Accent on Youth First Preview Reviews

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I just saw this last night (still in previews) and I enjoyed the gentle and genteel comedy on offer. I'm not one for detailed reviews but the three performances which stood out for me were David Hyde Pierce as the playywright Steven Gaye (another charming comedic performance with undercurrents of pathos and passion), Charles Kimbrough as Flogdell, the playwright's spritely butler, and Mary Catherine Garrison as the flighty and mercurial Linda.

It could probably use a little trimming and tightening before opening night to improve momentum (I wasn't too keen on the curtain drop as a transition between scenes) but overall it was a very enjoyable night out. Does anyone know if this production is holding 'talkback' sessions after Saturday matinee performances?

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Thanks for the info about talkbacks. I'm only in NYC till Sunday and have booked to see AOY again with a friend on Saturday afternoon, partly in the hope of of a post-show Q&A. Will have to wait and hope and see.

The audience at the performance I saw seemed to be skewed towards the older theatre-goer. The understated ("genteel") humour went down well, plenty of titters and giggles throughout - as you say this isn't really a 'ROTFL' type play.

I thought the chemistry between the lead characters worked well, in that the main pairing seemed unlikely at first, then passionate, then conflicted. I thought the interaction between DHP as Gaye and Charles Kimbrough as his butler was excellent, they played off each other very well.

And please, call me Tigg - I didn't mean to leave the caps lock on when I registered as TIGGOSAURUS.

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Glad you enjoyed it. I found it exceedingly dull and flat -- nothing awful, but just a sort of vague "why am I watching this?" feel, even though I love DHP. This is maybe a smidge better, but it reminded me most of TO BE OR NOT TO BE (though the humor here is considerably less broad).

I'm not sure I get the term "elegant" humor? What's the point of doing a comedy if you don't want them to be rolling on the floor with laughter?

I saw this show almost a week ago, and almost entirely forgot I saw it all the next day. It was incredibly underwhelming. I enjoyed DHP's performance, as well as the butler, and I agree that they played off each other VERY nicely. They got the biggest laughs from me.

My biggest issue with the play is the script itself. It felt like in an attempt to cover the events of a full year in 2 hours, it ended up severely lacking in continuity. I felt no connection to the characters or their relationships, because it went from a crazy love triangle situation to one of them married to someone else entirely in the span of five minutes. I can't even write adequately about it because I hardly remember a damn thing from the show, it was so forgettable!

It didn't help that the curtain dropped between scene changes, which weren't even scene changes! The set never changed - they dropped the curtain and played transition music to change which actors were on stage. Wouldn't a blackout suffice? I also found it strange that in a play that is pretty clearly written in 3 acts, the intermission was after the first act. The first act was roughly a half hour, and the second act was at least double that (or maybe that's how it felt).

There were also a few instances of fairly obvious dropped lines and a moment where the actors cracked on stage and briefly started laughing. The laughter, at least, was one of the highlights for me! In an otherwise static show, it was a fun moment and woke me up a bit since the actors were clearly enjoying themselves.

Despite all this, I DID have a good time. The show had redeeming moments and some very strong performances. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but maybe it will improve through previews.

There were scene changes if you were paying attention. Do you think the piano magically appeared out of nowhere, and then later disappeared into thin air?