the minority on this one, as much of my audience spouted hyperbolic, judgmental opinions akin to what's on this thread (statements like "truly painful" and "horrible"), I was surprised how much I liked "Impressionism," a lovely -- if not BRILLIANT -- night at the theatre. My earlier comparison to "Top Girls" isn't really applicable -- this is much more accessible -- except for, like that play, it features a challenging first act that will leave people confused and bored if they're not grasping the conceit of the play. I'll take something like this over a bland, profit-driven revival like "Blithe Spirit" anyday.


Updated On: 3/3/09 at 11:43 PM

[being.jeremiah]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 12:16am

Thanks for the thoughts. Clearly this show ain't everyone's cup of tea.

What's the running time? Might try to catch it this week. Or is it recommended to hold out a few more days?

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 12:20am

Ended around 10:05 tonight. 70-minute first act, 40-minute second act.

[being.jeremiah]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 12:23am

Grazie!

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 2:42pm

Painfully bad first act. Badly written and listlessly acted, especially by Jeremy Irons who just walks through it doing the barest of possible minimums. Joan Allen tries to make her character(s) interesting, but it is a losing battle, her character is just plain too drab to matter. The bottom line is that I simply didn't give a damn about anyone on that stage.

The idea of having the paintings on the wall reflect certain episodes in the characters' lives is an interesting one, and might have worked if the characters' lives had been even remotely interesting. That hideous little scene in the artist's garrett was just unforgivable: it played like something out of a textbook on how to write for sitcoms, and Irons' accent was all over the place.

At the intermission, after that interminable scene in Africa, my friend and I turned to each other, and he said to me, "What the hell was that?" I took the opportunity and fled. My friend stuck it out, and said that the play improved in the second half, but not by nearly enough.

Poor old Andre De Shields. Poor old Joan Allen. Poor old Marsha Mason, and etc. Couldn't they have found a real play to appear in? Hard to feel too bad about Irons in this play, he wasn't even giving it the old college try.

[barcelona20]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 2:46pm

What's the last show you liked?

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 3:06pm

I really enjoyed THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, which I fervently hope will transfer. An infinitely more interesting play than that IMPRESSIONISM thing.

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 7:32pm

UGH!

This was dreadful, horrible, painful, boring, heinous. It wasn't as bad as Hedda Gabler, but it was close.

If I were forced to compare 2009 to 2006 -- as I am often asked to do -- I'd say Impressionism is to Hedda Gabler what Festen was to The Blonde in The Thunderbird.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 3/3/09 at 10:25pm

"dreadful, horrible, painful, boring, heinous"

My my, how nuanced some are with their opinions. Seriously, can anyone give an articulate explanation why they hated this challenging (if admittedly flawed) work? or shall we keep posting blanket statements, hyperbolic adjectives and synonyms for "bad"?

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/4/09 at 9:40am

The only challenge I found in the play was in trying to keep awake. I found the characters to be completely uninteresting. I found the play, what I saw of it, to be uninteresting. I found the performances, particularly Mr. Irons', to be completely uninteresting. I felt absolutely ZERO chemistry between Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons. Irons in particular seemed to be settling for the easiest possible performance, just kind of flouncing around the stage and doing the barest minimum to get through. His performance in that garrett scene was excruciating, his accent wandering all over the map which might have been the point but never felt like the point.

The sole bit of interest in the play (what I saw of it, which to be fair was only the first act) was the notion of having the pictures on the wall illustrate the characters' lives via flashbacks. Otherwise, there was simply nothing of any interest to me at all. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

Glad you found something of interest to you in the play and production, Miracle.

Updated On: 3/4/09 at 09:40 AM