Brief comments on A STEADY RAIN

Agreed.

Just saw it yesterday- I was lucky to be on the front row/center and it was like seeing them on the movie screen, with facial expressions playing on their faces as they deliver the impactful dialogue. I would give the slight nod to Hugh Jackman because his acting is more nuanced ( it is his character which undergoes the decline and shows a wider range) but Daniel is also very good. The chemistry is excellent and it is hard to imagine seeing a more convincing two-hander onstage. A joint TONY award wouldn't be farfetched for this kind of verbal duet on stage!

I think the TIME review captured the quality of the show and the performances very well.

Updated On: 10/11/09 at 05:03 AM

I must admit that I'm one of the many who jumped to get the premium tickets to A Steady Rain because of Hugh Jackman -- whom I've been a big fan of for years. Sure, it was a treat to see two mega movie stars on stage, but I walked out of the theatre thoroughly impressed by the two actors' skilled and committed performances.

As many reviewers have noted, Daniel's complete transformation into the character is remarkable, and I was drawn into his performance for the entire 90 minutes. As for Hugh, while he may appear to be "presenting" more than "inhibiting", I'm not sure what else he could have done with his undeniable stage presence. He speaks directly into our eyes, and brings genuine life to the character. Not to judge the quality of acting by whether an actor cries real tears or not, but seeing tears slowly well up and then finally fall out of Hugh's eyes in the end was absolutely heartbreaking. Hugh's passionate and committed portrayal of Denny blew me away.

Now, a little bit about the play itself. *** I'm not going to talk about specific events within the plot, but if you don't want to know "anything" about the story, please stop here. *** Towards the end, I felt that the string of events unfolding in front of us were a bit over the top. However, once I familiarized myself with the Jeffrey Dahmer case, which was mentioned in some of the reviews, I appreciated the character portraits in the play much more. I almost wish that it was explained somewhere that the play was roughly "based on" or "inspired by" the Jeffrey Dahmer case -- which, to me at least, would have made the plot twists more believable and the storytelling that much more intriguing.

In any case, I echo jo and mamaleh's sentiments that a join Tony nod would be nice for this dynamic duo.

Updated On: 10/11/09 at 07:31 PM

^totally agree. Loved their performances and was interested, at best, in the story itself.

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A little off-topic, but --

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Hugh Jackman today, October 12 !

Hope he regularly comes back to the stage - either in musical or dramatic theatre! Maybe even in classical theatre ( as critic Matt Wolf says, he thinks Hugh might make a fine Antony or Coriolanus).

All the best, Hugh!!

I really think the play just is mediocre at its strongest. It's an hour and a half of telling but not showing- I feel like Craig and Jackman rarely actually spoke TO each other, more often ABOUT each other. I also felt that it manages to get some emotional reaction from the audience simply by pulling the right levers- child hurt, innocent killed, the puppy, the baby...

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Yes, there are.

I forget who is standing by for Craig, but the very physically imposing Danny Mastrogorgio is standing by for Jackman.

Great thanks, they better be on Saturday lol, would hate to miss them.. I guess I'm just paranoid lol. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing it :)

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