HIGH last night- Page 2

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 10:08am

"Stark"

Ok, back on topic.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 11:35am

Ooop, triple post. Sorry 'bout that.

Updated On: 3/28/11 at 11:35 AM

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 11:36am

Sorry again.

Updated On: 3/28/11 at 11:36 AM

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 11:36am

I'm not so sure that the nudity was so gratuitous. At that point in the play, Clay has just been injected with a potent dose of crystal meth (or whatever the drug was) and is totally out of control high. He is accustumed to being viewed as a sex object only and has such low self-esteem that he has no inhibitions about parading his only source of income/survival. In his twisted drug-besotted mind, this is the only thing he's any good for and he literraly "explodes," both internally and externally. And Evan acts the hell out of it.

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 12:40pm

Okay, I have no idea whether Vera Stark will be as good as Kin; how could any of us know that? ?

Since the thread itself is about High, I will agree with Ed that I thought the nudity fit the storyline and add that were it not for the posters here, I'd be questioning my positive feelings about this show. Several people on ATC seem to be hating it; any thoughts as to why the huge difference in opinion? I'm not changing my mind, I like this show!

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 12:50pm

## SPOILERS####
I think the show is not particularly well written but has great performances, which is polarizing folks. Some folks can overlook the inconsistencies and plot holes and others can't. I think most people will agree the performances are good.

In terms of the nudity, I think it is a bit over the top. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but emotionally it seemed hollow and inauthentic. As for inconsistencies, the meth which starts out giving Cody euphoria, which is accurate would not switch into a rage and sexual assault. It inflates self esteem and makes people feel warm until it wears off. Plus, honestly, Turner looked like she struggled with the staging. She could EASILY take this kid and the melee looked really stilted. She couldn't maintain the energy build.

I think a dramaturg could have helped the writing as far as accuracy. I mean a counselor with a steno pad-that is 1960s melodrama.

[thismyshow]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 1:35pm

^ what tells you its set in the current day?

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 2:25pm

April, I don't think it's anyone's intention to try to get you to change your mind. It certainly isn't mine. I do have strong opinions about this play, though, and if you go over my posts in the past, I don't think you'll find one other example of my expressing anything negative about another show. Bettyboy has hit on the reason for the polarization for me. It's a good ensemble in a badly written and arguably badly directed play. Melodrama is a good word to describe it. Lurid melodrama describes it better. It's a laundry list of cliches.

**********SPOILERS********

A foul-mouthed alcoholic nun? Check. She's questioning her faith? Check. A young addict with a sordid family upbringing? Check. A heroin-addicted prostitute for a mother? Check. The priest in charge has a secret? Check. The priest's secret is that he is related to the young addict? (lame, but check). Forcible homosexual rape of a young boy? Check. Statutory rape and murder of a 14 year old boy in a seedy hotel room? Check. Rape and murder of a younger sister? Check. Nudity and attempted rape? Check. A young addict whose veins have been so over-used, he's forced to resort to shooting up between his toes? Check! Suicide? Check. Over the top. I half-expected alien abduction and anal probes.

"Clay has just been injected with a potent dose of crystal meth"

Cody. His name is Cody. Cody Randall. He hadn't "just been injected", he'd been injected some time before and the needle broke off. Why the delay in the drug getting into his system, taking effect only when a bandage was applied? I know Connelly had a convenient line of explanation, but it doesn't make sense. That was my first issue.

"He is accustumed to being viewed as a sex object only"

I agree that a lot of his self-worth is tied up in his sexuality. His homosexuality. He's a gay street hustler - that he would suddenly attempt to sexually Sister Connelly also doesn't make sense to me.

" he literraly "explodes," both internally and externally."

Pet peeve. He doesn't literally explode, inside or out. Even if I buy that the drug made him act out in a sexual rage, why then does it dissipate so rapidly merely because he"s been thrown to the floor, where he immediately and conveniently passes out so he can be prayed over?

" And Evan acts the hell out of it."

He certainly tries his best. I agree with Bettyboy that it's an awkwardly staged scene. Also agree that not only could Connelly take the kid, everything we've been led to believe about her up until that point is negated by her fear in that scene. Outrage? Sure. Disgust? Absolutely. Fear? No. To compound this error, her parting shot to him as she leaves him for the night is a threat to "beat the **** out of him" if he ever tries it again.

************END SPOILERS*********

"I think the show is not particularly well written but has great performances, which is polarizing folks. Some folks can overlook the inconsistencies and plot holes and others can't. I think most people will agree the performances are good."

I have issues with some of the acting choices, but I think it likely those might be laid at the feet of the director. I absolutely agree that you have three excellent performers up on that stage. I just wish I were seeing them in something else.
.



Updated On: 3/28/11 at 02:25 PM

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 2:37pm

Wow, this sounds really intense...

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 3:01pm

"I mean a counselor with a steno pad-that is 1960s melodrama." - bettyboy

"what tells you its set in the current day?" - thismyshow

Reasonable question.

********SPOILERS**********

Sister Jamison is at least 50 years old. We know this because she had to be at least 15 when she invited the tattooed bowling alley dude to her house. while her parents were away, an act that ended with her passing out and her sister being raped and murdered. She later says bowling alley dude got out of prison after serving 35 years for that crime. It is true that bowling alleys were popular in the '30's, made popular by prohibition because they could double as a speakeasy. However, bowling was far more popular in the '50's and '60's. When you combine Sister Jamison's mode of dress (an nun in the '60's would have at least been wearing black and white, not the casual dress she wears ) with Cody's hoodie and his use of drugs either not known or not well known in the '60's (quaaludes, meth, X), I think it's a pretty safe bet we're in present time, not the '60's.

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 3:02pm

Maybe I've been a journalist in the inner city for too long, but nothing in the plot seemed far-fetched to me, just unutterably sad. I, too, get extremely frustrated when I see terrific actors wasted in a bad play...I just didn't think this was that play. I love the differences of opinion expressed here and am really fascinated when we have such wildly different reactions, though, so it's all good as far as I'm concerned!

[princessem721]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 3:11pm

i'm looking forward to seeing the changes in this show. i saw it in hartford, but missed it in cincinnati and st louis. evan is an incredibly talented young man, and i have no doubt that he is tony nominated-worthy. there's a lot of competition this season, so he may not be awarded the recognition he deserves, only time will tell.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 3:21pm

It isn't that these situations are far-fetched. We know that all that and much worse happens every day. For me it's about how these things are revealed and the inconsistencies.

********SPOILERS************

Sister Connelly, who has heard it all and seen it all, who initially pooh-poohs the drugs Cody has taken, responding the the first ones with "Child's play!" and "Who hasn't?" but is suddenly overwhelmed and has to ask him to slow down when he starts ticking off all the drugs he's taken? Bad writing. She is seemingly shocked and surprised to learn that young boy who pimped for his whore of a mother when he was 8, and started smoking marijuana given to him by one of her johns not much later, was raped by the afore-mentioned john. Sister Connelly is shocked, shocked when she learns that this drug-addicted mother threw him out when she witnessed him being raped, because God knows, no drug-addicted prostitute mother has ever overlooked the sexual abuse of their child, instead seeing that child as a rival. Worse writing.

Either Sister Connelly has seen it all, and isn't surprised by these things (and doesn't get freaked by the sight of a penis) or she's not. Can't have it both ways.

************END SPOILERS*********

I'm as puzzled by this polarization as you, but I am also enjoying the discussion.

Updated On: 3/29/11 at 03:21 PM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 3:56pm

April, I also love the discussion and I love that you loved the play and are open to differing opinions. However, thisismyshow, seems to be trying to be difficult by being argumentative. Of course the play is current. Crystal meth, the attire? Give me a break.

Ghostlight hit the nail on the head for me with the inconsistencies in the nun's character. She is wildy uneven.

[thismyshow]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 4:01pm

Updated On: 3/28/11 at 04:01 PM

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 4:12pm

When I said "reasonable question" I was being polite, kiddo, something you seriously need to learn. Obviously HIGH is set in present day. It's nice that you love the play, but for God's sake, learn some manners. You can present an opposing point of view or opinion without getting nasty. You come across as very immature.

Last time I checked, the '90's still aren't the '60's - and what difference does that make, anyway? You ARE being argumentitive for the sake of being argumentitive. Learn to be more courteous in your discussions please - and capitalization and punctuation in your posts wouldn't hurt either. Updated On: 3/28/11 at 04:12 PM

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 5:07pm

Ghostlight, I stand corrected -- you are absolutly right about it being Cody, not Clay and I'll take my 30 lashes. But I do stand by the other comments I made.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/28/11 at 8:14pm

"evan is an incredibly talented young man, and i have no doubt that he is tony nominated-worthy."

He is a very talented young man, princessem, of that I have no doubt. He's an experienced and disciplined actor. He has next to no chance of being nominated in this, imo. I am very pleased to see him make his Broadway debut, and I hope the exposure (no pun intended) serves him well. His performance has deepened from what you saw in Hartford, even if his character hasn't changed much, and I'm sure you'll appreciate those small differences.

"But I do stand by the other comments I made."

Except for the "literally exploding" part, I hope, Ed? I mean, they weren't peeling pieces of poor Jonigkeit off the scenery, were they? Listen. It's an opinion. Mine is no more valid than yours, though I am curious as to your theory as to why the drug's effect was delayed for so long, and why, only a few minutes later, he fell asleep after mainlining meth. That's a head-scratcher.

You'll have to work harder to earn those 30 lashes

"Ghostlight hit the nail on the head for me with the inconsistencies in the nun's character. She is wildy uneven."

Thanks, Bettyboy, and Father Michael fares no better. Princessem, if you saw this only in Hartford, you will barely recognize Father Michael now, and I don't mean because he's portrayed by a different actor. The Father Michael of act 1 bears little to no resemblance to the Father Michael of act 2 - and will be wholly different from any Father Michael you saw in Hartford.


Updated On: 3/28/11 at 08:14 PM

[Broadway Doctor]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 12:22pm

The Doc examines HIGH. Equus Redux?


Get High.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 2:12pm

Jesus. Did you actually even see this play? Other than male nudity, this play has NOTHING in common with Equus. People might take you more seriously if you actually expressed an opinion here instead of simply flogging your blog.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 3:32pm

Ghostlight, it is my unfortunate experience to have known drug abusers personnally for many years -- serious drug abusers that everyone thought I was nuts to have anything to do with. They reacted in different ways to taking the same drug and I've seen many be manic for a while before falling into a senseless stupor. Very sad, sad, sad. The worst part of it was the total waste.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 8:41pm

HIGH and EQUUS are not even closely related.

[Eos]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 9:47pm

Well, for what it's worth, at the Kevin Kline Awards last night (St. Louis Theatre Awards), HIGH took awards for outstanding lighting, set design, and supporting actor in a play for Jonigkeit. Yes yes I know -- it's only St. Louis, but I was surprised at what all they didn't win. (A brilliant local actress beat out Turner).

I enjoy reading the opinions about this show now that it's on Broadway, and while I enjoyed it in St. Louis, I really fall in ghostlight's camp on this one.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 9:55pm

Eos, the Kevin Kline awards speak volumes about the strengths of the show-the amazing spare sets, the gorgeous lighting and Evan's star making performance. Thanks for letting us know.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:20am

I'll add my thanks for letting us know about the Kevin Kline awards, Eos. The lighting and sets were quite beautiful. I'm glad they were rewarded.

As much as I didn't care for the play, I am really surprised that HIGH grossed less than $100,000 in its first full week. Average capacity, even heavily papered, was around 61%. Average ticket price was $25? That's worse than even I thought it would do.

They had a fluff piece in the NY Times on Miss Turner last week, and she's been doing interviews all over the place. Doesn't look like that's likely to help. Hard to believe they can recover from such a poor start. Has anyone seen this recently? Have there been any improvements?

Updated On: 4/5/11 at 12:20 AM