A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN reviews- Page 2

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:03am

What do the English know from O'Neill, anyway.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:17am

NY Sun is Mixed:

"The glories of this pairing are still there to be found and savored. But Mr. Davies's suspiciously boisterous production of the 1947 play — which has imported its entire London cast, led by Mr. Spacey, Ms. Best, and Colm Meaney as Phil Hogan, the aforementioned coot — lets the bawdy first half suck up too much oxygen, diminishing the richer emotions that follow.
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"She is so oversize for a woman that she is almost a freak," O'Neill writes of her on the play's very first page, and yet the decidedly undersize, finefeatured Ms. Best embodies this "ugly overgrown lump of a woman" with ferocious, heartrending commitment. She's at least a decade younger than most of the other famous Josies (Colleen Dewhurst, Wendy Hiller, Cherry Jones), and her coltish awkwardness and cracked, almost adolescent voice make Josie seem even less seasoned.

With her sinewy arms and faded print dress, she's less the typical Rubenesque vision of fecundity and more an iconic Dorothea Lange image from the Great Depression. (Bob Crowley's forlorn set design, with its precipitously leaning farmhouse and rusty farm brica-brac, accentuates the Dust Bowl parallels.) And yet Ms. Best, while up for the coy banter that punctuates so much of Mr. Davies's production, summons every ounce of the scouring forcefulness that makes Josie's and James's transformation possible.
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In real life, James O'Neill's ghost wouldn't have long to wait. Eugene O'Neill set "Moon" in September 1923 — just a few weeks before his brother died after slipping into an alcohol-induced coma. Their mother had died less than nine months earlier, and the two deaths were clearly interwoven in the author's mind, even some 20 years later. This becomes evident in James Tyrone's climactic monologue about his shameful behavior immediately before and after his mother's death.

This monologue, a tale of guiltdrenched licentiousness, is only slightly less triumphant than James's parallel speech in "Long Day's Journey." Even during this scene, though, Mr. Spacey never lets the showman fade completely. A generous assessment of his antic delivery is that he is masking James's self-loathing with a carefree façade. Still, it's hard not to assume that he's merely delivering a few extra easy laughs — and sidelining Ms. Best's majestic efforts in the process. This sort of mooning about is more than just misguided. It's misbegotten."


http://www.nysun.com/article/52170

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 11:16am

i loved this production. loved it.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:42pm

So did Chris Jones from the Chicago Tribune...
Tribune

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:54pm

Papa ~ So did I. I know it's not perfect, but I loved it.

[Joanne59]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:25pm

I'm with Papa and Jordangirl. I couldn't tear my eyes from the stage. After it was over, my hands were trembling. I loved it.
I'm left wondering how two people could see the same show and come away with such entirely different experiences. It's amazing to me.

[fflagg]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:39pm

Not a fan of Spacey's. Very mannered and from what I hear not a nice person off-stage.

Never heard of the Brit actress but good for her. She looks to take the Tony as Lead Actress along with Christine for Lead Musical Actress.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:00pm

Well, while Best looks like she might have a decent shot at a nod for Best Actress, in a year with Angela Lansbury, Marian Seldes, Vanessa Redgrave, Tonya Pinkins, and Julie White all in contention, I don't know if there are any sure-bets as to who might end up winning the category.

Other reviews:

Newsday is Mixed-to-Positive:
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/stage/ny-etmoon5163949apr10,0,5337358.story?coll=ny-theater-headlines


Clive Barnes gives it Three Stars:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04102007/entertainment/theater/midnight_shack_theater_clive_barnes.htm


The Daily News is Mixed:
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/culture/2007/04/10/2007-04-10_brit_star_outshines_spacey_in_moon.html


The Journal News is Mixed, with a rave for Spacey:
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070410/ENTERTAINMENT/704100314/1186/ENTERTAINMENTFRONT


Reuters is Mixed:
http://www.reuters.com/article/stageNews/idUSN1036652320070410

Updated On: 4/10/07 at 02:00 PM

[Pippin]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:26pm

"I'm left wondering how two people could see the same show and come away with such entirely different experiences. It's amazing to me."

That is the definition of true art.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:34pm

"'I'm left wondering how two people could see the same show and come away with such entirely different experiences. It's amazing to me.'

That is the definition of true art."

Definitely. Several times I've left a show thinking one thing and heard people around me either dismissing a show I loved or raving about a show I despised and have thought "Did we see the same show?" But I know that we all bring our own experiences and lives to whatever we see, so while something may touch a nerve with me and move me completely, other people may be bored stiff. And ditto on the flip side.

I usually just shrug and go on with my life. Though, feeling a little "playful" one day when walking past the TKTS windows in Times Square killing time before a show and someone offered me info about a play I had seen (a friend wanted an autograph from one of the actors in the play and I didn't want to just grab a playbill from the street) and despised, I asked if he was going to pay me to see it again. He said "So you weren't impressed?" And when I said "No," he laughed and said "You're not the first person who's said that. It seems to be a love it or hate it show." I agreed. Some shows are just like that.

Different strokes...

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 2:59pm

"from what I hear not a nice person off-stage"

I heard nothing but nice things about Spacey at the stagedoor.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:02pm

Regarding that, personable? Definitely not. Signs autographs and takes photos? Definitely.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:04pm

When I saw it last Tuesday, he was decent. Obviously exhausted, but he still acknowledged everyone outside. He was only signing playbills though, and he said as much to a woman down from me who had a magazine (GQ maybe?) and some people who had prints of movie stills. But he didn't say it in a rude way. Just very matter of fact. That policy may change after previews...I know during TVH Julianne and Bill only signed playbills during previews, but after opening they signed more things. They were still picky about it and didn't sign everything that was handed over. They were always gracious though.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:11pm

I do think Best will get the nomination, she's very good here. As far as Best Revival is concerned, I think it'll be:

TRANSLATIONS
JOURNEYS END
INHERIT THE WIND
& HEARTBREAK HOUSE

TALK RADIO as a play isn't that good to me, the draw there is Liev, and he's a great great actor in a ho-hum play. The reviews for TRANSLATIONS & JOURNEYS END were some of the best reviews any production on Broadway have ever recieved, and ITW will open in a couple of days, and I don't see it getting slammed - Doug Hughes has given Broadway a great revival. But IMO TRANSLATIONS was the definitive revival of a play this season. If voters don't remember HeartBreak House (which I didnt care for, but the critics did - then I guess Talk Radio will be nodded, but either way - that to me is the show that won't win.)

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:14pm

"I do think Best will get the nomination, she's very good here"

I hope so. I found her spellbinding. And she appeared truly humbled by the audience's response to her, both at curtain call and outside at the stage door.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:25pm

"He was only signing playbills though"

I understand that, I'd want to promote the show Im in, not movies I did in the past. But it depends, Spacey is a very big star, on the other hand, some Broadway stars who are not harrassed as much as Hollywood stars, and most are always nice and will sign more stuff, since they are not constantly approached on a regular basis and they still get to live a normal life.

[fairygodmother]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 3:43pm

from friends who work at the old vic, he is not a nice person, and quite predatory to certain young members of staff... unpleasant and innapropriate. which is a shame, because he was one of my favourite screen actors. on stage, after seeing him in london, i wsa not impressed. he seemed to shout everything - as many people have said, he was ruining the eofforts of meany and best who were excellent. i wasn't a fan of the play, but it was my first outing with it.

btw, i hate it when people slate english productions just because of where they've come from.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 5:05pm

I do remember that the driver of (I assume) Kevin's car (I assume because Best and Meaney walked away and he was the only one left) with a little black dog. Who proceeded to jump in the car when the door was opened. We all joked about the dog having its own car.

Updated On: 4/10/07 at 05:05 PM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 10:32pm

i'm curious how people who saw both compare it to the cherry jones/gabriel byrne/roy dotrice version.

i saw some of the reviews take it (this one) to task for enjoying the humor too much, but that was one of the things i really enjoyed about it. 3 hours of pathos is a long ass time.

Updated On: 4/11/07 at 10:32 PM

[somuchtodo]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 1:29pm

We, husband and I, were disappointed.
Eve Best is physically miscast - while she is quite dirty, she is not unattractive or large - the supposed reasons for her rejection by men. In addition, she shouts and screams her way through her angry lines; and loud is not a great substitute for emotion. She was must better in the second half, but Kevin Spacey was not. There was no apparent attraction from him towards this woman - that only he truly sees the beauty in. In that sense - he was physically miscast also.
Overall we left feeling unattached to the characters.