DIVIDING THE ESTATE Reviews

Described as "a human comedy about a family that must confront its past as it prepares for its future," the Off-Broadway engagement of Dividing the Estate garnered a 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and an Obie for Playwriting for Foote.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/123514.html

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I don't know what rock I was living under but I wasn't even aware this started previews already!

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Variety is a Rave:

...The prickly comic center of the play and the most vociferously demanding of Stella's children is Mary Jo. The playwright's daughter Hallie Foote skirts invigoratingly along the edge of sitcom in a performance that's near-hysterical yet never so abrasive we can't grasp her fear. She's the kind of chronically tactless figure that exists in pretty much every family.

Jeff Cowie's well-upholstered living/dining room set has grown since the Off Broadway run, acquiring some added dimension without too much loss of intimacy, while the unique flavor of the play's wily observations and melancholy warmth remains undiminished.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939083.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

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Is Talkin' Broadway ever NOT negative?

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The Daily News gives the show 3 1/2 Stars out of 5:

Stage vet Ashley is highly amusing, even if she is about two decades too young to play an 85-year-old. She makes up for the missing birthdays with an exaggerated irascibility and a thick-sliced drawl that turns the name Son into the three-syllable So-oo-on.

McRaney is by far more restrained, and his understated, totally believable and charismatic work makes him a stand-out. And it's virtually impossible to imagine the show without the divine comedy of Hallie Foote, the playwright's daughter. She all but owns the second act, and as the situation goes from bad to worse, this deadpan pro goes from diverting to hysterical.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/11/20/2008-11-20_broadways_dividing_the_estate_is_a_light.html

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Anyone who liked, let alone raved, about that abysmal Threepenny should be run out of town. So much for Talkin' Broadway.

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Updated On: 11/20/08 at 08:08 PM

AM New York gives the show 3 1/2 Stars out of 4:

No one would suspect 92-year-old Horton Foote, a gentle playwright whose 60 tenderhearted plays include “A Young Man from Atlanta” and “The Trip to Bountiful,” of writing a vigorous piece of political theater.

But in addition to its hearty laughs, “Dividing the Estate” is in fact a brilliant dissection of greedy family politics and the out-of-control economics that have caused our country’s current recession.

http://weblogs.amny.com/entertainment/stage/blog/2008/11/theater_review_of_dividing_the.html

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Still, Benster's capsule is a rave:

"he problems confronting the sprawling, anxious, compulsively talky Texan clan of 1987 in “Dividing the Estate,” which opened Thursday night at the Booth Theater, will be familiar to many American families at the moment. The fraying dynasty presided over by the octogenarian matriarch Stella (Elizabeth Ashley) is discovering that plummeting real estate values, unforeseen taxes and a shrinking dollar are forcing its members to make do and get along (well, barely) in ways they never anticipated. But even without the gloss of relevance it has acquired since its New York premiere Off Broadway in September 2007, “Dividing the Estate” would still be a must for discriminating theatergoers."

I just got back from Opening Night. I thought the play was great. It's no AUGUST, but it has some great acting and sharp writing, not to mention an absolutely gorgeous set.

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So I know people hate when this question is brought up, but is there a student rush policy? I can't find one on Playbill, and I know it's Lincoln Center production, so I'm sure their student rush policies apply, but as I have yet to get into their student rush I can't use that option. Would my best bet be TKTS at this point?

John Simon is a Rave:

When Horton Foote’s “Dividing the Estate” opened off-Broadway for a short run last season, I ended my glowing review with concern for the play’s future. I was much relieved to learn that the exact same production would transfer to Broadway. It is now at the Booth Theatre, blessedly unchanged, with Elizabeth Ashley again leading a superb cast.

Well, two minor things actually are changed, one for the good, the other not quite... the move to Broadway has allowed the good set designer Jeff Cowie to convey more fully and tastefully the opulence of a southwestern mansion. Somewhat less fortunate is that, with so much space, some intimacy is inevitably forfeited. Under Michael Wilson’s assured direction, the performances continue to unfold at a leisurely, never rushed or sluggish pace.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601098&sid=axVeu9Coqiss&refer=movie

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The Wall Street Journal is a Rave:

No doubt Primary Stages and Lincoln Center Theatre, the co-producers, hope to profit from the protracted hoopla over Tracy Letts's "August: Osage County," a similarly dark study of American family life. They deserve to get their wish: "Dividing the Estate" is the best show now playing on Broadway, give or take "Gypsy." Not only is it at least as good a play as "August: Osage County," but this production, directed by Michael Wilson, is a stunner, a gorgeous piece of ensemble theater in which nobody puts a foot wrong. I wrote in this space a year ago that the members of the cast "are all so believable that the word 'acting' fails to do justice to the collective impression of truthfulness that they make." That still goes.

Mr. Foote is one of America's greatest playwrights, past or present, but this is only the second of his 60-odd plays to be performed on Broadway since 1954. Go see "Dividing the Estate" and find out what we've been missing.

http://online.wsj.com/article/theater.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

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I don't see how these are mixed. They're all basically raves or very positive aside from Talkin' Broadway (which gave an 'eh' review to "August," if you recall). I'm very excited to see this show and now that the reviews are out, I'm definitely going soon.