I think Edie Falco was better than Ellen Barkin-don't hate me.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 4:41pm

Having just seen House of The Blue Leaves and Normal Heart, I kind of have to say that I feel Falco was significantly better than Barkin. I'm not saying Barkin does not deserve her Tony. The Normal Heart was incredible. Actually, I think Mantello was robbed-his performance was transcendent.

There was no build to Ellen's monologue. She screamed the whole thing. Maybe she was supposed to. The recent interview with her on BWW she states that she does the monologue differently every night based on how she feels. Is that really delivering a performance. When I watched her scream her face off, I wondered, "did Tony voters get a different performance? A more nuanced one." This question was raised for me after hearing Ellen's comment.

Falco's Bananas was a heartbreaking joy to behold. I'm still haunted by her. I agree that Stiller gives her very little to work with, but she was who I was always watching no matter who was on stage. She was so nuanced and articulated the character so well. I also imagine her performance is frozen so viewers will see relatively the same thing every night. She gave a Tony caliber performance.

I preferred Falco to Barkin. I think on some level Barkin got some luck with the groundswell for Normal Heart. I do think Ellen is gracious, extremely talented and was good in the part, but I think Falco was better.

[julialouise11]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 4:47pm

I would have to agree Falco was fantastic!

[rougeduck]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 4:48pm

Now stop it! I could never hate you!

Anyway, I haven't seen the House of Blue Leaves revival but the night I saw Normal Heart, Barkin was perfect- hands down the greatest female performance I have ever seen in a play. However I've seen/read House of Blue Leaves and know just how brilliant the role of Bananas can be so Falco probably is quite superb in a role that many actresses would give anything to play.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 4:50pm

The recent interview with her on BWW she states that she does the monologue differently every night based on how she feels. Is that really delivering a performance.

According to the latest Patti LuPone Gypsy thread, it is.

My guess - not having been back to New York in about three years and not having seen this production or Normal Heart or Blue Leaves - is that perhaps because Normal Heart had all the momentum, there was no way Falco was gonna win no matter what. Almost across the board (and this board) the show was panned, saved for her performance. Conversely, Normal Heart received mostly raves all around.
Updated On: 6/23/11 at 04:50 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 4:51pm

I saw both also. I would have been fine with either winning the Tony. The was I look at Barkin's monologue is that she was angry from the start. It took me a day or so to realize that. So there really was no "build up". (That's just my opinion)

With Falco, she was wonderful but the sad thing is that Stiller was wrong for this and kind of left Falco out there giving a great performance and not really giving her anything to play off of. (At least that was the case the evening I saw it in previews). Jennifer Jason Leigh, in my opinion, should have been nominated.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 4:57pm

uncageg, I completely agree. After hearing so many people trash Jennifer Jason Leigh, I was so surprised to have loved her take on Bunny. She actually gave Falco a foil. Leigh gave Falco something to react to and respond against.

Stiller is best left to his juvenile comedies.

Also, uncageg, I did wonder if Barkin was just raging from the gate, so there would be no build.

Again, I loved Ellen, but Falco just seemed better to me.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 6:07pm

Couldn't agree more. I found Barkin to be giving one of the weakest performances all season...

[Patash]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 8:48pm

I think this was fully discussed on a different thread, but yes, you are right that Barkin starts the monolog and has nowhere to build. And that's what makes it great. She doesn't follow the normal "rules" of acting. What I saw instead was a woman who could not contain her emotions any longer. She started in a total rage and yes, the monolog was rather one note -- the epitome of anger and frustration. That's great. It wasn't about a woman who started an idea and as she spoke her emotions build and then get the best of her. It was a monolog of a woman whose emotions caused her to explode to begin with and can't stop.
I found it brilliant, partly because it wasn't the "usual" textbook monolog delivery.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 8:54pm

I saw BLUE LEAVES finally the other day and having never seem this play or read it, I was shocked at how much it stuck with me. I couldn't stop thinking about it and that mostly had to do with Falco. I think that Bananas is one of the most tragic characters I've seen on the stage in a very very long time. Her desperation and sadness was gut wrenching to me and when she was on het hands and knees at the very end barking at Stiller, I started to cry.

I'm not saying one actress should have won over the other but I do think Falco (and the exceptional Leigh as well) should have gotten more recognition for this play. It's a shame it never really found an audience.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 9:38pm

Jordan- I agree with everything you said. I cried at the same time you did. Falco had this style of just trying to quietly talk and her words would get steam rolled by others. Falco broke my heart and her performance stayed with me. I remember her uttering, " I just want someone to love me" and I lost it.

Leigh was also so riveting. It was a showcase for two very gifted and complex actresses. The men didn't stand a chance. Im also sorry this revival never found an audience.

[jovie27]

Posted: 6/23/11 at 10:52pm

I have to be honest, with all the plastic surgery Barkin has had, I was very much surprised she was able to open her mouth wide enough to deliver the words each-and-every-performance, yet alone win a Tony for it.

I am now wondering if she just hardly moves her lips and that all her moments are voice-over's pre-recorded (hehe).
Updated On: 6/23/11 at 10:52 PM

[uptowndowntown]

Posted: 6/24/11 at 4:09am

I actually truly believe Ellen Barkin winning the Tony was the worst award given all night. I saw all five best featured actress performances and i have to say - and I loved The Normal heart and saw it twice - I would have put Barkin's performance fifth out of the five. Seriously. I saw her twice and she screamed her entire monologue in an annoying one-note pitch. If anything, it was the SPEECh, maybe, that deserved the Tony, but definitely not the speaker of that speech. I would have voted for the electrifying, heartbreaking Elizabeth Rodriguez FIRST, the vulnerable, transformative Edie Falco SECOND, the strong rock of truth Judith Light THIRD, the fiercely funny Joanna Lumley FOURTH and the screaming botox-faced Ellen Barkin FIFTH. The worst award given all night, no question. Loved Hickey and Mantello and Pace and others, but Barkin? I don't get it.

[AC126748]

Posted: 6/24/11 at 6:30am

Falco's performance as Bananas is just about as perfect as I've ever seen. She finds every shade there is in the character. I can't get on the train that Leigh's performance is a misunderstood gem, though. You have to believe that Artie would find solace and escapism in this woman. She has to be somewhat sexy and alluring. She's the alternative to Bananas. I found none of that in Leigh's performance--I would have hitched a ride to the house of blue leaves myself before I'd spend an evening with her. Bunny should be sexy and fun but also womanly and comforting, to a point--an actress like Allison Janney or Marisa Tomei would be perfect in the role. And there was no competition between Falco's Bananas and Leigh's Bunny--Falco wiped the floor with Leigh.

I loved Barkin's performance, and Falco's. Barkin definitely benefitted from being in a production that has a lot of momentum behind it. If it was a slightly less competitive year--or she were playing Bananas in a better-received production--I think Falco could have easily won.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/24/11 at 8:29am

I guess it is just a matter of opinion. I have posted before that I thought Stiller was the weak link in that cast. With nothing to really play off of, Leigh and Falco still gave wonderful performances. Stiller just seemed disconnected the evening I saw it.

Patash, you pretty much summed up what I thought of Barkin. I was moved by it when she delivered it but it didn't really start to hit me until after I left the theater. It did, however, make me cry right after she finished. I also think that since I had read about it before seeing it, the one note thing was in the back of my mind.