After Miss Julie Reviews

[Rentfan931]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 6:23pm

Didn't see a thread on it so I decided to start one. The show opens tonight so post the reviews here.

[LearnToBounce]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 6:41pm

The Wall Street Journal is a Pan:

"Mr. Marber claims that "After Miss Julie" is "in its way, truer" than the original play on which it's based, but all he's done for "Miss Julie" is tart it up with politics and vulgarize it beyond recognition.

As for Ms. Miller, a model turned second-tier movie star, all she does is stalk around the stage striking vampy poses and looking really, really skinny. I almost felt sorry for her, but the truth is that she has no more business playing a classic stage role than I have posing for the cover of Vogue. The Roundabout Theatre Company should be ashamed of itself for asking her to do so."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704597704574485933547494794.html

[dshnookie]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 6:59pm

My initial reaction to that review was "oh sh!t". I'm afraid this won't be the last fork plunged into Miss Julie.

Dear Roundabout, leave the stunt casting to 'Chicago'. Updated On: 10/22/09 at 06:59 PM

[gustof777]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 7:22pm

annnnd Teachout's credibility drops even more.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 7:24pm

I'm going to say this again, like I said on the first preview thread: Does anyone really care? I feel like even if this show got raves no one would really care. It's kind of ho-hum. It just feels like a filler for the season. Nothing new. Nothing exciting.

[bschneid76]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 7:29pm

I thought it was a pretty steamy production. I never liked the original Miss Julie, but I found this production quite exciting. I see it not being everyone's taste but you can't beat the three performances.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 7:33pm

^ Please define "really care." After all, at the end of the day, they are all plays or musicals. Does anyone really care about any of them?

And to answer your question: I'm sure Todd Haines really cares. If this play receives the same dismal reviews as did Birdie, that'll be one more reason for the Roundabout to say…bye bye Toddy!
(Bad joke I know, but couldn’t resist.)

[gustof777]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 7:51pm

While this production and play may not be everyones cup of tea it is nowhere near the monstrosity that is playing at Henry Miller and does not deserve anywhere near the pans that show got.

Word of Mouth is up

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/our-word-mouth-panel-split-starry-after-miss-julie/

Randi loved, Phyllis liked, and Tom was bored.

Updated On: 10/22/09 at 07:51 PM

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 8:34pm

Variety: Very Negative

"Pity there's so little cooking in Mark Brokaw's enervated production. Like Strindberg's play, Patrick Marber's blunt postwar-English update of the 1888 drama about class and sex requires an actress capable of negotiating wild swings and reversals. But Sienna Miller is out of her depth in the title role, making her dance of power and death an unaffecting tragedy."

"Sienna Miller looks smashing as the wayward aristocrat, but this is a complex character fraught with contradictions, and she comes off simply as a loony tart whose cat-and-mouse games careen out of control."



http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941432.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

[broadwayman17]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 9:08pm

Entertainment Weekly: C
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20314943,00.html

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 10:53pm

Brantley didn't like it:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/theater/reviews/23after.html?ref=theater

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 11:37pm

From Brantley's review:

"She conveys Anger, Self-Abasement, Sorrow and Fear very clearly and, on occasion, convincingly. But the segues among these feelings are never natural, let alone inevitable, so that when events take a turn for the lurid, the audience is laughing when it should be recoiling."

Bingo.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/22/09 at 11:45pm

i'm glad this show is getting the pans it deserves. definitely one of the worst plays of the season. i hope Roundabout cleans up it's act...and fast!

[April Saul]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 12:23am

I liked it, no matter what they say.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 12:23am

I absolutely loved this production, so this makes me very sad. I was hoping it'd be getting better than this.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 12:41am

That quote that you pulled out, frogs_fan, couldn't be more on the nose except for the fact that I blame the direction just as much as Miller. It was her Broadway debut, this is hard material, and the direction blows.

[Robert Taylor]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 12:57am

I'm rather shocked Brantley was as kind to the production as he was...and by kind I mean he just said it sucked without going all "9 to 5" on its @$$.

Updated On: 10/23/09 at 12:57 AM

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 12:58am

Man, all these bad reviews are bumming me out. I was hoping it would be an awesome production. Oh well.

I'm so glad I only shelled out $20 for my ticket lol.

[gustof777]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 1:23am

I am so with you bythesword84.

I was invigorated and inspired by the performers and love this production very much. I thought on top of the performances, the set and lighting were absolutely spot on and was captivated by Marber's telling of the play. Sienna Miller gave what I found to be a heartbreaking and stunning performance and was incredibly disappointed to hear her tossed aside as another measly film star trying to prove herself as a stage actor to no avail. I appreciate that Brantley at least specified what he felt her performance was missing but in looking at the round up of all the reviews I'm saddened to read Miller is taking almost all the heat.

I really had my fingers crossed that they'd like it. I know regardless I will still be making a return trip to the American Airlines.

Updated On: 10/23/09 at 01:23 AM

[JeaniusIsMe]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 1:32am

Brantley hit it on the head in my opinion- particularly about the complete lack of chemistry between Sienna and Johnny.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 1:44am

Exactly, gustof, exactly. I'm sure I'll be going back too.

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 2:03am

"She conveys Anger, Self-Abasement, Sorrow and Fear very clearly and, on occasion, convincingly. But the segues among these feelings are never natural, let alone inevitable, so that when events take a turn for the lurid, the audience is laughing when it should be recoiling."

Exactly. That sums up the show perfectly.

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 2:50am

Matthew is negative:

Sienna is beautiful, yes, but evinces no sense of the control Julie must be able to viciously exert over John. Life for this Julie is a game, not an obstacle to be conquered, and Sienna treats threats against her existence, her station, and her soul as if they could be dispelled by a few stiff margaritas. That she could be shattered by her innate inability to be and have what she desires - or anything else - is frankly laughable.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/index.html

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 2:53am

After all these, I wouldn't expect Sienna Miler around Broadway soon.

Theatermania is negative

Garbed in Michael Krass' accurate notion of a 1940's summer frock and shoes and Paul Huntley's period wig, Miller -- who is making her Broadway debut here -- doesn't disgrace herself. She's good, but hers is a superficial Miss Julie, rather than a person of emotional depth. Part of the difficulty is that Miller simply doesn't quite have enough control of her stagecraft to convincingly appear to-the-manor-born. Moreover, through much of the action, Miller gives the impression she's studied Bette Davis during her Warner Brothers days, and she struts around the stage with the annoying one-foot-crossing-in-front-of-the-other walk that fashion models affect on runways.

http://www.theatermania.com/broadway/reviews/10-2009/after-miss-julie_22120.html

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/23/09 at 2:54am

Poor Roundabout lol. I didn't think this show was THAT bad.