Anyone seeing the first preview of A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE tonight?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 5:58pm

Be sure to let us know how it is!

With this starting tonight and the absolutely brilliant NEXT FALL starting tomorrow, let the race for Best Play begin!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 6:03pm

I'll be there! (and I'll be at NEXT FALL tomorrow)

[maxximumvolume]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 6:11pm

I'll be there, and I *LOVE* that I know absolutely nothing about it - not what the set looks like, not what it's about. It will hopefully be a beautiful surprise. Thoughts later!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 6:43pm

WAT --- Can I tell you how very, VERY jealous I am of you right now?

[Elke]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 6:45pm

I'll be there too. And I'm super excited about it. Of all the shows that I'm seeing during this theatre trip, this is probably the one that I'm looking forward to most.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 8:56pm

I'm seeing this tomorrow night and I am hoping to rush Next Fall on Wednesday.

I must say, I have been looking forward to Spokane since it was announced. It's probably my most anticipated thing of the season.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:16pm

I just got back from the first preview and I enjoyed it a lot. Christopher Walken is giving an amazing performance, and I think he'll get very positive reviews. The rest of the cast is strong, even if their characters all have small moments when I found them to be a little annoying.

The play itself was very funny and kept me totally engaged. I don't really want to give away anything about the plot because it has constant little surprises. Basically it's about a man who is in search of his hand that got lost 47 years ago.

The audience was really into it and basically roared with laughter after every joke.

Definitely one of the better plays on Broadway this season.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:17pm

Did he sign?

[Elke]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:22pm

I absolutely loved it! Had some trouble understanding Christopher Walken at times, but apart from that, what a riot! No weak link in this 4-person cast and the story is... bizarre, yet hilarious.

I'm terrible at writing in depth reviews, so I'll leave that up to the others (who hopefully share my opinion).

[Little-Lotte]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:25pm

I was also there tonight and the vibe in the audience was great. This is a McDonagh play so lots of swears and very much a black comedy. Walken was excellent and does what only he can do best. Loved, LOVED Rockwell but I have a thing for him so I'm sure a bit of bias is coming out there, but he was hysterical. I thought Mackie stole every moment which is hard to do when you're working with someone like Walken. Honestly the weakest link was Kazan to me. I've seen her work before and she's usually great but there was something caricature about her performance. Maybe she needs to spend more time with it or something but it made her stand out and not in a good way, with the other cast. I loved every minute of it and will definitely be catching it again before the run is over!

[dave1606]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:27pm

I saw it tonight from the rush seats, which are fine, but just hope you don't have someone freakishly tall in front of you as I did tonight. I basically saw this persons head for most of the night with slight moments of what was actually going on. That said, I was feeling very sick tonight, like to the point where I shouldn't have gone to the theater at all, but I was so excited for this I was determined.

I think I would have been underwhelmed either way. The play starts of with a very strong (and quite funny) scene but the minute Christopher Walken's character left the stage things got decidedly less interesting. Anthony Mackie was the big surprise for me, with Sam Rockwell disappointing in what I thought was a pretty dull character, and the precise moment the play lost me was Sam Rockwell's monologue which was neither funny nor useful in terms of plot.

Overall, there were some very funny parts of the play, and I thoroughly enjoyed Walken and Mackie, but it isn't something that I would pay 116.50 for.

The audience seemed to be about sixty percent into and 40 percent not with at least four walkouts. I didn't stay for the stagedoor, but it looked like quite a crowd was building.
Updated On: 2/15/10 at 11:27 PM

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:29pm

I'm seeing Next Fall tomorrow night and I'm gonna try to see this on Wednesday **goes to check if they have a show**

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:38pm

I did stagedoor and everyone came out, but Walken only signed for about 2 people before being escorted to his car.

[BroadwayBaby]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:41pm

was there any gunfire in Behanding? If so how much? and when? Anything else overly loud, yeah I'm VERY paranoid about the gunfire...

thanks in advance

[dave1606]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:43pm

about ten minutes in..yes there was.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:51pm

dave1606- I agree that during Sam's monologue in the middle of the play I kept thinking "Where is all this going and why do we care?," but by the end everything he talked about was incorporated into the plot and turned out to be useful information. I guess you just really had to wait a while for the payoff.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 2/15/10 at 11:59pm

I thought it was OK. Certainly better than most of the new plays this season. I did laugh through a lot of it. I did think there was too much use of profanity, but I guess that's just Martin McDonagh's style (I hated The Pillowman and didn't care much for The Lieutenant of Inishmore). I think I just prefer Arthur Miller or Noel Coward. Still, a lot of the audience seemed to be really into it...so definitely see it for yourself.

LOVED Walken's performance...but if I were a Tony voter, I'd give Liev Schreiber the edge.

Liked Anthony Mackey for the most part, but couldn't help but think what Jon Michael Hill (Superior Donuts) could have done with the role.

[maxximumvolume]

Posted: 2/16/10 at 2:17am

The acting needs a bit of work, particularly Zoe who hasn't quite nailed her character yet but is still lovely, but Walken and especially Mackie were brilliant, and Sam Rockwell was fairly good too. It's a wild ride of black comedy that becomes surprisingly touching at the end. The set and lighting was gorgeous and uniquely integrated into the theatre. It's a pretty nasty and audacious play, but I will not give anything away beyond that. I had a great time and definitely want to go back, as I think things will just get better.

Zoe and Mackie signed for me, as did Martin who was lovely and appreciative.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 2/16/10 at 4:18am

God I hope this extends till at least early August.

[ken8631]

Posted: 2/16/10 at 8:02am

Have front row seats for tonight. Is the stage high?

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 2/16/10 at 9:08am

Ken, my seats for Saturday are close also. Would you please let me know if there is a lot of spitting and/or other projectile fluids? I am glad to know about the gunshot. Noises like that scare the heck out of me.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 2/16/10 at 9:28am

Could someone verify that the show is 90 minutes with no intermission? Just curious.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 2/16/10 at 9:30am

By what time does one have to arrive at the box office for rush tickets? Thanks.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 2/16/10 at 9:54am

"Could someone verify that the show is 90 minutes with no intermission? Just curious."

The dress rehearsal ran 85 minutes and the first preview ran 90 minutes, so yes.

[ken8631]

Posted: 2/16/10 at 10:46am

Stage Door Sally - will do.....