Ann Previews?

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:14pm

Did the old thread get deleted? I want to hear everyone's thoughts. I actually managed to catch this in Chicago and thought Holland Taylor was phenomenal and the play was decent but I'm curious to hear others' thoughts on how it's playing now.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:17pm

Well, I'm pretty sure it's had one preview -- and that was last night.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:19pm

Taylor is wonderful and commanding, but the script drags on for too long. It would do well in a 90-minute intermissionless production. But I fear that if they don't make cuts it may not be as successful as it could be.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:19pm

Yes, I'm aware, so I'm quite confident at least some people have seen it. There was a thread yesterday but it appears to have been deleted.

[egnarotsew]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 3:47pm

I agree with what was said. Taylor is great as Richards but the play itself is too long. As I was leaving the theater I heard a few people say that they wished that the play focused more on her career and not a day in the life. I enjoyed it for the most part but I don't think it will last long.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 5:16pm

Wait, it's NOT intermission-less?

[DAME]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 5:39pm

I did not think much of it when I saw it in its original incarnation. And frankly.. I am surprised it is getting a NY production.

Updated On: 2/19/13 at 05:39 PM

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 5:42pm

It's not. It's just about two hours, with a ten-minute break. But it could EASILY be trimmed to a taut 90 minutes. And they'd be stupid not to.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 7:16pm

Perhaps Ms Taylor likes having a break.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/19/13 at 11:05pm

I saw Ann tonight and Holland Taylor is wonderful, even if the play isn't on the level of her acting. It's kind of in the realm of Looped or even The Iron Lady: a good performance that gets bogged down by the murky material.

I think Ann could become a cut above Looped if they do some trimming and make it one act. As a previous poster said there's too much fat, and it needs to be trimmed. The final section after her term as governor ends goes on too long, and really is unnecessary altogether.

Taylor feels so natural in the role and you can tell she's very passionate about the piece. I have a feeling she wears that wig at home, or perhaps hosts dinner parties in character. She fills Ann's shoes like a well-worn glove.

The humor is folksy and genuinely funny, but not bust a gut hilarious. Taylor knows her way around quips and zingers, so that's fun to watch.

I did get caught up in Ann's political message and I can see why it was easy for people to like her and give her their vote. If Taylor ran for office I'd probably vote for her too.

[BIG BALONEY]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 12:07am

She held her own tonight and did a fine job all alone on that large stage. The play moved quickly for me and ended at ten.I think the short interval was really needed for her to just rest for ten minutes. God luck with your show Holland Taylor, for you won me over.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 12:32am

How were the tech elements? did they fill that big stage or use mostly just the apron?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 9:24am

RippedMan,

The play is divided into several sections, and only one of them has a big set.

Ann begins with Taylor giving a commencement speech, and for this scene there simply a podium and some school banners flanking the proscenium.

Transitioning from the speech Taylor begins to speak about her early childhood and young married life. For this portion black and white projections are shown on a large screen behind her.

The final section of the first act is the start of her governorship. Her office set is large and comes forward on a track. I looks like the set to November if that helps.

Act Two picks up with governor's office set. The fourth section takes place in her New York office after 9/11. This set is only a desk and a chair.

The play wraps up by going back to the commencement speech.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 10:52am

Thanks! Just wondering. Seems like an odd choice to put this in the Beaumont. And not put the Nathan Lane play in the bigger theater.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 11:03am

I wasn't sitting in the mezz, but Taylor's performance manages to fill the space well.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 2/20/13 at 8:15pm

Why are you people always so obsessed that every damned thing should be 90 minutes and no intermission??? You're probably the same people who would eliminate an intermission from a classic three act play and jam two acts into one just so you can get home earlier. Sometimes things are structured for a reason, and it has nothing to do with your train schedule or attention span.

[dwperkins]

Posted: 2/23/13 at 1:24am

I saw it on Wednesday night and loved it! The performance is so generous and spontaneous seeming. And it's so different from her role on 2 and a half men.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 2/23/13 at 8:10am

Matt, I have sat through many marathons and some of my favorite plays are three hours or more. Your generalization is unfair.

The play is too long. It wanders. It needs to be trimmed, but if it is trimmed an intermission would seem pointless. On top of it all, the first twenty minutes of the second act are exactly the same as the last ten of the first act. So structure is not a reason.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 2/23/13 at 10:49am

If a show is good (Long Day's Journey, Our Town, some Shakespeare works) who cares if it's 3-5 hours long? As long as it holds our attention. But if it drags along (like the new Cinderella, or apparently like this), then it needs a little tweaking.

Does she have any ghostwriters on this piece too? Apparently she wwrote it herself?

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 2/23/13 at 7:35pm

Agreed. I've sat through 90 minute intermissionless shows that have dragged and felt like forever (American Idiot most recently) and I've sat through three hour plus shows that have flown by (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.)

In Chicago, and from what I've read the changes aren't substantial so I doubt I'll be going back, the show is way too long and completely loses focus. This is one where not having an intermission and trimming a solid 20 minutes would help significantly. That said I can appreciate the need for an act break to give Ms. Taylor some rest seeing as it is a one woman show. However, that doesn't detract from the point that the show's still too long.

[A Director]

Posted: 2/23/13 at 10:30pm

Ann is better than the last Broadway play Ms Taylor appeared in.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 2/23/13 at 10:46pm

"Does she have any ghostwriters on this piece too?"

Yes, they're listed in alphabetical order on the window card. Unlike the last piece, in which they were listed in order of appearance.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/23/13 at 11:32pm

This show's placement in the Beaumont baffles. Master Class would be lost in the Beaumont (maybe), and it's about Maria Callas. Richards' profile and persona, larger than life to be sure, aren't Beaumont larger; more Golden or Booth larger. I wish this well, because both the fascinating subject and the gifted actor are sublime. But from a producing standpoint, an oddity, in a bizarre venue for 2013.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 2:06am

Well it can't cost too much to run, so I'm sure if they sell even 1/3 to 1/2 of the theatre, they will more than cover the operating cost. Didn't someone say on another thread that another play was supposed to go into the Beaumont but it was cancelled abruptly?

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 2/24/13 at 2:32am

LCT is working on a production of The King and I which supposedly was supposed to be ready for this spring but has now been pushed back to the fall at the earliest. It's pretty clear Ann is being used as filler for what would otherwise be an empty theatre since LCT doesn't have anything else ready. I don't think anyone is expecting Ann to sellout the Beaumont.