The show started at 8:08 and we got out at 9:40, so it was 1:32.
It’s an interesting show for sure. I didn’t think it was a total knockout, but they were about at 85%. A few line fumbles here and there and the framing device with the awkward act transition needs some altering or tightening. I was actually sitting next to Lithgow’s understudy in the left side “box”, during the show and we were chatting.
Basically, with the set how it looks combined with the premise, it almost feels like a constant cockfight between Hillary and, interchangeably, Bill, her campaign manager, Barack, and herself. There is a lot of snappy dialogue and Laurie gets nearly all of it (though the campaign manager delivers one of the more sharp, withering monologues in Act II).
This show is truly Laurie Metcalf’s world and we are simply living in it. I can’t imagine how she wouldn’t go without a Tony nomination this year (Sidebar: Is four nominations in a row a record?).I believed she was Hillary Clinton and she hit every single nuance out of the gate. She was all-at-once hard-bitten, vulnerable, wounded, calculating, and viciously funny. I highly recommend it for anyone who really wants to see Metcalf rip into a role and make it her own.
TDF Note: My seat was RMezz E-118 (though I asked to switch to the box because I couldn’t fit).
Stage Door: Both Lithgow and Metcalf came out and were quick and friendly. No selfies (probably because it was freezing with the wind chill), but they signed for everyone, coming out after about 45 mins. There was this one a-home though who saw them in the alley talking to people and kept trying to yell at them to hurry along because he “was getting cold”. I was on the opposite side of him and was fuming the whole time because what a rude thing to say or do to someone in any context. Friendly reminder that THEY DON’T OWE US AN AUTOGRAPH AT ALL, AND OF THEY COME OUT TO SIGN, IT IS ON THEIR TIME AND DISCRETION.
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