A Question re Mr Brantley- Page 2

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:14pm

I am so sick of the "Brantley hates everything!" argument.

Mr. Roxy clearly doesn't understand the function of a theatre critic. Such a tired, old argument.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:26pm

He doesn't hate everything, but the fact that he raved for Jill Paice and the only words he had for Debra Monk were "...Ms. Monk, is an appealing and polished veteran who never makes a technical misstep. But the original, star-defining wit that both actresses have shown on previous occasions never manifests itself here." is more proof that he's blinded by pretty blonde sopranos to the exclusion of great performances on the same stage.

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:35pm

i fell on the floor laughing @ his HIGH FIDELITY review.
compared to that, he was very kind to LEGALLY BLONDE.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/30/07 at 11:47pm

Rath, it's true, Paice certainly did not deserve praises from anyone. At least in L.A. she was definitely the weak link of the production...not bad, just so bland. After seeing GREY GARDENS way after CURTAINS (I've yet to see the latter on Broadway), I left wondering how great Erin Davie would be in Paice's role.
Yes, Brantley does have his faults, but he is a critic, he gets paid to express his "educated" opinion. Of course sometimes we'll disagree with him, but I've come to respect his reviews. After reading his review of LEGALLY BLONDE where he criticized the portrayal of the lesbian character, I respect him even more.

[Raspberry]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 12:06am

In the back of the Playbill, where it has the listings of all the current shows, Spring Awakening's little box includes this:

"THE BEST MUSICAL OF THE YEAR!"
-Ben Brantley, New York Times

Anyone know where that came from?

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 12:20am

I wonder where he got that. As far as I know, Brantley never reviewed Spring Awakening.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 3:48am

He put it in his 2006 Top Ten list which included both straight plays and musicals. The article was in the New York Times and was entitled "THEATER; The Year Broadway Was Worth The Ovation." Printed Dec 24, 2006. His list was in alphabetical order, but in the article itself he said Spring Awakening was the best musical of the year.

I can't link or cut and paste the article, as it is archived, and I don't feel like paying $4.95 for it, but here's a link to the article in Playbill which included his list.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/104463.html

[James885]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 9:40am

I don't think he hates everything. Didn't he give Hairspray a rave review when it opened? Some of his reviews are quite entertaining actually. While I can't say whether I agree because I haven't seen all the shows he reviews, some of them I find to be really funny (High Fidelity).

[lildogs]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 12:33pm

I always call him Miss Brantley, queenbee.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 12:43pm

He likes lots of things.

People just get mad when he doesn't rave about THEIR show.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 12:47pm

Exactly, Munk! It's so absurd.

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 1:24pm

Am I the only one that remembers his full out rave for Christine Ebersole?

NO-I remember it well and was shocked because I've known him to not like anyone aside from Ms. Chenoweth and Murphy.

The audio clip is even better-he flat out states she's giving the best performance he's ever seen, at least in recent memory.
Pretty high praise!