Brantley's HAPPY DAYS review

[Brick]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 12:56am

Did this seem an odd mention to anyone?

"In London my date for the show was an older woman who had recently broken her shoulder and was wary of crowds; in New York it was a college sophomore who looked positively unbreakable."

Huh? Surely, he's trying to say the play is accessible to a wide range of demographics. But... huh?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 12:58am

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/theater/reviews/11happ.html

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 6:51am

Not at all. Look at the two paragraphs in tandem:

In London my date for the show was an older woman who had recently broken her shoulder and was wary of crowds; in New York it was a college sophomore who looked positively unbreakable.

It was the first time either had seen “Happy Days,” and they obviously came to it from different perspectives. Yet afterward it was clear that both identified with Winnie, and both left the theater looking, well, extremely happy. I certainly felt happy myself.

Then look earlier at how Winnie is traditionally played and what this production has done. He's paralleling the character with his chosen date for the evening and how both Winnie and the proto-female have changed with time, that's all.

[alterego]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:38am

About 10 years ago there was an arena presentation of a HAPPY DAYS musical (introduced by Tom Bosley each night) here in Australia. The music in that show was old fifties rock n roll hits. Is this the same show?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 7:42am

No.

That show had a production at the Paper Mill this summer.

The show here is a straight play by Samuel Beckett that happens to have the same title.

[alterego]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 8:00am

Sorry, I just looked at the heading and immediately thought of the TV series! You mean Papermill actually did that dreadful musical ? Goodness.

[Otto2]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 9:01am

Unlike the Homecoming production that I saw last week, this week's Happy Days is everything the review says it is. Quite stunning. Beckett is a giant talent compared to Pinter. Likewise, Fiona Shaw compared to Eve Best. And there is imagination in the staging at BAM.

If you have a choice, go to Brooklyn.

I would go out of my way to see Fiona Shaw, in anything.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 9:53am

Any chances of a Manhattan transfer?

[MovieGuy1031]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 10:15am

A little off topic, but I would have killed to have seen Fiona Shaw play Medea.

I'm sure it was astonishing...

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 10:44am

>> Any chances of a Manhattan transfer?

Big band era style singers for a Becket play? Hmm... sounds interesting...

[AC126748]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 10:52am

Any chances of a Manhattan transfer?

I doubt it. Medea played to sold-out houses in Brooklyn and half empty ones on Broadway. It's unlikely that a commercial producer would make that kind of investment again. These productions are a niche market, and pretty much everyone who lives in New York and wants to see it will go to Brooklyn.

[Brick]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 12:58pm

Her Medea was stunning. It stands as one of my favorite classical performances I've seen.