Bwayfan4: I was in a $66.50 seat (K101 in the Mezz) and my seat was absolutely fine in the small Broadhurst Theater. However, as I stated in my review at the beginning of this thread, for those of you who want to sit close, this show is worth paying full price for.
I can't even imagine what the stage door scene is like.
When XANADU let out last night at around 9:30, there were already five or six people "camped out" outside The Broadhurst waiting for the show to end in hopes of meeting Radcliffe (including a few patrons who went straight from seeing XANADU to wait in line across the street.)
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
Broadwayboy2: There are only two levels in the Broadhurst: the orchestra and the mezzanine.
I have sat in the Mezz for FOSSE, INTO THE WOODS, LENNON, THE HISTORY BOYS, LES MISERABLES, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, and EQUUS and the view has always beeen perfect.
Thanks for the excellent review. We saw the 8 pm show on 9/6. It was an amazing experience that continues to resonate through my mind today. We were in the second row balcony, just left of center and the seats were perfect. The audience was so quiet that they seemed to disappear. I knew little of the play prior to seeing it, and was impressed by the psychological complexity of it. It showed the necessity of rapport that needs to develop between therapist and patient, and the slow peeling of layers that occurs to get to the heart of personal emotional crisis. I loved the contrast between the utter quiet of the theater during the dialogue to the explosions of sound in the final scene. The acting was incredible - I never saw "potter" or "dursley", only a frightened, disturbed adolescent and his existentially tortured psychiatrist. The horses are beautiful - you cease to see them as gorgeous men quickly as they bring the heads down onto their shoulders.
Merch - poster, hat, two different t-shirts, a mug (which I wish I had purchased), and a hooded sweatshirt.
Hurricane Hannah outside just added to the intensity of the whole experience.
I totally agree with your asessment of the production values of the performance on Sept. 5, except for one major flaw. The sound system was horrible, with Griffith's mic cutting out frequently and 3 incidents of a buzzing interference coming over the speakers. In fact, the buzzing occurred during a tender kissing scene, and the audience actually chuckled. I hope all is repaired before the opening as fully 30% of the show sound is not audible.
It is a brilliantly written play. I saw the original production (Anthony Perkins and Tom Hulce) and it was amazing. Sounds like the set design has stolen all the right things from the original as well.
Thanks for the review---I'm going to see it Sept. 20th, and again in February (on stage, and orchestra, respectively). I had heard such wonderful things about it!
I'm curious, for those of you who have already seen it...
Since it's still in previews and not to open until the 25th, what are they possibly tweaking?? Has anyone here already seen it in London and know what they are doing to it currently to make it different?
Or are 15 days of previews SOP for this kind of show? Just asking...
For those of you who might be curious about the stage door scene, I waited there tonight and wanted to post about my experience. Please do not bash me for waiting at the stage door or posting about it in detail. As all of you know, I absolutely adore this show and really want a window card signed by the entire cast. Although I wasn't able to get every single cast member tonight, I would consider the evening a success anyway.
I arrived there at 9:45pm, an hour before the show let out, and there were three people waiting already. I chatted with them for an hour (they had seen the show on Saturday from the on-stage seats and LOVED it as much as I did). If you are facing the stage door, we waited to the left of the stage door, which is the way that most cast members exit since the barricades create a walkway towards 8th Avenue.
The majority of the cast figures that the people are waiting to meet Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths, so unless you call them by name, they will just continue walking. I was fortunate enough to recognize and get the autographs of the following cast members: Carolyn McCormick (Dora Strang), Lorenzo Pisoni (Nugget), Sandra Shipley (Nurse), Collin Baja (Horse), Tyrone Jackson (Horse) and Spencer Liff (Horse).
Cast members I didn't see/missed tonight were Kate Mulgrew (Hester Salomon), Anna Camp (Jill Mason), T. Ryder Smith (Frank Strang), Graeme Malcolm (Harry Dalton), Adesola Osakalumi (Horse) and Marc Spalding (Horse). Hopefully I can come back another night and get them to sign my window card.
I had brought a silver pen and those cast members all signed on the black border using my silver pen. Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe had their own black pens, and they both signed on Daniel's body/the horse head.
Richard Griffiths was out before Daniel, and I'm sorry to say that he was very unpleasant. He only signed for maybe ten people total (I was one of the lucky ones) and he wasn't really interacting with the fans and definitely didn't seem like he wanted to be there signing for fans. Regardless of his behavior at the stage door, he still gave a brilliant performance. It is nowhere in his contract to sign for fans/be nice to them after the show.
Daniel Radcliffe was the last one out and he signed for A LOT of people. He first went around to the right side of the barricades and signed for most of the people in the front (he even signed someone's Harry Potter DVD cover). Then he came around to the left side of the barricades. Everyone around him was telling him how much they loved him in Harry Potter, etc etc. When he got to my spot in the barricades, I told him that his performance in this show was brilliant and that it is wonderful to see him in a role that most people wouldn't think to see him in...and he pulls it off so well. He then asked me if I had seen the show that evening, and I said no, that I had seen the first preview on Friday night. He responded with "Oh, that was a good night to be here!" Then I told him that I was telling all my friends to go see the show, and he said "We're not completely sold out, keep telling people to come!" Then I thanked him again and he seemed very gracious and pleased with my comments about his performance. Then, he went onto the next person, who mentioned Harry Potter again...
So, overall, it was a pleasant experience and I hope to get the remainder of the cast members to sign my window card the next time I head over to the Broadhurst.
"The sound system was horrible, with Griffith's mic cutting out frequently and 3 incidents of a buzzing interference coming over the speakers. In fact, the buzzing occurred during a tender kissing scene, and the audience actually chuckled."
The buzzing interference is a result of people leaving their cell phones on...if it rings/vibrates it will be picked up by the sound system. I think this is only a problem for people who are sitting on stage and in the first two rows of the orchestra. Also, the actors aren't wearing body microphones, so I'm not sure how Richard Griffiths could have had microphone problems.
I'm seeing this for myself next Tuesday.
