Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
touchmeinthemorning
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/3/04
#0Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 12:20pm
Cate Blanchett (who will be doing it in NYC in 2006) or Nicole Kidman (who is "eyeing" it on the West End)?
If anyone knows me at all, they know how I'll be voting.
"Fundamentalism means never having to say 'I'm wrong.'"
-- unknown
#1re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 12:55pmThey're both brilliant, I'd love to see both of them, but I think Cate Blanchett. If she does it, Nicole Kidman will also do very well, but I think Blanchett has something that Kidman doesn't for the part.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#2re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 1:06pmBlanchett all the way. She has Hedda's strong will and determination down pat. Kidman should be OK though -- just softer and more manipulative.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#3re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 1:56pmMargo - I was thinking exactly the same thing. I saw Martha Plimpton in a horribly misconceived production at Steppenwolf and I think I would lean toward seeing Kidman with a more internalized quietly manipulative approach. I'm a huge Ibsen fan and if you pop the clutch too soon, then his plays are simply tedious. The slow, but steadily increasing intesity of Anthony Page's A Doll's House coupled with Janet McTeer's flawless performance was what made that a stellar production. I would love to see a Hedda Gabler treated with the same attention to detail, devoid of conceptual interference.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#4re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 1:59pm
From the two choices I'd have to say...Nicole Kidman. More curiousity than anything else, I think. I'm interested to see what she'd do with the role.
On a "Hedda Gabler" note, I'd like to also add that I think that Kate Burton was amazing when she was in the last production on Broadway a few years ago.
(formerly bronte604)
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popcultureboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/23/03
#5re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 1:59pm
I'm confused as to why Kidman is eyeing this play. The West End just had (may still have for all I know, I'm a little out of the London loop these days) an insanely well received production of Gabler with Eve Best in the title role. Kidman's name being attached guarantees a sell out run, true, but I would rather see her do something else.
I would crawl over broken glass to see Blanchett in anything.
Nothing precious, plain to see, don't make a fuss over me. Not loud, not soft, but somewhere inbetween. Say sorry, just let it be the word you mean.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#6re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 2:04pmThe Kate Burton Hedda from a few seasons ago was fairly straight forward in concept. I'll never forget Burton's smilingly manipulative and steely Hedda which was surprisingly contemporary in approach -- there was nothing melodramatic about the interpretation. A very solid production.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
touchmeinthemorning
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/3/04
#7re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 2:09pm
I, of course, agree with the Blanchett sentiment.
I blindly adore her. Luckily, those who see tend to agree as well.
The trick with Hedda, imho, is that she should be (in the words of a good director friend of mine) "kind of a geek". Not in the pocket-protector-wearing way, but in the subtler, simpler geek sort of way. When she gets humanized like that, the natural tendency to melodramatize the role gets diminished, and we are left with raw humanity.
I, too, LOVED Kate Burton's Hedda. I still imagine Cate's will be superior. She can do no wrong in my book.
"Fundamentalism means never having to say 'I'm wrong.'"
-- unknown
wexy
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/19/05
#8re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 3:33pmI thought Kate Burton was very good. You should be thankful that you guys didn't see the Kelly McGillis gig at the Roundabout in 1993.
'Take me out tonight where's there's music and there's people and they're young and alive.'
#9re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 3:35pm
Burton is the best Hedda I've ever seen.
That said, I hate the play. I end up wanting to shoot her after about five minutes.
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#10re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 3:52pm
For Hedda? Blanchette.
But I would love to see Kidman's Nora (I missed McTeer's).
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#11re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 4:00pmElizabeth Marvel
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
#12re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/20/05 at 4:07pmMarvel was BRILLIANT. Seriously, that girl is going places!
#13re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/21/05 at 12:10am
I've also heard that Eve Best is terrific (I was going to see her, but she was out the one night I could go so I saw something else instead). It seems like a somewhat odd choice for Kidman- she'll inevitably be compared, so she better be prepared to knock it out of the park in some way or another. Of course she'll sell tickets no matter the critical reception, but she strikes me as someone who wants to prove herself artistically as well, and she'll have an extra-tough time with this one.
I need to go see Cate Blanchett.
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Updated On: 9/21/05 at 12:10 AM
#14re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/21/05 at 12:32amCate Blanchett...I think she has a stronger presence and fits the role better.
-Anyone want to turn anarchist with me?"Bless you and all who know you, oh wise and penguined one." ~YouWantItWhen????
stage_door76
Broadway Star Joined: 1/18/05
#15re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/21/05 at 1:54am
i've seen cate perform in Hedda Gabler already.
she lead a brilliant cast through a completely sold out season recently for the Sydney Theater Company in Australia. her performance was remarkable, quite remarkable.
in fact, such was the demand for tickets that the STC re arranged the audience seating and incorporated a standing room only section all thanks to cate! they sold as quickly as posters of raul do...
i say her over nicole any day - she was stunning.
"...But Kungurtseva reels off multiple fouettes and the tape is stopped so she can take a bow. The Jester, an abomination introduced to Swan Lake in Soviet times, extorts applause from the audience. The cuts don't help the storytelling, the production is bare bones and they go for the '50s-style happy ending.
The audience cheers like mad at the end. It's the Russian ballet, after all..."
ozbwayfan
Chorus Member Joined: 6/12/05
#16re: Who's a better Hedda Gabler?
Posted: 9/21/05 at 5:28am
Stagedoor, In fact the Sydney Theatre Company production that you saw is the same production that will play the BAM in New York in 2006.
I too think Cate will be the better of the two Hedda's, her work is always of an incredible standard and she is so commanding in her film work, she must be simply superb on stage.
I sigh with jealousy...
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