33 VARIATIONS Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 3/8/09 at 5:37pm

Post 'em here!

My best to all involved.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/8/09 at 5:39pm

It's only a review thread when you make it, Mike!

Good luck to the show. God knows Broadway needs some good-reviewed shows right about now...

[singtopher]

Posted: 3/8/09 at 5:50pm

Hopefully they are positive. I've heard great things.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/8/09 at 6:07pm

Bit early.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/8/09 at 6:08pm

Isn't this thread about 26 hours early, Mike?

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 3/8/09 at 6:14pm

My apologies, my apologies.

My brain slipped for a sec, thought today was the 9th.

Nevertheless, the sentiments remain the same.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/8/09 at 6:41pm

It's never too early for a LimelightMike review thread!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/8/09 at 7:09pm

Now we'll just have to keep bumping it to make sure it gets used!

[whatever2]

Posted: 3/8/09 at 11:37pm

i'll pitch in:

*bump*

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 12:53am

I'll throw in my two cents.

I saw the show Friday, and while I thought it was technically beautiful show - the design and direction were pretty stellar - the play left me a little cold. The story for the most part is interesting, but all the performances are pretty one note. The script never lets the actors let loose and "act" if you will. There really was no big climatic finish. I wanted to see the daughter giving more and I wanted Colin Hank's character to do something more than just be goofy, but it never happened. Fonda was okay, but it felt like she was yelling the lines, and her dedication to her "illness" didn't seem to be that genuine.

I think the guy playing Beethoven was WONDERFUL. He gave a truly captivating performance and deserves to win some sort of award for his performance. He was phenomenal. I loved seeing the arch he created for his character, and how he changed each time he appeared. It was beautiful to watch.

I really did like his direction - or at least how he pulled all the different elements together, and I loved the use of the various variations underscoring the show.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:56am

Will this be this season's "Twilight of the Golds"?

[being.jeremiah]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 12:43pm

Happy new Playbill!



Also, let's keep this thread for official reviews. No harm intended, RentBoy86.

[Willster279]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 2:29pm

Glorious production. Add my name to the well wishers.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 2:41pm

It will probably get respectful but not spectacular reviews, as the cast and crew are all worthy artists who have all done much better work elsewhere. My own opinion was that it was really dreadful, a piece of Lifetime movie of the week hackwork, and that Jane Fonda really should have better taste than this.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:33pm

Let's bump this ****.

[ChristopherDurangFan]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:44pm

I hate how Colin Hanks is in the front of the picture, when his character is the least important/substantial, even just in terms of stage time, out of the four characters seen on the playbill.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:46pm

But don't you see the juxtaposition? She comes between the two of them.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:17pm

Oh, wow!

That's the official new Playbill for post-opening performances? That's lovely! I like it a whole lot better than the one I was going to be getting (the b&w logo was blah).

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:56pm

He really looks like his dad in that photo.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:39pm

Variety is MIXED-TO-POSITIVE:

"It's been 46 years since Jane Fonda's last role on Broadway but there's no sign of rustiness in the cool command she brings to "33 Variations." Fonda certainly knows her way around characters like musicologist Dr. Katherine Brandt, an impassioned woman hungry for knowledge and reluctant to concede her weaknesses. Playing an emotionally distant parent who finds closeness with her daughter only at the end of her life, the iconic star's work here is also illuminated by personal history, mirroring her own famously troubled relationship with her father. If Moises Kaufman's elegant production outshines his schematic play, Fonda nonetheless distinguishes it with integrity and class."

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939837.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:42pm

The Associated Press is NEGATIVE:

"Talk about ambitious.

Moises Kaufman's earnest, plot-heavy "33 Variations" swirls with big ideas about big subjects - life, death, art to name three - and how they intersect and illuminate each other.

Yet the play, which opened Monday at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre often seems dramatically tepid and slow moving. And this, despite the efforts of a hardworking cast that includes Jane Fonda, returning to the New York after an absence of more than four decades."

http://www.canadaeast.com/entertainment/article/597632

[jeffrey1dog]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 7:53pm

I would call the AP review MIXED... not NEGATIVE. There were positive comments about the sets, lighting, music and Fonda too.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 8:01pm

Yes, but a good physical production does not make a good play. That was the tone of the whole review. And calling Jane Fonda "fine" isn't exactly high praise.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 8:03pm

Re: the photo

But your eye is drawn to her. I think he is the least focused photo and easy to gloss over visually.

I don't think the character comes between them, but in fact brings them together...in the play.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 9:54pm

USA Today gives the show 2 1/2 STARS OUT OF 4:

"What elevates this above a Lifetime TV movie musical (there is piano accompaniment, by Diane Walsh) is Kaufman's vigorous guidance of a fine ensemble. Fonda plays Katherine with wit and compassion, and manages to make her physical struggles credible and compelling — even if you don't believe for a second that a woman can look this good while her muscles are atrophying.

Samantha Mathis lends her usual unfussy intelligence to Clara, while Colin Hanks makes a thoroughly winning Broadway debut as Mike. If his natural, likable presence makes comparisons with dad Tom unavoidable, that should be his biggest problem. Susan Kellermann gamely fills the stock role of the heroine's droll colleague and confidante, a German scholar whose stern voice belies a playful side.

Their performances, along with some glorious music, make 33 Variations engaging in spite of its contrivances."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/2009-03-09-33-variations_N.htm