CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
BroadwayBulldog
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/06
#1CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 12:37am
CORAM BOY is what sets theatre in general apart from other media and performing arts. This import from London's National Theatre is mesnmerizing, affecting and theatrical. The Imperial was SRO, and the audience gave the show a long, loud, and an honest-to-goodness well-deserved standing ovation at this evening's performance. I'll leave the review for the reviewers. I will say, however, that CORAM BOY is a theatre experience akin to the RSC'S NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, and it is not to be missed. My burning question is, will Handel be eligible for a TONY best score? 
DG
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#2re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 2:48amI really hope I can catch this. All the other things I've been looking forward to have gotten lukewarm response at best. This seems like the real deal.
nomdeplume
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/05
#2re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 3:08am
That's amusing about Handel.
It was a wonderful use of singing and music with orchestra in a play that is not billing itself as or being considered as a musical.
BroadwayBulldog
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/06
#3re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 11:01amBumping for the day posters...
Luvinbroadway
Leading Actor Joined: 7/18/03
#4re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 11:10amCouldn't agree more...I saw it yesterday afternoon..A thrill...I have never seen an audience so still and quiet becasue they were transported. A wonderful piece.
Randy Robinson
Swing Joined: 4/22/07
#5re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 11:19amAfter seeing the show and being so moved by the music I did some research on google... turns out hardly any of the score is actual Handel - it's mostly original score by Adrian Sutton, with just three big numbers directly from the Messiah. So by that measure it must be eligible for the Best Score Tony!
#6re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 11:50am
*POSSIBLE SPOILERS HERE*
Unfortunately, I don't share your enthusiasm about the show. I felt that the genuine tone of the first act--starkness and bleakness--was betrayed by the schmaltzy qualities of the second, which came off like an 18th Century Lifetime movie. There is some fine acting work, but I felt that the corrolation between the two major plotpoints was weak, and the music is only there to distract from pedanticalness of the story. The message of the piece came across loud and clear, but the tone betrayed the story.
That said, I cannot say enough about Jane Maxwell and Bill Camp, who infused the play with the right amount of darkness. Xanthe Elbrick is definitely one to watch, too.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Luvinbroadway
Leading Actor Joined: 7/18/03
#7re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 11:54am
I love Jan Maxwell in everything she does...It's hard not to take your eyes off of her anytime she is on stage.
Updated On: 4/29/07 at 11:54 AM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#8re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 12:21pm
If there is any justice in the world, this will win Best Play honors
A mesmerizing piece of theater.
Poster Emeritus
#9re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 12:25pmDid you see UTOPIA?
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#10re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 12:31pmNope
Poster Emeritus
#11re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 12:34pmThere ya go.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#12re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 2:27pm
Yeah, sorry Mr Roxy.
I know there are some people who have been ragging on Coram Boy, saying that it's dreck parading around as high art; but that award (and the Tony) will be going to Coast of Utopia, which takes the cake in that regard.
BroadwayBulldog
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/06
#13re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 3:58pmBumping for the Sunday evening crowd...
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#14re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 5:01pm
Time will tell which wins & which loses
Coram is still a great show nonetheless
Poster Emeritus
Updated On: 4/29/07 at 05:01 PM
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#15re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:14pm
CORAM BOY is one the vilest pieces of pure stupidity I've ever had the bad luck to sit through. It tries to hide it's absolute stupidity with lots and lots of Big Theatrical Gestures designed to dazzle: look boys and girls, a dream sequence with puppets! look boys and girls, a big underwater scene!
It feels like a low-rent version of NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, but has none, and I mean NONE of the virtues that production had. Pure theatrical torture.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#16re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 6:20pmThank you, Roscoe.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#17re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 7:19pm
I thought I'd ask this here. Does anyone know what the student rush policy is for this show? All I know is that they do have rush, it's $26.25, 2 per person..the usual deal. But where are the seats located, and when do they sell? Some shows sell rush when the BO opens, others 2 hours prior to performance.
I'm planning in seeing it next week. Looking forward to it.
#18re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 7:34pmYou can only buy student rush tickets between 10 AM and noon. $26.25, 2 per person. My seats were in the third row of the rear mezzanine.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
MasterLcZ
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
#20re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 7:42pm
Just back from today's show.
Absolutely smashing entertainment. Yes, the plot is slightly predicitable and simple at times, but there are enough twists in the plot to keep one thoroghly engrossed.
Best staging of any play or musical this season.
"Christ, Bette Davis?!?!"
#21re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 7:52pm
I asked this on another CB thread (only one answer) so please forgive me.
I have the option of Row A (2nd row) or Row C (4th row).
Any advice?
Thanks.
MasterLcZ
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
#22re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 8:00pm4th row. 2nd row is a bit too close, IMHO.
"Christ, Bette Davis?!?!"
#23re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 8:06pmThanks! Just got my 4th Row seats for September 1.
#24re: CORAM BOY - Not to be missed. (NO spoilers here)
Posted: 4/29/07 at 8:51pm
I just got back from seeing the show and I was amazed at how much I loved it. Act One is emotional and shocking. Act Two, not as good as Act One, but is satisfying and wonderful. I urge you all to see it.
The theatre seemed full - I hope this does well.
The truly beautiful should be lawfully restricted from wearing clothing; and the truly butt-ugly should be lawfully mandated from going naked.
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