CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD (2018) Previews- Page 3

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 4/5/18 at 10:59pm

HeyMrMusic said: "This is not like learning four hand positions on guitar so you can be cast in a production ofOnce.



LOL

@raddersons Maybe some kind of mirroring with a hearing actress or just an interpreter. Something like what was done with the Deaf West Spring Awakening or Farinelli. Or you could have a female voice speaking for her offstage.

[Theater'sBestFriend]

Posted: 4/6/18 at 8:16am

That’s funny. I thought the opposite. And I remember the review roundup from the Berkshires run pretty uniformly did too. What Jesse Greene said in the N.Y. Times was pretty typical, and I thought spot on: “Mark Medoff’s drama about the relationship between a smug speech therapist and the pugnacious woman he’s trying to teach is difficult to cast. Not so much because the woman, Sarah, is deaf; there are many excellent deaf actors. But she must also be young and ferocious and profoundly charismatic, which are the right words to describe Lauren Ridloff, a former Miss Deaf America. When I saw her in the Berkshires tryout of the play last summer, I thought she was sensational. The speech therapist is also difficult to cast. Because he acts as an interpreter for both the hearing and the deaf, he must be fluent in American Sign Language while also speaking the lines. And because his character suffers from borderline obnoxiousness syndrome, he needs a lot of natural charm to counteract it. The production opening on Broadway this month, directed by Kenny Leon, is lucky to have Joshua Jackson, best known for television work including “The Affair,” in the role. He’s an even match for Ms. Ridloff, which is saying something.”

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/6/18 at 9:27am

Jarethan said: :I did love the original Real Thing and the revival with Stephen Dilate and Jennifer Ehle...I think a bad production of The Real Thing is just that...a bad production of a solid play.  I loved the original production of The Heidi Chronicles, but have concluded that the play was simply of its time and has not aged well.:

Although I dissented on the original Real Thing and Heidi, finding the first painful and the second only somewhat enjoyable with no there there, I agree that revivals often change our view of plays, for better or for worse.
And nowhere for me is this better illustrated than Real Thing, which I have seen in three different Broadway productions.
The problem for me with the original production was that I disliked Irons and Close so much that I couldn't see that there might be a good play there.  I found them both stereotypical and boring.  Irons the full of himself success writer and Close the very actory actor.  I didn't care about them.
The first Broadway revival changed all of that for me largely because whereas I found irons and Close predictable, boring and unlikeable, Dillane and Ehle, in performances I will never forget, were exciting, recognizable human beings AND individuals with real humility.   The stars were beyond likeable - I fell in love with both of their characters.  And because of that the play moved me very much.
The less said about the last revival the better.  It was simply a disaster - but not because the play is bad.  Nor because it was dated.  

Putting all of this together - and fully owning that I'm certainly in the minority when it comes to the original production of Real Thing - the way we feel about even good plays can depend largely on the way we felel about how they are produced, directed, designed and acted.  And while we all obviously know that, sometimes that simple truth gets buried - simply because the merits of a "text" are typically obfuscated for us by execution that fails to impress us or, worse, negatively impresses us.

The current revival of Three Tall Women is a revelation for me, not because I didn't previously like the play.  I did.  Not because I didn't like the original production.  I did, quite a lot actually.  But because I had no idea how exceptionally fine a work it is until now thanks to everything that is now happening over at the Golden.  (that, and also perhaps because I'm now a B, not the C I was when I first saw the play).

Updated On: 4/6/18 at 09:27 AM

[AllThatJazz2]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 8:59pm

How is the stage height here? We were originally seated in the back mezz but seats in the front orchestra opened up and we thought we'd benefit from swapping. The photos I've seen on View From My Seat make it seem like one of the lower stages I've seen, but always better to get a first-hand perspective from someone.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 11:16pm

The stage is not high at all. The first row offers quite a fantastic view and you'll get the best view to appreciate Ridloff's signing, which is the one of the best things this play has to offer.

[AllThatJazz2]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 9:01am

Dancingthrulife2 said: "The stage is not high at all. The first row offers quite a fantastic view and you'll get the best view to appreciate Ridloff's signing, which is the one of the best things this play has to offer."

Awesome! Great to hear. Snagged four seats in that row. It looks like a TON of tickets were released for our date, so I'm wondering if they withheld seats for some reason (make it look like it was selling better?) - either that or there was a massive amount of returns for our performance. I know when I first bought a huge swath of the theater, including most of the orchestra, wasn't available at that time. 

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 9:55am

Most productions withhold the best seats (some of which are house seats) until a few days before the performance. I think they just want to fill the theater in case very few people buy mezz or balcony seats when upgrading to the much better orchestra seats doesn't cost too much given the pricing these days.

[AllThatJazz2]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 10:10am

Dancingthrulife2 said: "Most productions withholdthe best seats (some of which are house seats) until a few days before the performance. I think they just want to fill the theater in case very few people buy mezz or balcony seats when upgrading to the much better orchestra seats doesn't cost too much given the pricingthese days."

Very true. I've seen that in the past, but was just struck by the sheer volume that suddenly appeared - seemed like they easily held 2/3 of the theater seats for the orchestra at the very least. 

[jbm2]

Posted: 4/15/18 at 1:02am

 I have tickets for this tomorrow. I can’t take a slow-moving snoozer. Thinking of skipping it and send something else. Anyone want my ticket? 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 4/15/18 at 1:04am

jbm2 said: "I have tickets for this tomorrow. I can’t take a slow-moving snoozer. Thinking of skipping it and send something else. Anyone want my ticket?"

Hey jbm, it sounds like you've made up your mind, but this was definitely not a snoozer. In fact, it moved quite quickly. I'd say go for Lauren Ridloff's performance alone, though I loved the show altogether.

[jbm2]

Posted: 4/15/18 at 1:05am

BroadwayConcierge said: "jbm2 said: "I have tickets for this tomorrow. I can’t take a slow-moving snoozer. Thinking of skipping it and send something else. Anyone want my ticket?"

Hey jbm, it sounds like you've made up your mind, but this was definitely not a snoozer. In fact, it moved quite quickly.I'd say go for Lauren Ridloff's performance alone, thoughI loved the show altogether."

Thanks, I may give it a try....

[WayTooBroadway]

Posted: 4/17/18 at 12:22am

Updated On: 4/17/18 at 12:22 AM

[dramagoer]

Posted: 4/17/18 at 10:53am

Slow, uneven, but with some great acting. Directing, not so much.