#2
Posted: 5/29/16 at 2:08am
Oh, I forgot that this was happening... As you can tell, I didn't go... I would like to know how it was, as I hadn't seen the original production, and I'm interested in catching it this time around. How is Sean? How is it at the Booth rather than Studio 54?
#3
Posted: 5/29/16 at 8:26am
I haven't seen this yet either, but I would definitely like to. I enjoyed the show with Parsons, and I'd like to see what Hayes does with it.
Updated On: 5/29/16 at 08:26 AM
#5
Posted: 6/2/16 at 7:59am
I saw the show last night and found it to be pretty lackluster. I didn't care for it much with Parsons last summer either, but at least that production had some energy and Parsons was very charismatic. It also didn't help that Parsons was selling out the much larger Studio 54 and filling it with fans who were really yucking it up. In contrast, The Booth was had plenty of empty seats and the audience laughed at like every fourth joke; Hayes seemed bogged down by the hoary script as opposed to Parsons who managed to rise above the material with a better success rate.
As for the play, it's basically the same as I remember it except for some new Trump and Ted Cruz jokes. There's also an obligatory Hamilton reference (one of the "audience questions" is, "Why are we here?" to which Hayes responds, "Because you couldn't get tickets to Hamilton. Don't worry- neither could I."
It reminded me of that line from Addams Family when Carolee said something like, "What's the one thing everyone wants, but so few people have?" Neuwirth responded, "Book of Mormon tickets?" (The original answer in previews was "Healthcare." Why do these lesser shows only remind us of the shows we would actually rather be seeing, even as a joke?
I like Sean Hayes as a performer. I grew up watching Will & Grace, enjoyed him in Promises, Promises and have a greater affinity for him than Parsons, but last night was underwhelming. At least the performance started at 7 and I was back on the street at 8:30 with the rest of my evening to spend.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#6
Posted: 6/2/16 at 10:04am
It really feels like this was rushed back too soon...
#7
Posted: 6/2/16 at 11:03am
I can't comment on Broadway previews, but I saw this in its LA engagement a few months ago and thought it was brilliant. I never saw Jim Parsons in the role, so I can't compare, but Sean Hayes had me laughing the entire time.
#8
Posted: 6/2/16 at 11:21am
Design/production wise was it the same? I remember people talking about Parsons cool entrance.
#9
Posted: 6/2/16 at 11:35am
It should be. It's still pasks set.
My father (AIDS)
My sister (AIDS)
My uncle and my cousin and her best friend (AIDS, AIDS, AIDS)
The gays and the straights
And the white and the spades
#10
Posted: 6/2/16 at 12:05pm
The design is the same- it's just done on a smaller scale to fit The Booth. At Studio 54 it felt more like the massive set of a variety show, especially with the couch and the staircase. It doesn't feel near as sprawling and grand in the smaller theater, but the proscenium frames it better now.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#11
Posted: 6/2/16 at 12:19pm
The first box office numbers weren't bad -- $122,000 for two performances over a holiday weekend, at 94% capacity -- but I wonder how it will hold up over the long hot summer. If this was 10 years ago, when Hayes was just coming off WILL AND GRACE, this might have been something that could pack the houses every night. But as Whizzer said, there are already empty seats on weeknights. Perhaps business will pick up on weekends and that will float it. And I can't imagine it's a terribly expensive show to produce: one set, three actors, minimal props. Even if Sean is getting a nice salary, it shouldn't cost that much to break even.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#12
Posted: 6/2/16 at 11:40pm
I saw it tonight and thought it was really wonderful. I didn't see it with Parsons, but I bought Hayes was fantastic. The house seemed full tonight and the audience ate it up. Whether it's back too soon or not, I can't say. I'm just glad it did come back so I got a chance to see it with Sean Hayes.
#13
Posted: 6/3/16 at 1:06am
I also saw it in LA over the Winter and absolutely loved every minute of it. Thought it was clever, set design was bright and colorful, Joe Mantello's direction razor sharp AND Sean Hayes was extraordinary.
Throughly loved this show - never saw it with Parsons - and highly recommend
Having just seen Color Purple, Streetcar, Dear Evan Hansen, She Loves Me and Long Day's Journey - I would put this very close to the top of my list.
A throughly enjoyable evening of theater
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