Alec Baldwin Sounds Off on Brantley- Page 2

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/7/13 at 9:22pm

He's just coming across as very bitter to me. Although the article was well-written.

[mordav]

Posted: 5/7/13 at 10:05pm

I'm not a fan of Brantley's, but I did not think this was a very good production of the play. I think the thing that surprised me most when I saw it (admittedly early in it's run) was that the audience laughed so often at times in the play that weren't funny, or supposed to be funny. I don't think Baldwin deliberately played it for laughs, but laughs there were.
Baldwin says in the article that "A critic's job is to evaluate two things: what you are attempting to do and how close do you come to pulling it off". I like that. I think he is right. My criticism of his performance is that his character should have contributed some menace and tension to the play, and that he didn't come close to pulling it off. The audience's laughter would have told him that. Brantley's criticism of the play was not good, but that's not why it is closing early.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/7/13 at 10:35pm

America's flagship paper deserves a better writer than Brantley. He's not awful, but he--and I'd throw the Baldwin-approved Isherwood in here as well--is unfailingly middle-brow. In fact, I find most of the New York theatre critics very poky and middle of the road.

He's really been there since 1996?? New blood, PLEASE!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/7/13 at 10:47pm

Lately I've been wondering if an editor even eyeballs what Brantley submits? I feel like I'm reading somebody's pre-first draft created with Dragon dictation software.

[srg129]

Posted: 5/7/13 at 11:35pm

Ah Poor Alec, maybe if you can't take the heat you should get out of the kitchen. Get used to it. There are hundreds of better actors willing to take your role. It's called being in the business. You want the glory then you need to take the criticism. This isn't like winning an Emmy Award when you win based on the popularity or ratings of your show as opposed to having real talent. You actually have to do quality work to have it praised. Find a better play to do good work in and maybe you wouldn't have to whine like a petulant child.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:23am

^^^^ And other cliches strung together! Fish in the seas! Who died and made you king? This ain't a little Joe Orton play! Like a moth to a flame!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:29am

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:29am

I was wondering when, what and whom was going to try to take the attention away from Patrick Healy and Scott Rudin. This did it!

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:52am

A critic's job is to evaluate two things: what you are attempting to do and how close do you come to pulling it off".

Brilliant....

[srg129]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 1:52am

In any case Alec, don't let the door hit your sorry ass too quick on your way out. People just weren't interested enough in you and this sorry revival.

Updated On: 5/8/13 at 01:52 AM

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 2:06am

I happen to really dislike Alec Baldwin and think his little rant on the Huffington Post is pathetic and childish. That said, he is spot on about Brantley in comparing him to the brilliance of Frank Rich. Fortunately, for those who weren't around or don't remember, one can find some of Rich's reviews online and through archives in most public libraries.

His analogy about people reading Brantley like doctors reading an x-ray is actually quite apt. Brantley rarely says anything an actual critic is supposed to say, you know like critically evaluate a work beyond just say who sounds pretty and if you walked on air or started to fall asleep or can't stop smiling, which is all Brantley ever says. Those are reviews we should be reading from people on Broadwayworld, and I'm not insulting everyone here but rather saying we don't expect a level of critical analysis and depth and are instead looking for what others like us thought.

Read Brantley when he raves, like Matilda. He says little about the actual work and doesn't attempt to actually analyze or critique anything he sees. He spoils some plot, tells you who looks pretty, and gives a few quotes that'll look good in lights on a marquee. Read his pans, like Pippin. The most intelligent thing in the piece is when he was quoting the Times critic from the original Pippin. He never says anything of actual value other than that he doesn't like the book and that Patina wasn't good.

Baldwin is wrong in saying that Isherwood is much better, but his point about Brantley is well taken.

[srg129]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 2:22am

Please if anyone here can write theater criticism, then stop whining and moaning about Brantley. Go to the Times tomorrow morning and interview for the job yourself. Or try any other of the top publications for the job of critic. Submit your critiques and if they are worthy of being published then you will have yourself a new job and you won't have to read anymore of Brantley's ramblings.

Good luck with that you Monday morning quarterbacks! And be ready for the backlash when people don't agree with you.

Updated On: 5/8/13 at 02:22 AM

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 2:30am

First Shia, now Ben....it is always the other person's fault.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 7:58am

I found it a nice production of a worthwhile play, and Tom Sturridge was wonderful. I hope he wins the Tony Award.

I think Baldwin wrote an articulate and accurate piece.

I think one of the problems with Orphans and other fine plays like Trip to Bountiful is the stacking of a ton openings all at once at season's end. It's too much, and less hyped and flashy works get lost in the. shufle. How many new shows can theatregoers be expected to or afford to see in one month?

In seasons past, producers were not all so Tony obsessed, so that openings were spread out more regularly in the course of the season, to the advantage of both the plays and theatregoers alike. In fact, it was the fall that proved the most popular time to open. Note, too, that openings in August did not prevent La Cage aux Folles or Hairspray from winning Tony's for best musical.

If Orphans had opened in November or December, when openings were scarce, it might have had a chance to secure a greater audience. Its early losing is unfortunate.

[Owen22]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 8:29am

I don't know, with the full paragraph of over-praise for Foster, something makes me believe that the origins of this article had as much to do with Brantley-hate as the dark side of Alec's brain imagining a glee-filled Shia somewhere laughing in victory over "Orphans' closing...

[sparrman]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 9:48am

Hilarious. I think Brantley is an excellent writer. Frank Rich was generally REVILED when he was the NYTimes reviewer.

Fact: No one ever likes the current NYTimes reviewer.

[suestorm]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 10:51am

""First Shia, now Ben....it is always the other person's fault.""

...and Kim, and the flight attendants, and the photographers, and his daughter, and Brantley....

He is just an old fashioned bully who thinks hes better then everyone else.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:06pm

There have been two themes this article has generated that have been repeated multiple times in this thread:

1) Alec Baldwin is right about Brantley.

2) Alec Baldwin lacks credibility because he is defensive about the closing of his show.

Does anybody have anything new to add to these ideas, or will the rest of the thread be filled with people having the exact same unique insight?

[Kad]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:11pm

I think Alec Baldwin is right about Brantley but lacks credibility because he is defensive about the closing of his show.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:16pm

Does it occur to anybody that he seems bitter because his show wasn't a hit? It just occurred to me.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:19pm

He is wrong about Brantley and is defensive because he is a narcissist.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:23pm

Namo, do you think he's bitter because Brantley gave him a bad review?

[Wynbish]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:24pm

Does he get bitter when he remembers that he was in Cat in the Hat?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:28pm

I woofed at him after the show the other night and he didn't woof back at me. It really hurt my feelings.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 12:32pm

Do you think he's not woofing because he has checked out since he didn't get nominated for a Tony? What does everybody think about what he had to say about Ben Brantley?