Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?

[Leadingplayer]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#1

Posted: 4/5/13 at 4:08am

Any reports?

[mar6411]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#2

Posted: 4/5/13 at 7:37am

First preview performance is tonight. You're a day early.

[AC126748]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#2

Posted: 4/5/13 at 2:01pm

Did anyone try for rush today?

"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

[AC126748]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#3

Posted: 4/5/13 at 2:01pm

Double post

"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

Updated On: 4/5/13 at 02:01 PM

[aasjb4ever]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#4

Posted: 4/5/13 at 10:57pm

BUMP. Anybody? Whizzer? I'm curious.

[After Eight]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#5

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:20pm

I so dislike one-person shows, and naturally there seems to be more and more of them. I can see why actors and producers love them. Why can't the aforementioned understand why audiences don't?

That said, I would say that this one provides enough laughs to be deemed acceptable. But it's like dragging a cart of rocks the length of a football field. Through grit, drive, muscle, and sweat one might make it to the goalpost, but one has to wonder if the game is ultimately worth the candle.

Bette Midler plays foul-mouthed agent to the stars, Sue Mengers. As the play begins, she is seated on her divan in her luxurious Beverly Hills mansion, 1981. She announces from the start that she will not be getting up, and she's true to her word. That poses yet another handicap to an already static genre.

From her seated position she recounts her life story and various anecdotes about the stars. The jokes come in a steady stream. Some land, others don't, but that's just about all there is to this 90 minute piece. The problem is that there is no comic momentum built; each joke starts from zero, scores whatever points it can, and then the next one starts once again at zero. The material itself just isn't strong enough to prevent one's interest from flagging. Only in the last fifteen minutes does it begin to connect on an emotional level.

Midler is adept, though she missed a few lines tonight. She's inherently funny, but she's more constricted in the part than one might have hoped. She also adopts an artificial speaking rhythm which wears out its welcome early.

To add a little life to the proceedings, she calls upon a member of the audience to come on stage to do her bidding. That helped add a few laughs and a bit of diversion to the evening.



Updated On: 4/5/13 at 11:20 PM

[April Saul]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#6

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:26pm

Eight, wouldn't you think that Midler talking about her own life for 90 minutes would be more interesting than her impersonating Sue Mengers? That was my first thought when I heard about this show.

[After Eight]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#7

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:31pm

April,

Probably. She would be free to cut loose and cut up as the free-wheeling, funloving Bette Midler we all know and love.

[April Saul]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#8

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:34pm

Exactly! It just seemed crazy for her to do this instead. Maybe that seemed too daunting, but who cares more about Mengers than they do about the Divine Miss M?

Bette, if you're reading this...

[Bettyboy72]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#9

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:36pm

Do people really know who Sue Mengers is or even care?

"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal "I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello

[Playbilly]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#10

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:37pm

Can't win a Tony playing herself.

"Through The Sacrifice You Made, We Can't Believe The Price You Paid..For Love!"

[musicman_bwayfan]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#11

Posted: 4/5/13 at 11:40pm

The rush was gone quickly, although they started to sell standing room at 7pm tonight. Liza Minelli was in the 3rd row and Debbie Reynolds was in the 4th row. Liza was laughing the whole time and enjoyed it but Debbie didn't make a sound.

[RippedMan]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#12

Posted: 4/6/13 at 12:33am

Entertainment Weekly did a story about Bette and Menger this week. The article actually didn't really make Menger sound all that interesting. She was an agent to a lot of famous people and had big parties? Okay. Where's the dramatic tension?

[FindingNamo]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#13

Posted: 4/6/13 at 12:35am

Well, first of all, are we supposed to pretend John Logan is a playwright, let alone a good one?

Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none

[15minutecall]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#14

Posted: 4/6/13 at 12:52am

FindingN, why do we need to pretend Logan's a playwright? Are Red or Never the Sinner really beneath the entire medium?

RippedMan, why does Mengers' profession or social prowess preclude her story from creating drama?

And April, are you hoping Midler cancels the play and substitutes a live chat? I think it's great, in theory, that she wants to do Logan's play. I think he's a good writer and deserves the benefit of the doubt.

[oasisjeff]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#15

Posted: 4/6/13 at 12:58am

"Well, first of all, are we supposed to pretend John Logan is a playwright, let alone a good one?"

Seeing as he's written multiple plays, including the one we are discussing here, it seems like there's little debate whether he is a playwright.

Now t/d/b/a haterobics on here.

[FindingNamo]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#16

Posted: 4/6/13 at 1:31am

I've seen two different regional productions of Red. Oh how good actors can cover up a multitude of sins. But average actors allow everything that's flawed stand out in stark relief. I'm willing to concede he's a screenwriter who dabbles in live entertainment pieces. But that's as far as I will go.

Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none

[FishermanBob]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#17

Posted: 4/6/13 at 4:59am

I saw Red in L.A. with Alfred Molina and Jonathan Groff. It was a riveting and powerful piece and I loved it. Was part of that due to Molina's skill in playing Rothko? Of course, but that's true with any show. A great actor delivering a memorable performance will almost always elevate a production though sometimes the elevation doesn't get past so-so. If someone doesn't like Logan and thinks he's a glorified screenwriter, that's there prerogative. I don't have any need to try to convince someone else to change their view any more than they would have any luck changing mine.

[darquegk]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#18

Posted: 4/6/13 at 11:58am

Namo, I won't argue and say that Logan is a great playwright.

But to say that "only great or good playwrights are playwrights, and everyone else doesn't even count as that" is a fallacy. There are great playwrights, competent playwrights, and bad playwrights. If he's bad, he's bad. But he still is part of the medium, which must have its low end as well as its high.

[FindingNamo]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#19

Posted: 4/6/13 at 12:07pm

You're right. However, I *am* starting to question whether people who write vehicles of strung together anecdotes so a star can sit and stare at an audience and spout them off counts as anything at all.

And I love Bette. Adore her. But I just feel like this is asking too much.

Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none

[PalJoey]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#20

Posted: 4/6/13 at 12:09pm

If this is bad, someone will have to answer for it.

[egghumor]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#21

Posted: 4/6/13 at 12:22pm

I'm usually not so pessimistic, but I don't see how this could possibly be any good.

[Bettyboy72]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#22

Posted: 4/6/13 at 2:43pm

After looking at photos of Mengers, I think Sally Struthers was the obvious first choice.

"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal "I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello

[egghumor]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#23

Posted: 4/6/13 at 2:51pm

You know, bettyboy, you're right! Very funny.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Anyone see Bette Midler's first show?#24

Posted: 4/6/13 at 3:21pm

But I just feel like this is asking too much.

That's exactly what I thought when I read that she literally doesn't move for 90 minutes. Unless you are just jonesing to hear about the life and times of Sue Metzger, it sounds like it's going to be a trying evening for people once the novelty of seeing Bette Midler live and in person wears off.