LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES Previews- Page 2

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 10/9/16 at 4:12pm

3 questions...

 

- Is the stage high for this / Would front row be a bad idea?

- Is it expected that the leads will be on during most weeknight performances?


- is there gunfire in this play? I'm a LLD novice.

Updated On: 10/9/16 at 04:12 PM

[jbird5]

Posted: 10/9/16 at 5:02pm

I was in the back. The stage didn't look high (no effects, trap doors). I sat in the front row for Hand to God and it was fine.

Since the leads are heavily promoted and it's a limited run I would think so. I believe they are obligated to be there during previews.
L
No gunfire.

Updated On: 10/9/16 at 05:02 PM

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 10/9/16 at 5:37pm

Awesome, thanks!

I'm specifically looking to the added Monday performance, November 7th. A week after opening.  Safe to assume everyone will be on?

I  certainly hope so. 

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 10/9/16 at 6:35pm

Could someone that went tell me the running time, if you don't mind? I know 3 hours was mentioned, but just wondering exactly. I'm seeing it tomorrow and have somewhere to be after. Thanks for the reports so far!

[jbird5]

Posted: 10/9/16 at 6:49pm

I don't have the exact time but I think it was pretty close to 11 when we got out.

edit: I think it was 10:50.

Updated On: 10/9/16 at 06:49 PM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 10/9/16 at 7:37pm

I hated the Linney revival. Sadly, I think people are waiting for Glenn Close level madness and rage and I don't think it is a part of the play script. Everyone is going to compare to Close and Malkovich and those are tough acts to follow. 

An important question. Is Liev nude in the play?

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 10/9/16 at 8:15pm

I don't know if mine is a minority opinion, but I actually think the film adaptation is superior to the stage script. 

[jbird5]

Posted: 10/9/16 at 8:16pm

No. I recall he had his shirt off at one point. There's no real nudity. Emilie shows the side of her butt during the famous letter writing scene, but that's it.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 11:17am

Bumping this for people going tonight/this week.

[ChillEDog]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 1:14pm

Went last night 10/10.  6th row orchestra center at TKTS for $110.  Glad I went although not the happiest story in the world.  McTeer was quite audible, and animated, altho again, 6th row.  I noticed production personnel (sound engineer?) on stage during entire intermission.  Booth Theater struck me as small, perfect for this particular production.  Apologies but have not seen enough plays to comment further on overall quality or acting.  Got L.S. pic + autograph after so...jazzed.  

[Valentina3]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 2:21pm

Bettyboy72 said: "An important question. Is Liev nude in the play?"

 

V v important.

 

[WayTooBroadway]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 2:57pm

Ben Daniels and Benjamin Walker were naked in the last revival... just saying.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 2:59pm

Saw it yesterday and found the show quite fascinating. I was a little bored by the slow start and the dim candle light (real lit candles and some wax dropped in act 2! Definitely a safety issue.) kind of put me to a state where I had to fight to stay awake during some quiet scenes early in act 1, which was probably why I found their motives vague. Overall, the production is stellar despite tiny problems here and there that they'll hopefully fix as the previews proceed.

Updated On: 10/11/16 at 02:59 PM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 3:09pm

Regarding Safety -- the unions have said It's fine to use real candles on stage as long as the costumes and scenery have been made flame repellent. I frankly can't stand it when productions use fake candles.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 3:09pm

I was there last night too. I thought McTeer was great; indeed she was the strongest aspect of the production. I'm with Bettyboy about the Roundabout revival about eight years back, and this production is certainly an improvement over that turgid affair, but it's not perfect either. There is no spark- no excitement to the proceedings. The final 30 minutes is rather anti-climatic. It's all very professional and respectable, and those two qualities alone put it above many other offerings, but it's far from transcendent. 

I love Liev Schreiber and his performance in A View From the Bridge ranks as one of my favorite leading men performances ever, but he wasn't quite as connected to the Vicomte as I thought he would be. McTeer was bringing a lot of high energy and vitality to the Marquise and Schreiber didn't seem in the same space that she was. Given his extraordinary talent I bet he starts gelling more with the part as previews go on. 

The other burst of energy comes from always lovely Mary Beth Peil, who is serving up a full order of Ah Paris realness. 

The costumes are nice and the set looks like a crumbling room in an art gallery. Chandeliers with real candles raise and lower during scene changes. 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 3:17pm

I mentioned this earlier, but I think people forget how different the stage play is from the (vastly more exciting) film version. Particularly the conclusion. Who could ever forget Glenn Close destroying her vanity with rage when she finds out Valmont has been killed, being booed at the opera, then smearing off her makeup in the film's final moments.  The play doesn't have any such theatrics and is a little brittle.  It ends with...a card game.

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 3:20pm

Had a great time last night. This is a very strong revival. Well-cast, beautifully designed, moody, often deliciously funny, and arresting.


First off, was in the last row of the mezz and had no trouble hearing anything.


*Some semi-spoilers ahead?*

 
Schreiber is absolutely in his element. He layered an undercurrent of weariness to his portrayal of someone who has always been the picture of unrelenting confidence that really played into why his experiences with Tourvel might be so shattering. Very very funny throughout, and just enough menace behind the charm.

 
I thought McTeer was great. Her Mertuil has a well-though out depth, and she really nailed her monologues. Her's is a pot on simmer, seeming to take nothing or no one seriously on the surface, but with resentments, jealousies, and fear ready to boil over when tested. 

 
Sørensen is very good as Tourvel, with a striking tone of voice and a heartbreaking earnestness. Kanpouris is very sweet as Cécile.


I loved the set. Played with the notions of vanity and decay, and I loved how as the characters were tangled more and more into their web, life and eventually light were removed through the removal of the various paintings and extinguishing of candles. The music and transitions I thought were highly effective and added to the overall tone. Overall, I thought it was very well done and with an injection of even more heat and tension, that should come over previews, I think it will be wonderful.

 

 

Updated On: 10/11/16 at 03:20 PM

[Fan123]

Posted: 10/11/16 at 4:13pm

A bit off-topic: For what it's worth BroadwayNYC2, there was a parody Cruel Intentions musical in LA in recent years. I'm not familiar with it, but there seems to be a few songs on SoundCloud and according to hints on social media, it's coming back: https://twitter.com/cruelmusical.

[ANewBrainn]

Posted: 10/12/16 at 11:43am

Any word on a rush policy?

[PianoMann]

Posted: 10/12/16 at 2:17pm

WhizzerMarvin said: "The other burst of energy comes from always lovely Mary Beth Peil, who is serving up a full order of Ah Paris realness."

Thank you for mentioning Mary Beth Peil! I've loved her in all of her recent stage work, so I've been wondering how she is in this. I'm so glad she'll be in Fall and Spring productions this Broadway season!

 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 10/13/16 at 9:45am

In town for a quick trip and caught this last night.

I didn't care much for Josie Rourke's directorial concept (the symbolism of the crumbling art gallery set and the repetitive cast vocalise during the transitions were lost on me - the story is neither about art nor music) and I thought the costumes were dreary -- but it was an otherwise solid, if not very electric production.

Janet McTeer is always a master on stage, and I appreciated her playful and modulated performance as Merteuil. She is well matched by Liev Schreiber, though both could perhaps turn up the melodrama half a notch (this is a story based, after all on a 18th century pulp novel). The supporting cast is fine, though not remarkable. Mary Beth Piel is indeed lovely.

Having seen the show a half a dozen times over the years -- nothing will likely top the original RSC production superbly directed by Howard Davies and featuring an unforgettable Alan RIckman (well matched by a delicious Lindsay Duncan).  But as stated before, I do think the film adaptation is a superior and more satisfying script.

A note on the candles -- I loved the atmosphere they provided, but from the Mezz - the stage looked dark and the spill of the glare of the candles actually made it difficult to see actor's faces.  I think they could solve that easily but adding a shade more artificial light to fill in and balance.

Regarding earlier thread questions: sound balance was fine. Whatever problems there have been addressed.

Per the box office - no rush policy, but rear mezz seats start at 42 dollars which is comparable with rush prices.
 

 

Updated On: 10/13/16 at 09:45 AM

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 10/13/16 at 12:27pm

When would one presume the show will be frozen/critics start coming? 

[asmith0307]

Posted: 10/13/16 at 12:41pm

Not for a couple more weeks. Opening night is the 30th. 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 10/13/16 at 1:05pm

Well, I suspect the show is more or less frozen now -- meaning the staging is a transfer from the Donmar Warehouse in London and the script is 30 years old. I don't see either changing. The performances will of course continue to deepen and grow throughout previews.

[MinnieFay]

Posted: 10/13/16 at 1:19pm

QueenAlice said: "Well, I suspect the show is more or less frozen now -- meaning the staging is a transfer from the Donmar Warehouse in London and the script is 30 years old. I don't see either changing. The performances will of course continue to deepen and grow throughout previews."

Only 1 actor is a holdover from the Donmar.  New set, new costumes, new lighting, new music, new movement director, a living playwright who is attending rehearsals, etc..  It is nowhere close to being frozen.