DEAD ACCOUNTS -- Preview Thoughts — Page 2

I didn't dislike the play. But knowing the run time it got to a point that I wondered how they possibly could bring the play to any sort of conclusion

I have to say Rebeck must have had the same thought, and just like me couldn't solve it either

I was entertained . . . I laughed . . . but yeah I didn't see the point

Rebeck must give one hell of a hummer.

My first exposure to Rebeck was seeing the premiere of "Mauritius" at the Huntington in Boston, where it was one of the most unexpectedly amazing things I saw in my time there. I was saddened when the Broadway transfer didn't get the same reviews with it's "name" cast. I also think Seminar is a good, if not groundbreaking play. I thought this was her least interesting script, though her ear for dialogue is still sharp, the structure of it is just befuddling; I found the conclusion a giant thud of a moment and the fact that it was over-directed in that moment made the thud more resoundingly hollow. I enjoyed Butz throughout, the rest of the cast was serviceable, and there are some fun moments, but not enough to recommend (or, alternately, to condemn) it.

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I went to stage door after today's matinee. There were a good number of people there. The security collected people's playbills to have Katie sign (you had to put your initials on the cover to get it returned to you). They returned them really quickly all signed by her. She left a few minutes later (carrying little Suri) but didn't stop to sign. Norbert came out and signed, but didn't pose.

I thought it was really gracious of Katie to sign backstage since she knew she wouldn't be stopping for people.

Tonight at the stage door, Norbert and Jayne both signed and were very gracious. Katie didn't make an appearance at all, we were told she left already. Josh came out and probably would have signed but no one really stopped him. Judy had a bunch of friends there, she came out really quickly and rushed off without acknowledging anyone waiting for her.

As for the show, I was waiting for an act 3 to know what happened.

Judy didn't come out at the Matinee either...

"As for the show, I was waiting for an act 3 to know what happened."

The author should have thought about that in acts 1 and 2.

What a stupid, pointless, mess. And what a waste of the acting talent onstage.

I totally agree. Saw the show last week. A disappointment. : (

Found it puzzling that Katie Holmes' character reacted the same to her father's serious illness and her brother's buying too much pizza--both reactions were at a constant frenetic level; just too much. The director should tamp it down. Norbert was fantastic as always--especially in the humorous opening scene--but the intrigue suggested in Act I didn't pay off enough for me in the second, as the play just petered out without much of a conclusion.

Orchestra was filled, mezz relatively sparsely populated. My TDF ticket was far-left Row G orchestra.

I don't think the fact that she writes for tv is what people don't like, it's that her tv writing is just as bad as her play writing, some would argue even worse.

Please, the quality of a lot of TV writing is SO much higher than the standard writing for the theatre anymore. Almost any episode of "Mad Men" or "Good Wife" or "Homeland" (or say, half the episodes of "Modern Family", "New Girl" or "Parks and Rec)" is as good as anything the theatre has produced in the last five years. Mainly because the talented writers who at one time would have made a living writing plays are now scared off by the endless "readings and workshops instead of productions" cycles and find they can make a living writing in Los Angeles. Which generally means television. I applaud those that stay and exclusively try to work in the theatre, but to say TV writing is at all LESSER than theatre writing is pretentiously out of touch.

Updated On: 11/18/12 at 12:44 AM

saw it tonight

the orchestra had some random scattered seats open and the mezz was DESERTED like maybe 20 people sitting up there.

The failures of this piece fall's squarely on the director and the writer. Jack O'Brien choose some very weird directing choices, the scene changes and the blackouts just screwed with the flow of the whole thing, also I have no clue why Katie Holmes was playing her character (who was in her 30's) like an angsty teen. Rebeck has her characters doing things for un-explained reasons, the main character buys copious amounts of food, has bottle and bottles of pill's on him and none of this behavior is ever rationally explained, there is a whole through line about religion thats never really made clear, again its another play that really wants to say something profound but can't figure out how to do it and ends ambiguously as if its like i know what I'm doing but I want you to decide if this guys good or bad, I'm tired of seeing playwrights do this. the MVP of the whole mess is Norbert Leo Butz who I wouldn't be surprised if he walks away with the shows only award nominations, again he takes subpar material (like he did in Catch Me If You Can) and does wonders with it. And for the love of god can Ms Rebeck stop writing extreme set changes right into the very end of her plays? This isn't to say that there isn't humor in the play, but there was no reason for this to be on Broadway.

also merch was super discounted

2 shirts for 20 and a really nice knit cap for 10 bucks , and free keychains with every purchase

stagedoor, everyone signed (except Katie and they didn't collect our playbills)