Orphans First Preview

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 9:25pm

I caught the first preview of Orphans tonight and I didn't have much of a reaction to it. The play left me emotionally and (mostly) intellectually disengaged.

I thought the acting was all great though. I'd even go as far as to say Tom Sturridge, who bounds around the stage like a jaguar in an exhibit at the zoo, was excellent. Still, I didn't care about the characters, and at the end I couldn't figure out what the point of the play was.

Orphans reminded me of Behanding in Spokane, but less funny, although I must admit some people in the audience laughed a lot.

This could be a SLIGHT SPOILER- but I don't really know if it spoils anything...

I assumed there was going to be some twist at the end; a big reveal that would make the previous 90 minutes worthwhile. Instead there's no revelation. It was what it was, and that didn't amount to much. For a minute I thought Harold was going to be a figment of their imagination, or maybe he would turn out to be their father, but he was who he said he was, and the curtain came down.

END SLIGHT SPOILER

I wasn't in pain or anything, and the direction keeps the action zipping along, but I walked out of the theater completely not caring. I wish all three of these actors had been in a different play to showcase their talents.

[beensince1987]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 9:27pm

Thanks Whizzer, last time I saw Alec was in Streetcar and would love to see him in something on stage again.
I would go see this just for him.

[Johnnycantdecide]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 9:30pm

There is a rumor going around tumblr that Shia LeBouf was seated front row center tonight!
Confirm or deny?

[willep]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 9:35pm

Yeah, it's on Twitter as well, although they say front row, on the aisle, not center...haha

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 9:36pm

You know, I had mixed emotions reading your review, Whizzer. On the one hand, I was really looking forward to seeing Alec in this...but I am also feeling overwhelmed by all the shows opening this spring, and although this one, as well as Big Knife, was on my list, your reaction at least helps me set some priorities here...and perhaps save some of my B'way dollars to take my daughter to Pippin

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 9:37pm

Alec was very good tonight. He is well-cast, and I can see why he was drawn to the role. If you just are going to see him you will see a good performance.

I was in the mezz, but I didn't see any hubbub in the orchestra. If LeBouf was there he didn't draw any attention to himself.

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 9:37pm

Wow, Whizzer... I have to think from reading your fresh report that something must be terribly amiss with this production if it yielded such a reaction from you. I saw the Original 1985 OB production (from Steppenwolf) several times, and always found it quite moving. I truly did not know what to expect from this Broadway mounting but emotional indifference is not something I anticipated from someone who has just departed the theatre. A real head scratcher...

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 10:01pm

Again, SPOILERS

I wasn't emotionally involved with what Harold (Baldwin) was doing to the brothers. Breaking Treat and "encouraging" Philip, but all to what end? Harold saw himself as Philip and Treat was like the German oppressor at the orphanage?

Maybe Orphans was a product of its time and just won't have the same impact in 2013?

[egghumor]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 10:07pm

That could very well be the case, but I have to think something is wrong with the production as well. I wasn't sure ORPHANS needed to mounted on Broadway at this moment in time.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 10:15pm

There really is only one word to accurately describe this production - pointless. As stated in A CHORUS LINE, "I felt nothing."

I suppose the actors were fine, though I was very annoyed by Tom Sturridge's character leaping around the set the entire show. Baldwin and Foster did the best with what poor material they had.

We paid tdf prices, and I feel like we overpaid. Go see this if you get comps...otherwise, skip it. You won't be missing much.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 3/26/13 at 11:09pm

I was there tonight-- I just flew in from chicago this afternoon, and my sister surprised me with rush tickets. They were in the last row of the mezzanine, so we got to the stage door quickly, but we had to wait for an hour. There was a huge crowd, and we were of the lucky few to get autographs.

As for the show, it was fine. Great performances from all the actors, but it wasn't that captivating of a play. The beginning was a little slow, but then it picked up. There was some really funny material, but I left sort of wondering what the point was. It was worth the $30 rush ticket, but I wouldn't want to pay much more.

[Copperfield2]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 1:54am

I saw this play many years ago with Kevin Anderson, John Mahoney and Terry Kinney off-Broadway and was blown away by the acting. It was a powerful work so I'm looking forward to seeing this again.

I never go to early previews and it's hard to judge a work when the actors are still finding their way. But the casting sounds good. I'm seeing in April 11.

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 8:34am

So this is yet another box office that said earlier in the day (to me) there would be no rush tickets, then started giving them out right before the show? Yikes...

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 9:12am

The original production was incredibly successful, it made a huge splash, and that cast and director must have worked real wizardry on that stage every night because the play, on the page, is a solid bore.

[matty159]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 9:41am

I am really not one who is really negative and can usually find some redeeming quality in a production. And maybe if I had stayed though Act Two, I would have. However, like the droves that went before us, I just couldn't bare another hour. I could barely keep my eyes open. This was definitely one of those times I was glad I was comped. The acting was fine...it was the material that was dreck. Perhaps Shia was mocking it with his standing "O".

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 9:58am

Slight Spoilers*****

I don't really believe in coincidences so I feel like the universe was trying to tell me something yesterday, but the message was as murky as the play itself.

Still, when I was on the N Train coming home from work it was very crowded and this one woman was taking up a lot of room on one of the seats. She was crushing this poor little old lady against the railing on the side of the seat and the little old lady asked her to move over to give her some more room. The bigger woman refused and told her she needed the room to spread out! My mind immediately leapt to Orphans.

Then as I walked back to my apartment I overheard a guy talking loudly to a friend in front of a seedy dive bar. He was going on and on about how his parents never gave him any encouragement growing up and that's why he is in the spot he is today! "It's all about encouragement," he said. "I've seen parents kiss the asses of their babies and those parents know how to encourage. Me I got no encouragement."

I felt like I was getting the Sleep No More treatment of Orphans.

[eperkins]

Posted: 3/30/13 at 11:04pm

I saw the play tonight. I loved the play, and loved the actors in it. No one I could see left at intermission - all seats were full for both acts, and there was a pretty much an audience-wide standing-o at the end.

The play made perfect sense to me, I had no problems with it at all. And the actors were all wonderful in it.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/30/13 at 11:38pm

I was at the matinee today. I actually kinda liked it. It wasn't my favorite thing ever, but I found it to be pretty interesting. Alec was very good. I did not really care for Tom Sturridge. For me, Ben Foster was the absolute standout. I thought he was magnificent. It's amazing to me that he was able to step in so late in the process and so completely embody the character, commanding the stage even while sharing it with the likes of Alec Baldwin. I was majorly impressed.

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 3/30/13 at 11:49pm

"It's amazing to me that he was able to step in so late in the process and so completely embody the character"


I think he only missed two days of rehersal...didn't he?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 2:44am

Well I didn't really mean rehearsals since they pushed everything back. I meant the whole process, joining a team that had already been working together for several weeks. His chemistry with the other actors was so good.

[eperkins]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 8:27am

AND, this is Ben Fosters FIRST stage appearance -- anywhere. Very impressive.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 9:33am

What did you guys get out of the play? What do you think Kessler was trying to tell us? (Not asking in a bitchy way, I just got nothing from the text, but obviously many have over the years and I want to try to understand why.)

[BeadleDeedle]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 10:09am

This doesn't really answer your question but I've always found Orphans to be a rather abstract play, leaning more to the experimental theater end of the spectrum than realism. I'm not sure the play neccessarily comes to grand point at the end (and if it does its a rather bleak one) but throughout I find many enlightening ruminations on brotherhood, fatherhood, power, and control.

[eperkins]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 11:31am

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

Whizzer, for me the play was very much about abandonment, and how that affects our lives. For Phillip, it's trusting his older brother to always do the right thing by him, even though he is a virtual prisoner inside his home. For Treat, it's trying to be in control in every single thing he does, even when that often does not work out well for him. And he is extremely standoffish. For Harold, he is sort of the flip side of Treat. He wants to get ahead doing whatever it takes, but he is perhaps overly compassionate. He wants people to like him, and that seems to be his big want (aside from wealth).

In the end, Harold has changed the two brothers lives. Phillip has discovered the outside world and wants to grow, and Treat realizes that he very much wants and needs compassion.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/31/13 at 11:36am

I think that there are really interesting themes of loving someone so much that it is actually detrimental to their health and development. The relationship between Treat and Phillip is super intriguing I thought.