Casa Valentina Previews- Page 4

[James2]

Posted: 4/18/14 at 11:51pm

Possible spoiler...nothing really story-related

I don't have much new to add. I was surprised by how low-key Fierstein could be after having only been exposed to his musicals, and this play possesses the best cast on Broadway.

I would like to know what people thought of the ending. I agree with WiCkEDrOcKS that it felt abrupt. I had not looked at my watch during Act Two, so I assumed there might be another scene to wrap things up. When the lights started going out, I thought, "This can't be it, can it?" I don't think I expected Patrick Page and Mare Winningham to be the last two people onstage since I think there were more scenes with/about the group than with/about the couple. I think if Fierstein trimmed a little out of the overlong argument scene that ends Act One and put a little more into Page & Winningham's story, this ending might have been more satisfying.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 6:52pm

Reminded me of French movies that are notorious for having no endings.

The ending was ambiguous . You have no idea what happened to the 2 characters on the stage at the end.

Throughly enjoyed it but would have liked an ending that was not left up in the air.

Still powerful stuff and well acted from top to bottom .Patrick Paige stands out as does Winningham's understated performance

Updated On: 4/20/14 at 06:52 PM

[brdway411]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 10:07pm

Wonderful show. Funny, insightful, and inspiring. Cannot wait to return (missed some of the jokes because we were laughing so hard). The cast is a tour de force. Everyone was out standing. This is must see theater. I do think the ending is a little abrupt but works IMHO.

[BwayFan4]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 10:43pm

Spoilers. ... I really loved this show. My favorite new play of the season by far. I think the ending was very fitting to the theme and story being told. I took it that Valentina had taken on a life of her own over the years. Something that George could no long control even himself. The end is about a wife who is petrified. And she's stuck between a place of needing to protect herself and still loving the love of her life. She is concerned whether the husband she loves will one day be gone/lost forever. .. And George doesn't know the answer to the question either...

To me, a perfect, real ending to the play... I plan on seeing it again and again.

[macnyc]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 2:19pm

****************SPOILERS **********************


******************You've been warned!*****************

As far as the ending goes, I think it was a bit abrupt, and maybe a minor change in the staging could help. But I think Page's acting in the very last scene was superb. As I remember it, he rips off his male attire as George to reveal a slip underneath. Then he sits down at the vanity and looks in the mirror, and I could tell from the look on his face that Valentina was definitely coming into the foreground of his personality. His look and the sigh of relief--he couldn't wait to become Valentina again--was stunning to behold.

As far as the rest of the play is concerned, all of the performances were excellent, but my favorites were Nick Westrate and Reed Birney. Those two I really bought as women, and complex women at that.

I thought the middle of the play got too talky, and I wish some of that could be trimmed. Also (and I know I have this problem), I got confused as to the envelope and the blackmail. Page (as George) related what happened when he was called in to the police station, but I would have liked it if I could have seen it acted out somehow. I'm still confused as to what George was shown, how much was hidden by the police, and what the judge's role was.






Updated On: 4/23/14 at 02:19 PM

[tom2000a]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 5:39pm

****************SPOILERS **********************


******************You've been warned!*****************

I am answering Macnyc. In regards to the photos... the judge, we find out was homosexual. He had some type of a homosexual relationship, harmless as it was, with another guest at the Casa in a previous time. The photos were pictures of the man with an erection... that were meant for the judge to have. The letter with the photos was "accidently" torn open by the Post Office. The photos were meant for the Judge. Valentina had no idea of what they were, (Although I thought he would have recognized his former guest). That's what I got out of it. The judge flipped out mentally and physically when he was confronted with the truth that not only was he a cross dresser but he was the lowest of the low... a homosexual.

[macnyc]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 6:48pm

Thanks, Tom, for the explanation!

***************MORE SPOILERS***********************



*************Beware!!!********************************

Earlier in the play, when Valentina asked the judge for advice about the legal situation, I got the impression that Valentina didn't realize that the judge was involved. Is that correct? I think Valentina/George mentioned that he wasn't seeing everything that was in the envelope, that it was damaged in the mail somehow? Otherwise he would have known the other man's identity (the man with the erection).

Did we as the audience find out who the other man is? Was it Nick Westrate's character? It couldn't have been Gabriel Ebert's character, who is the person the judge kissed, because she was new to Casa Valentina. Thanks for any info!

[tom2000a]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 7:20pm

I think it was a character that was not in the play. It was a former visitor who had visited but was not there the weekend the play takes place.

SPOILERS CONTINUED.....

We are not sure if the Judge knew when Valentina was telling him about the photos if they were meant for him or not. I don't think so because Valentino didn't identify anyone in the photos. But if the Judge did know he wasn't about to let Valentino know that the photos were meant for him. I think Valentino said the information for who they were meant was destroyed in the machine. The Judge may have known they were meant for him but he never thought they would be traced back to him.

I was a little surprised they let the Judge go to the hospital in the woman's clothing. I understand it was an emergency but I would have thought they would have at least let him wear a robe.

[musicman_bwayfan]

Posted: 6/9/14 at 4:59pm

Hi guys,

So I must have deleted my MTC 30 Under 30 email by accident as I don't have any in my inbox since the one for Outside Mullingar. Could someone please PM me the code for CASA VALENTINA and WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND UNAFRAID? It would be appreciated. Thanks so much!