Gin Game Previews
Gin Game Previews
#1Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/22/15 at 5:31pm
The first preview of The Gin Game is tomorrow night. Is anyone going?
I'm seeing this October 16, and am hoping for some good word.
#2Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/22/15 at 7:17pm
Going Sunday.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#3Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/23/15 at 4:27pm
I am going and looks like I may have an extra ticket! This will be my first Broadway first preview.
Just give the world Love.
Updated On: 9/23/15 at 04:27 PM
#4Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/23/15 at 4:54pm
Love this play. Saw it twice with Hume and Jessica.
Those Blocked: SueStorm. N2N Nate. Good riddence to stupid! Rad-Z, shill begone!
#5Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/23/15 at 5:47pm
Does anyone know if they've announced a rush policy for this, or if they plan to do so?
Golenboybway
Featured Actor Joined: 12/15/14
#7Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/23/15 at 9:45pm
Enjoyable evening.
It appeared that they both have colds. It seems to be affecting Ms Tyson more. Noticed a handler through the scrim at curtain call. (Was sitting really close). I think they did a bit of ad libbing, especially the middle of the 1st act but they are pros. Once they settle in I think it will be really good. They had us in the palm of their hands. All jokes landed. More later.
Run time was about two hours with an intermission. Started late and itermission ran about twenty minutes.
There is merch. The usual plus.....a deck of cards.
Just give the world Love.
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#8Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/23/15 at 11:19pm
Noticed a handler through the scrim at curtain call.
What's that?
#9Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/24/15 at 3:02am
morosco said: "Noticed a handler through the scrim at curtain call.
What's that?"
It's a giant prehistoric bird that waits in the wings, and swoops up anyone who turns on their cell phone during the production, carrying them off to somewhere unknown. It's a new idea the Broadway community is trying.
Updated On: 9/24/15 at 03:02 AM
#10Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/24/15 at 7:25am
"a giant prehistoric bird that waits in the wings, and swoops up anyone who turns on their cell phone during the production"
I know not everyone is a fan, but is it really necessary to use such derogatory language when talking about Patti?
#11Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/24/15 at 8:02am
Sauja said: ""a giant prehistoric bird that waits in the wings, and swoops up anyone who turns on their cell phone during the production"
I know not everyone is a fan, but is it really necessary to use such derogatory language when talking about Patti?"
I know it's been said before, but this board needs a "like" button.
#12Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/24/15 at 1:58pm
Morosco, someone came out and helped Ms. Tyson to the center of the stage for her curtain call. She kind of has her back to the audience at the end amd this person was helping her turn and walk to the center. May have been a stagehand as you do see thm during the show.
Just give the world Love.
Updated On: 9/25/15 at 01:58 PM
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#13Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/24/15 at 5:54pm
What's the design like? And can someone post a basic sort of plot summary?
ChiTheaterFan
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/15
#15Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/24/15 at 11:18pm
Not to ask a stupid question, but is this a comedy or a drama or a mix? All I've seen is it's about a card game and I can see that going about a million ways.
#16Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/24/15 at 11:42pmIt's a mix. Comedy/Drama. YouTube has the PBS version which was filmed live with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. It doesn't get better than that. I'm curious to see these 2 legends but Cronyn/Tandy is hard to beat.
ChiTheaterFan
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/15
#17Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/25/15 at 12:34am
Thanks! If I don't catch this I'll check out the pbs version.
rob136
Understudy Joined: 10/5/14
#18Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/25/15 at 7:44pm
Any idea if there are any rush tickets yet for this show? I'm in the city tomorrow and plan to rush a show, but there's not all that much open right now that I haven't seen. This would be ideal if they offer any tickets. If not, I guess I'll catch Hand to God before it closes.
BROADWAY: The Cripple of Inishmaan, This is Our Youth, If/Then, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (x3), Cabaret (x2), The Real Thing, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Chicago, Les Miserables (x2) Disgraced, Finding Neverland, On the Twentieth Century, Wolf Hall Part I, On the Town, Fun Home; TOURING: Jekyll and Hyde, The Book of Mormon; LOCAL: The Twilight Zone, Anne Boleyn, Death and the Maiden, The Lying Kind, Chorus Line, Stupid F**king Bird
#19Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/25/15 at 8:20pm
Which ear did each choose to wear their earpiece on?
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
#20Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/25/15 at 8:40pm
The set design looks like the backyard/patio of a big old house that is the retirement home. There is grass amd dirt on the floor of the stage. There is one "special effect" used in act two. There is also a scent effect. Not sure if it is on purpose but at one point I could smell leaves. I was also in the second row so it may have been just the closeness to the stage.
Just give the world Love.
#21Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/25/15 at 10:52pm
Just getting home from tonight's preview and enjoyed myself quite a bit. James Earl Jones seems to having more fun in this outing than in last few Broadway appearances and Cicely Tyson brings a deep warmth to Fonsia, not to mention all the playful ways she gets to say gin!
The plot is quite simple: Fonsia and Weller are both living in a rather rundown nursing home/assisted living situation. Weller doesn't like to associate with the other residents, deeming them too senile and near death to be around. He spends his time on the porch with his deck of cards. Fonsia has recently moved in and Weller asks her if she wants to play him in some friendly gin rummy. Weller considers himself an expert at the game while she is complete novice. The two begin playing and sharing stories about their lives before moving into the home. The thing is Fonsia wins hand after hand after hand. As the play goes on Weller's anger at losing continues to mount and their once pleasant conversation turns ugly and vicious.
EthelMae mentions that the play is [normally] a mix of comedy and drama, but this productions leans more heavily on the former. And although some of the more dramatic moments get shortchanged for a laugh, the performances kept me thoroughly entertained. The audience felt very into it and it was nice to feel such crackle and give and take between those onstage and the people in the seats.
I think there is a different dynamic to the play with these two because of their ages. Cronyn and Tandy were 66 and 68 whereas Jones and Tyson are 84 and 90. When Jones looks at Tyson and tells her with a sigh, "Maybe we've both lived too long," it carries a different weight than when someone decades younger says it. This really is the end for them. There's no time left to make amends or fixed strained family relations.
The biggest misstep with this production is the set. I know they're supposed to be a cheap, dilapidated home, but the massive house behind them looks more like Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's old gray farmhouse than a nursing home.
Set aside, it's an enjoyable evening with two great actors giving memorable performances.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
FBay
Understudy Joined: 9/12/15
#22Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/25/15 at 11:29pm
chances of Tony noms?
The plot is quite simple: Fonsia and Weller are both living in a rather rundown nursing home/assisted living situation. Weller doesn't like to associate with the other residents, deeming them too senile and near death to be around. He spends his time on the porch with his deck of cards. Fonsia has recently moved in and Weller asks her if she wants to play him in some friendly gin rummy. Weller considers himself an expert at the game while she is complete novice. The two begin playing and sharing stories about their lives before moving into the home. The thing is Fonsia wins hand after hand after hand. As the play goes on Weller's anger at losing continues to mount and their once pleasant conversation turns ugly and vicious.
EthelMae mentions that the play is [normally] a mix of comedy and drama, but this productions leans more heavily on the former. And although some of the more dramatic moments get shortchanged for a laugh, the performances kept me thoroughly entertained. The audience felt very into it and it was nice to feel such crackle and give and take between those onstage and the people in the seats.
I think there is a different dynamic to the play with these two because of their ages. Cronyn and Tandy were 66 and 68 whereas Jones and Tyson are 84 and 90. When Jones looks at Tyson and tells her with a sigh, "Maybe we've both lived too long," it carries a different weight than when someone decades younger says it. This really is the end for them. There's no time left to make amends or fixed strained family relations.
The biggest misstep with this production is the set. I know they're supposed to be a cheap, dilapidated home, but the massive house behind them looks more like Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's old gray farmhouse than a nursing home.
Set aside, it's an enjoyable evening with two great actors giving memorable performances.
"
#23Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/25/15 at 11:40pm
I mean, it's way too early to guess nominations when this is only the fourth play to start previews this season. I thought they both gave nomination-worthy performances, but this revival will be long closed by May and who knows what riches we'll be given in the meantime.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#24Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/26/15 at 5:56pm
Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Whizzer. I'm looking forward to seeing it, but I must admit, your rave of Dames at Sea makes me consider possibly sneaking in one more show in my October trip during the 14th to the 18th. (Right now, booked for Allegiance, Hamilton, Gin Game, Sylvia, and a Loreena McKennitt concert at the Town Hall theater.)
Maybe I should try to sneak Dames in on Wednesday afternoon if my flight is on time.
As for Gin Game, encouraged by the early word, and hope to hear more reactions soon!
dave1606
Broadway Star Joined: 12/8/07
#25Gin Game Previews
Posted: 9/27/15 at 12:37am
I saw this tonight. I found it to be entertaining if very slight. I can't really wrap my head around this play winning a Pulitzer. I think right now the dramatic scenes just don't work.I think the direction is perhaps at fault, or this may be something that just needs to settle in through the run.
But that being said, the play is a delight mainly because of the two actors. Cicely Tyson is such a firecracker, and James Earl Jones is very strong. The comedy is excellent and definitely makes the evening worth it.
The set is bizarre. I don't think the set designer has ever been in or near a nursing home. I started to wait for M. Night Shamaylan style twist where they weren't actually at a nursing home but were living in a shack in the middle of the woods! Definitely a miss in that department.
Overall, I can say that I was entertained for two hours, but the play felt a little empty to me. The pleasure of seeing these two legends onstage and having a good time is definitely worth it though.
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