A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
#1A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 3:30pmAnyone going to the first preview tonight? This is most definitely my most anticipated show this season.
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I know you.
#2A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 3:57pmI'll be there and am interested to see what Cumming does with this. I missed it at Lincoln Center, but only heard good things.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
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#2A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 3:58pmI'm seeing it on Tuesday night. A friend called out of the blue and asked if I wanted to see it. Very excited.
wickedlyfantine
Swing Joined: 11/5/12
#3A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 4:06pmI'd love to see it. I'm curious about the location of the rush seats. If they aren't good I'm going to have to start saving for a good seat because I'm really intrigued by the concept...
TheGingerBreadMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/7/12
#4A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 4:08pmVery excited to see this. I am actually auditioning for an amateur production of MACBETH tonight, so I am looking forward to see how the 2 productions compare. (I know that this will be quite different)
TheGingerBreadMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/7/12
#7A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 4:38pm
Well, thank you! Glad it worked. I just posted something along these lines on a Facebook post related to the subject:
"A Scottish gay
Does the Scottish Play
In a one-man way,
For a limited stay
On the Great White Way,
For enormous pay,
Especially for
Two shows a day!"
(It helps if you sing it to the tune of 'Grim Grinning Ghosts' from the Haunted Mansion.)
#8A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 5:05pm
It was one of the best things I saw last year.
It was one of the best things I saw in years.
#9A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 5:36pmI can't wait to hear how this is! Macbeth has always been my favorite Shakespeare play.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#11A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 9:48pm
Something wickedly entertaining this way comes, and not on a heath near Forres, but on the stage of the Barrymore.
As you walk into the lobby you see the call board that states: The roles of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo and all other roles will be played by Alan Cumming. The false assumption to be made is that this is one-man show; it is not. There are two other actors, although they speak but only one or two lines of dialogue.
The play has been set in what appears to be an Eastern-Bloc Soviet mental institution during the 70s. The walls are covered in limestone green tiles, there are several beds, a bathtub, several evidence bags, three flat-screen TVs and a fresh set of clothes.
A bloodied Cumming is brought in and cleaned up. The two doctors observe as he recounts the tragedy that brought him to this place in a schizophrenic blaze of glory for 100 minutes.
Truly I can't say enough about his performance. It is masterful. Just sensational work. (It is also the first time King Duncan may ever have stolen the show in a production of Macbeth!!)
I loved so many moments, and I really don't want to spoil anything here. You really must just go and see it for yourself.
Of course Cumming is only one of the stars of the show, and he would be much less without the brilliant co-direction of John Tiffany. He first gave us the simplistic beauty of Once and then the glorious mounting of Glass Menagerie at ART, and then he pulls a rabbit out of a hat with this. If I saw his ideas on paper I would have laughed and said, "You're kidding, right? This will NEVER work." Well somehow he pulled off a high concept Macbeth with a precise vision that would have caused most directors to stumble and fall. This is very selfish, but I hope Tiffany never works outside of New York again!
I'm surprised how much I liked this. Very highly recommended.
One warning though- If you aren't familiar with Macbeth I would strongly suggest reading a summary before seeing it. It may prove to be quite confusing otherwise.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
#12A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 9:54pmSo does this mean it's Cumming vs. Letts?
#13A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 10:03pmPersonally I thought those two were the best male performances of the year, with Nathan Lane, Seth Numrich and David Hyde Pierce being my other favorites. If I was making the Tony category for Lead Actor in a Play those would be my picks.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Luv2goToShows
Broadway Star Joined: 9/13/09
#14A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 11:14pm
Glad you liked it WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel, I was lucky enough to catch it last year and thought it was awesome. My only experience with Macbeth was with having to read it in school, years ago, either HS or JHS. So I did as you are suggesting others to do, familiarize myself again. Luckily last year there were 2 productions of Macbeth playing too, which I attended.
Alan Cumming is just fabulous in this role, it was like he took you with him to a dark place. I intend to catch it again.
#15A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 11:19pm
So it's really Macbeth in its entirety?
#16A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 11:31pmKing Duncan is such an underwritten role, having just experienced playing him and Old Siward in my University's production even though I loved the character. How did he make his Duncan so wonderful.
"I think lying to children is really important, it sets them off on the right track" -Sherie Rene Scott-
#17A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 11:40pm
Luv2go, I'm glad you liked the previous incarnation. I would be curious to hear if they changed anything for the Broadway production.
ljay, The text has been cut, but a good portion of it is there. The section on the ingredients the witches put in the cauldron has been cut and other bits here and there. I would guess like 75% of it seems to be there?
E.Davis, Cumming plays Duncan like a silly, somewhat effeminate fop type. I've never seen the King played for such unexpected laughs before. It was a surprising break in the tension and had the audience cracking up!
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#18A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/7/13 at 11:57pmSo glad to hear god things? How was the ending staged (I know I'm asking for a spoiler)
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#19A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/8/13 at 12:03amI am going to try to get down there before graduation. I really need to see this, such a fresh and creative take on the characters and text it seems.
"I think lying to children is really important, it sets them off on the right track" -Sherie Rene Scott-
#20A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/8/13 at 12:11am
If you want to know the final staging...
SPOILERS**************
Cumming has stripped down to his underwear and is covered in blood. When he fights with Macduff he is strangled/drowned in the bathtub (which is also shown from an aerial view on the flat-screen TVs. Cumming holds his breath forever it seems as his legs and arms stop twitching and he holds still under the water.
When he comes out he puts the baby doll (who has been Malcolm) on a wheelchair, which he has been using as a throne, and gives a speech about "All hail the new king."
Then the two doctors enter and they sedate him and put him in bed. He looks at them and repeats what he says at the beginning "When shall we three meet again?" as if this story plays on an endless loop in this warped mind. Blackout.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Updated On: 4/8/13 at 12:11 AM
#21A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/8/13 at 12:19am^ I got chills just reading that. As always, thank you Whizzer for a detailed report!
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
Ed_Mottershead
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#22A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/8/13 at 11:25amWhizzer, how did the Porter scene go?
BroadwayEd
fallingawake
Understudy Joined: 8/30/09
#23A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/8/13 at 12:20pm
I saw this last year at Lincoln Center and it was absolutely incredible!
There has got to be some sort of acting technique to memorizing such a large portion of the play. Would he just use stage cues, and treat it like a series of monologues?
#24A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/8/13 at 12:35pmEd, As I remember the Porter's monologue was cut. It's a shame because Cumming could have had a good time with it, but I understand that cuts to the text had to be made, and the Porter is an easy cut that doesn't disrupt the flow of the plot.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Wynbish
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
#25A drum. A drum. MACBETH doth come.
Posted: 4/8/13 at 12:48pmIt's interesting how the three in "when shall we three meet again" has almost shifted to mean the patient and the two doctors, in this production of it.
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