Attending Opening Night of "All My Sons" 10/16/08

Updated On: 5/2/09 at 01:50 AM

Unless you're sitting in the Orchestra, you won't be near any celebrities, and you're not getting Orchestra seats, so don't bother.

You'll be up in the Mezzanine with a bunch of wannabe starf*ckers trying to catch a glimpse.

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Enjoy yourself! I'm sure it will be a fantastic night!

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Usually the majority of Opening Night performances are invite only. For those that do sell a few seats, they are almost always in rear mezzanine. As mentioned, you have tons of press, celebrities, investors, producers, and family attending. And depending on who is in the show, family can take up a LOT of seats. A show I did a few years back had the lead actor contractually getting 40 opening night tickets/party passes. The rest of the cast got 4 each, shows how unbalanced it can be. If you're able to score tickets, go for it though I do warn if the main reason to go is to see Tom Cruise, don't bother. He'll either sneak in as the theatre goes dark or be surrounded by security and you'll barely get a glimpse.

I think the only one with no theatre background is Katie Holmes -- Lithgow, Wiest and Wilson have slews of theatre credits to their names and all have performed admirably in the service of Thespis. In fact, the only reservation I have is about the presence of Tom Cruise's wife, which seems to be the only thing that interests some folks. It'll be a shame if she f____ks it up for the others -- it's a good play with good people. It's also a shame that the only attraction for many is the presence of Ms. Holmes. It's okay if she ruins a second-rate thing with inferior actors, but this one is a recognized, albeit not first rank, play. Frankly, I think the other three would be fine in Death of a Salesman. And yes, I know that Salesman was done "only" ten years ago.

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Katie Holmes is playing Ann, she is one of the leads, but not carring the play. The importance of the four main characters (Joe, Kate, Chris, and Ann) is pretty even.

Still, the play requires extreme emotional highs and lows, and I seriously doubt she'll be any good. Wish I could audition...