Drama Desk & Now Outer Critics Circle! Go Take That Tony, Prima Donna Diva!- Page 3

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 5:20pm

I was inspired by both the performance and the characters. (I do see Lenya as an interesting individual. I just don't identify very much with her, I'm sorry to say.) Maybe I should emphasize that my identification with Little Edie in particular is deeply personal. I'm not going into it in detail here because of the personal nature of the connection.

BTW-you've stated your point, I mine. I am as entitled as you are to my opinions and certainly my feelings.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 5:21pm

Nondeplume- So, because Charity Hope Valentine went out to find a new job and get herself a man (whom she eventually loses) and all Margaret Johnson did was let her daughter get married, we should've given the Tony to Christina Applegate as opposed to Victoria Clark?

Or better yet, Jaime Foxx's imitation, er, I mean interpretation of Ray Charles was totally deserving of the Oscar because of Ray Charles' accomplishments? And Paul Giamatti's snub that year for Sideways was totally justified because hell, all his character did was drink some wine.

Updated On: 5/20/07 at 05:21 PM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 5:32pm

Oh, the Tonys are a bit of fun manufactured by the producers to get some TV attention to Broadway theatre.

I'd like to see Donna Murphy win because I think the fascinating work she's doing in her role, which affords her the ability to do it, is the work of a master and we're lucky to have it onstage here to see, and is the best of the bunch.

If you are obsessed with some other performer, why don't you go root them in one of their threads, instead of one created to express joy for Donna and cheer her on. I did not create this thread to dis Ebersole and Grey Gardens, but you seem to be demanding that, which I find a bit bizarre. If you like a performer why seek her to be dissed in another thread where she is not considered the favorite? Find another thread. I don't think you're doing your performer any favors to get her faults picked over.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 6:01pm

Nom, why must the role that is being played be a successful actress or a successful anything? Think of DEATH OF A SALESMAN. The lead role involves a man who tries but ultimately does not succeed. Yet the play is as moving as any I can think of. Willy Lowman is a tragic figure, yet the play is great theatre. I was fortunate to see George C. Scott play the lead at Circle in the Square many years ago and at the end there was not a dry eye in the theatre. The Beales are tragic figures, too, not in the way that Willy Lowman is but tragic nevertheless, and GREY GARDENS makes for a memorable evening of theatre because of the conflicts and the needs that the two women have with each other and with their lives in general. Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson make us believe in them as inhabitants of their fortress called Grey Gardens where they rely on each other to survive.

Updated On: 5/20/07 at 06:01 PM

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 6:12pm

Can't we just have a TIE between these two incredibly talented women, in extremely powerful roles - and call it a day?!?! If ever there needed to be a tie, imo - its this year, in his category.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 6:14pm

Lady Macbeth is not exactly a success even though Duncan is murdered, so I don't think success is the standard.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 7:00pm

Nom, in your various posts you use the term "accomplishing goals" on the part of Lotte Lenya. How is this different from "achieving success"? Willy Lowman did not accomplish his goals or Willy Lowman did not achieve success. It is another way of saying the same thing. Little Edie did not accomplish her goal of leaving Grey Gardens because she knew how much she was needed by her mother. She did not achieve success at leaving Grey Gardens. Two ways of saying the same thing.

Incidentally, in 1960 FIORELLO! and THE SOUND OF MUSIC tied for best musical, best book, best producers, and best score while GYPSY sat on the sidelines!!!

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 7:30pm

Gypsy9, you raise an interesting topic.

To differentiate, the Macbeths conspire to achieve the crown and together accomplish the murder of Duncan. They do achieve the crown though they are ultimately undone. They take risks; they act and set the forces of fate into play. They don't hang around the house.

Lotte doesn't hang around the house either. She's furious when she has to play the wife for a photo shoot. She fights for her own identity, by resuming a singing career, and by engaging in affairs at the risk of losing her husband. She seems to lose him as they divorce. And yet it is their ultimate dedication to the music that survives, for after he passes, she still brings and interprets and continues his work on to its audience, the intended goal.

(Kind of reminds you of that beautiful song from Curtains "I Miss the Music"--I'd give Curtains best score for that song alone.)

Now if you want to say the women in Grey Gardens are Sartre-esque or Beckett-like playing in their No Exit or their End Game I think there is an analogy there. They are anti-dynamic, if you will. I don't see them taking any risks.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 7:33pm

Nomde - We get it by now. The Macbeth's are better than the Beales, Lenya is better than the Beales. The Beales are just self-serving stay at home trash. Jesus Christ, we get it by now.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 7:40pm

I answered Gypsy9's question, ljay889.

If you want to host a thread, create one.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 7:49pm

No thanks, you are a wonderful a host yourself.

[jv92]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 10:12pm

STOP THIS CRAP! Why in God's name would anybody star a thread like this or a thread like "Audra Over Christine." Both ladies were good. (In the case of Ms. Murphy, she was wonderful.) However, we're talking about Christine Ebersole as a frontrunner. A woman who's performance has been called legendary. I doubt we'll see an upset and I am appalled to see nasty threads like this.

"Or better yet, Jaime Foxx's imitation, er, I mean interpretation of Ray Charles was totally deserving of the Oscar because of Ray Charles' accomplishments? And Paul Giamatti's snub that year for Sideways was totally justified because hell, all his character did was drink some wine."

Oh, and may I saw, niehter Foxx or Giamatti deserved that Oscar. It should have been DiCaprio's. Just had to say that. Updated On: 5/20/07 at 10:12 PM

[popculture37]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 10:40pm

Obviously it's pretty silly to judge an actress's performance by how much success was achieved by the character they are playing. But, I do think that goal-oriented characters tend to make for more interesting performances. After all, the first thing that lots of acting instructors will tell you is to think about what your character wants-not what they sound like, or what their facial expressions are, but what their goals and desires are. So, characters with stronger goals and desires have richer material to work with. Lady Macbeth is an interesting character not because she succeeds at getting Duncan killed and her husband crowned, but because she wants this so badly that we get an opportunity to see the wheels turning in her mind as she tries to get her plan to work. Lenya changes a lot over the course of the play, and these changes only make sense because we can see how they fit in with the goals that she sets for herself-it's because we know her goals and can see her changing herself to work toward them that the differences between Act I Lenya and Act II Lenya don't make you think they're different people. Ebersole does a great portrayal of Edie's mannerisms and emotions, but I find her slightly-very, very, very slightly-less convincing than Murphy because the character doesn't afford her quite so many opportunities to show those wheels turning in her brain and show us what she's working toward when she does all of the crazy things she does. (Until, perhaps, the very end.) I don't think that makes Ebersole's triumph any less; she was given a less motivated character than Murphy was, and she wrings every ounce of motivation out of it that she possibly can, but the fact that (in my opinion) she plays a less driven, less multifaceted character gives Murphy an opportunity to show more of the inner conflict than she does.
I would, however, be happy about a tie between the two, and maybe throw Audra in there as well. All three have turned in stunning performances that we be locks to win in a less competitive year.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 11:04pm

You guys are funny.

The awards are all about choosing one actor over the others.

Whether or not they actually win, you pick your favorite!

Next year you may prefer the other for their interpretation of a different role.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/21/07 at 12:10am

Congratulations, Donna, tying with Audra and both winning!

Onward to the Tonys! Updated On: 5/21/07 at 12:10 AM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 8:34pm

Congratulations, Donna on the Outer Circle Critics Award!

Go bring home that Tony now!

Your performance is superb!

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 9:10pm

"Oh, and may I saw, niehter Foxx or Giamatti deserved that Oscar. It should have been DiCaprio's. Just had to say that."

That's your opinion. I don't agree with it at all. Giamatti deserved it over anyone. But if it HAD to be one of the nominated actors, I wouldn't choose Dicaprio, but Don Cheadle. Excellent performance.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 10:32pm

I'm sure Donna can overlook oddball postings the way she sardonically tossed off some horrible untrue post on here about her family.

It takes a tigress to be as focused and transforming as Donna Murphy is in her role!

When you are great, Donna, you have to ignore those who let jealously control their emotions. Who cares about that when you're landing accolades for your fine work.

Go diva! Take that Tony! Updated On: 5/25/07 at 10:32 PM

[singtopher]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 10:42pm

Do you think there is a posibility that the votes will be so divided among these three performaces, LBB or Monk will come out the winner?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 11:32pm

Well, that is an interesting question.

I do not know.

I'm rooting for Donna.

[D2]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 11:57pm

This year is such a fascinating, tight race. If I were a Tony voter I don't know how I'd vote. Oh, wait, yes I do. I think I'd do a write in vote for a retroactive, posthumous award for Merman in GYPSY and just shock the hell out of everyone.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 11:59pm

If ya can't buck a nun the first time, then you can buck a socialite the second time.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/26/07 at 12:07am

You'd better hope I don't write in Marissa Jaret Winokur.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/26/07 at 12:09am

Please. In a fight between Marissa and the Merm, Ethel would win. That belt would blow anyone off their feet.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 5/26/07 at 12:11am

Don't think Bernie can't deck Marissa. She's wiry!