"Arcadia" returns this Spring with Billy Crudup

[tazber]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 9:53am

But this time he's playing Nightingale, not Septimus Hodge.


(Sorry if this has been posted)
Link

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 9:58am

I love Billy, but I don't think I can justify spending more money on a Tom Stoppard nap.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 10:06am

Ahhhhhhhhh

[Kad]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 10:07am

This is actually one of the only Stoppard plays I can tolerate.

[tazber]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 10:16am

I really like this play. I confess that some of his work just baffles me, but he's nothing if not challenging.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 10:20am

Taz, I used to think he was challenging as well. I tried and tried to get through his material and then one day I just realized I don't think it's challenging at all. It's boring and pretentious and written so he can hear his words performed, no matter how horrendous the material might be. It's a mystery to me how his work is still produced.

[Weez]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 10:44am

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I LOVE Arcadia. :3

[Smaxie]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 11:08am

I felt that way about Stoppard when I was in my 20s. Too cerebral, too complicated, all mind and no heart. I wouldn't say he changed... I think I did. His plays hit me now in a way they didn't then and I feel there is a big heart and playful mind at work in his best writing.

Arcadia is one of the best plays of the 1990s and while challenging, also one of Stoppard's more accessible works. It was not ideally served in its Broadway premiere production at Lincoln Center in 1995, so if news about the acclaimed David Leveaux production making its way here proves true, it's a major and welcome revival for this season.

[mallardo]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 11:18am

Arcadia is Stoppard's masterpiece. The Leveaux production was the the most exciting piece of theatre I saw last year. On the other hand, Billy Crudup... not so much.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 2:58pm

mallardo-

Seriously? Why don't you like Billy Crudup? He was by far the most brilliant member of the cast in Coast of Utopia. His Tony was extremely well deserved. I never saw him in the original production of Arcadia, but obviously he can handle Stoppard's language.
Also, he was incredible in The Pillowman a few years earlier. In fact, I don't ever think I've seen him turn in a bad performance on Broadway.

And I am SO excited for this production. I think it's one of Stoppard's most emotional and easily understood works.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 3:06pm

Also- I will NEVER pass up an opportunity to post this painting. This play inspired my to shell out for an awesome quality print for it for my apartment.

[MariusPontmercy]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 3:40pm

I totally get why people might not like Stoppard generally (though I disagree), but I don't know how anyone could fail to see the genius of Arcadia. The London production last year was wonderful. Samantha Bond (Hannah) and Dan Stevens (Septimus) particularly so.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 3:40pm

Maybe I've yet to see an inticing non-high school production of this show, but I'm inclined to agree with Jordan on this one. I've only seen this, R&G and Stoppard's Cherry Orchard translation, and disliked them all for the most part, except Cherry Orchard was a little more bearable.

[mallardo]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 3:51pm

Katurian2 - I didn't see Crudup in the plays you mentioned. My memories of him are of an older vintage so perhaps you're right. What I do know is that this is a revelatory production of a great play. Not to be missed.

[Ariella]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 11:10pm

This is one of my very favorite plays. I know some find Stoppard an intellectual bore, but I think Arcadia is an absolutely riveting piece of writing. I wish I could have seen Crudup as Septimus (I've only seen him in Coast of Utopia), but he should be an excellent Bernard.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 9/15/10 at 11:41pm

I must confess, I read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when I was a kid and then years later, in my freshman year in college, I saw a REALLY terrible production of it at a college, the name of which escapes me. I spent the whole first act longing for subtitles. I'm pretty convinced it was the production seeing as how I don't recollect disliking the play when I first read it.

[tazber]

Posted: 9/16/10 at 9:22am

The first Stoppard play I saw was a college production of The Real Thing. It was an amazing piece of work.

He's definitely hit or miss for me. Didn't see Coast Of Utopia and hated Rock N Roll. Loved The Real Thing, Jumpers, and Arcadia.

Lukewarm on The Invention Of Love.

And as a bonus, loved Shakespeare In Love.

[Hest882]

Posted: 9/16/10 at 9:28pm

This may tip the scale and entice me back to NY next year. Arcadia remains my favorite straight play, and was my first real introduction to Stoppard. Like the best of Stoppard, it's witty, intricate, intelligent, and deeply, deeply moving.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 9/16/10 at 11:10pm

I love Stoppard. Maybe I'm just a big fat nerd, but I've never found them too intellectual at all and think his language is just incredible.

I saw a local production of ROCK N ROLL and adored every second of it. Yeah, there's some stuff about complicated politics, but it just didn't bog anything down for me. I hope this production hits New York!!

[theatrepaul]

Posted: 9/17/10 at 8:33am

This is excellent news. Am planning a trip to Broadway in the spring and this is one of my most favourite plays. Would love to see it performed there