A KID LIKE JAKE First Preview?

Just wondering if anyone here saw the first preview of LCT3's A KID LIKE JAKE tonight at the Claire Tow Theater. I'm very interested in seeing this but don't know if I'll be able to make it to the city during its run--I would love to hear what people thought to know if I should make the extra effort!

A couple tries to get their four-year-old son into an elite private school and to come to terms with his gender identifcation. I found this an affecting play -- taut, well written, dramatically compelling. I felt empathy and understanding for all the characters, on and off stage. The show is a little slow getting into focus, but once it does, the dramatic tension builds steadily. It runs off the rails a bit in the final two scenes, as the tone shifts jarringly.

Carla Gugino continues to impress in a role of multiple complexities and shadings. Peter Grosz is just as good, and his mastery of nuance is superb.

It's well worth seeing.

Updated On: 6/9/13 at 07:42 AM

I saw it this afternoon! And I liked it quite a bit. I did think the show would have benefited from including the character of Jake in the actual show...but for a play that doesn't expose us to him directly, you really do feel for him and care about him a lot. Which is clearly a testament to the precise, lovely writing. By excluding Jake from the proceedings of the actual text, all of the much discussed tension that is simmering between Jake and the other characters that is crucial to the crux of the show explodes offstage, which is a bit of a detriment to the impact of the show. That's not to say that the show isn't impactful though. Furthermore, the penultimate scene didn't work all that well for me...it seemed a bit too ambitious for its own good. It feels a bit out of place and completely disparate from the preceding hour and thirty minutes. But all that aside, this is a very ambitious play that tackles quite a few themes...but it does so in an effective and insightful manner. My only real problems with the piece came from what wasn't included here...what is included in the text is quite strong and touching. There is a lot of heart and dramatically-compelling meat behind the show. The characters are all so clearly defined and so beautifully performed that it nearly made me forget the shortcomings in the writing. All three leads are simply exceptional...they are giving their all. Carla Gugino, in particular, is sensational. I was blown away by her performance, from the second the lights came up. She's truly breathtaking.

I was ultimately moved by it...it's certainly worth seeing (especially for $20 a ticket! I got mine this morning!) I didn't think it was anything incredible, but I am definitely glad I saw it.

No, but I will now! I was in the front row yesterday so I was lucky enough to get to appreciate her performance from the closest possible angle, and I was just so impressed by her work. And I was reminded how good she was in DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS a few seasons back.

Whoops, my bad! Totally misread...just added it to my Netflix queue!

It appears that the entire run is sold out already. Is it just because of the $20.00 ticket price? This is the third LCT3 show in a row that I'm missing out on. I guess you have to buy as soon as the tickets go on sale?

Matt,

It's a combination of the $20 ticket price, and the fact that it's a very small theatre.

It's best to buy tickets early to these.

But I'd keep checking. Maybe one will turn up, as happened with Wicked Rocks.

Some reviews are in...

Time Out NY is positive, with four out of five stars: http://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/a-kid-like-jake

NY Daily News is mixed to positive, with three out of five stars: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/kid-jake-theater-review-article-1.1374991

NY Post is positive, with three out of four stars: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/theater/he_prefers_pink_n8P6pDWUJRxmbmhcOUzcKO

Variety is mixed to negative: http://variety.com/2013/legit/reviews/legit-review-a-kid-like-jake-1200497792/

NY Times is positive, and a Critic's Pick: http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/theater/reviews/in-a-kid-like-jake-the-title-character-worries-his-mother.html?pagewanted=all

TheaterMania is mixed to positive: http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/reviews/06-2013/a-kid-like-jake_65385.html

Talkin' Broadway is -SURPRISE!- negative: http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/6_17_13.html

Can they just can Matthew Murray already? I mean, really...

Hank

I tried to pm you, but looks like you don't accept pms. FYI- my two front row center seats for A Kid Like Jake for this Monday 6/24 7pm may be available. It is unlikely we'll be able to attend. Any interest if this is the case? Will sell for paid ticket price of $20 each. Tickets are being held at will call, so I'd need to just have the name switched. I'll know for sure later this week.

I would've said it was mixed, too, though. It ended on a very mixed note.

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I'm also not particularly fond of Did He Like It. I prefer Stagegrade, despite it not being as prompt with its aggregation.

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Aggregation. Ingenious instead of ingenuous. Illicit instead of elicit. Tenant instead of tenet.

Please, do yourself a favor and refrain from using big words that a) sound ridiculous and/or b) whose meanings elude you.

Remember those lyrics from Dolly,

"If you ain't got elegance,
You can never, ever carry it off."

It sounds ridiculous.