DRIVING MISS DAISY Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 1:11am

Today is Monday, October 25, marking the official opening night performance for the legendary trifecta of James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave, and Boyd Gaines, as the trio returns to the New York stage in the Broadway premiere production of Alfred Uhry's "Driving Miss Daisy", at the John Golden Theatre. Under the direction of David Esbjornson, this incarnation began previews October 7, and is due to play a 16-week limited engagement to run through January 29, 2011.

"The play concerns Daisy Werthan, a widowed, 72-year-old Jewish woman living in midcentury Atlanta, [who] is deemed too old to drive, [and] her son hires Hoke Colburn, an African American man, to serve as her chauffeur," begin production notes. "What begins as a troubled and hostile pairing, soon blossoms into a profound, life-altering friendship that transcends all the societal boundaries placed between them."

Best to all involved.

Updated On: 10/25/10 at 01:11 AM

[Katurian2]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 10:06pm

Talkin' Broadway is up. Obviously negative. Is it ever anything else?

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/index.html

"...the show rockets from effusive to ineffective at speeds well past the legal limit. The blame does not lie solely with Redgrave — her chief costar (James Earl Jones), director (David Esbjornson), and set designer (John Lee Beatty) all have a hand in it. But without the right Daisy blossoming at its center, Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play greatly lacks drive."

Wall Street Journal is positive:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303436904575570811173175780.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

"Driving Miss Daisy" ought not to be as good as it is, for it marches repeatedly to the brink of the twin abysses of preachiness and sentimentality. But Mr. Uhry, to his infinite credit, never steps over the edge..."

Hollywood Reporter is mixed to positive:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/driving-miss-daisy-theater-review-32455

"The play is a pretty well-indestructible audience-pleasing vehicle...
That being said, it should be pointed out the casting is somewhat problematic..."

[Katurian2]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 10:15pm

Variety is positive for the two stars:

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943921.html?categoryid=33&cs=1&nid=2562&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+variety%2Fheadlines+%28Variety+-+Latest+News%29&utm_content=Twitter

"Redgrave and Jones are masters of their craft, and they have the whole house sobbing long before Daisy reaches for Hoke's hand and calls him her 'best friend.'"

Updated On: 10/25/10 at 10:15 PM

[Katurian2]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 10:20pm

New York Magazine is negative except for Boyd Gaines

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/10/theater_review_vanessa_redgrav.html

"... watching director David Bjornson’s rickety read-through of a revival, I found Gaines’s performance to be the only indispensable one onstage — the lone breathing human up there with marmoreal deities."

[quizking101]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 10:25pm

NY Times seems mixed-to-positive

http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/theater/reviews/26driving.html

"Stooped and a Bit Slow, but Still Standing Tall"

"James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave are, by anyone’s reckoning, two of the last of these titans — stars of uncommon stature (in all senses) who, in combined years of experience, have known and commanded the stage for more than a century. Their fiery, shadow-casting presences have illuminated some of the most challenging roles in world theater. And I would see them in absolutely anything. Even “Driving Miss Daisy,” which opened on Monday night at the Golden Theater."

..."Yet while Bruce Beresford’s film (which starred Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman) created an illusion of historic sweep and substance, the play is little more than a series of sketches with the gentle, laugh-a-little-cry-a-little rhythms of a sentimental sitcom. Its vignettes portray a classic clash of wills between an immovable object and an irresistible force that eventually melts into something like love.


ETA: After re-reviewing the review, it seems more to be mixed-to-negative.

Updated On: 10/25/10 at 10:25 PM

[Katurian2]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 10:28pm

Seems more mixed to negative to me, but positive for the two stars, which makes sense. This line is pretty damning though, yeah?

"The play is little more than a series of sketches with the gentle, laugh-a-little-cry-a-little rhythms of a sentimental sitcom."

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 10:31pm

That pretty much summed up what I wrote in my review of the show. It's just not a great play. Great film, yes. But hardly a great work on stage.

[notabb]

Posted: 10/25/10 at 10:55pm

I had never seen it before and enjoyed the play but thought the performances make it something special.