Posted: 4/1/23 at 4:50pm
Saw this at the Public and then saw this a little bit ago on Broadway. I am going back again SOON because I just love this show so much. Do we know if they have been stagedooring? (Does American Airlines even have a stage door?)
Posted: 4/1/23 at 5:09pm
Ricey2 said: "Saw this at the Public and then saw this a little bit ago on Broadway. I am going back again SOON because I just love this show so much. Do we know if they have been stagedooring? (Does American Airlines even have a stage door?)"
Are there any sensory details in this show?
Posted: 4/4/23 at 7:28pm
I got A112 for the orchestra in the TodayTix rush but apparently tonight is some kind of special reception with the Public Theatre and the fifth floor lounge is closed. Boo.
It looks like Marcel Spears is back tonight though
EDIT: The show is in great shape, although the house was not really that full, with A LOT of empty seats. They had a great talkback with DeRay Mckesson after the show though.
Updated On: 4/5/23 at 07:28 PM
Posted: 4/7/23 at 10:07am
Caught this last night - what a delight it was! Highly, highly recommend it to all.
Performances were excellent all around and the show strikes a perfect tonal balance. It knows when to be funny and break the dramatic tension, but also provides enough serious/tense moments to anchor the show and prevent it from veering into farcical territory.
The set design, lighting, and sound added to the production tremendously and helped keep things visually interesting yet never distracting from the actors and the text.
I've been feeling somewhat let down by this Spring's offerings thus far, so to say last night was a breath of fresh air is an understatement!
I saw this via Hiptix and sat in the far right rear orchestra. The seat was fine but I hate how close it is to the street exit...you can hear all sorts of wild conversations/loud cars which can be quite distracting during the quieter moments.
Posted: 4/8/23 at 9:07pm
I thought this show presented a lot of interesting ideas, but for me they didn't really coalesce in the end. Perhaps it had just been so hyped up for me by others in the industry (I didnt get to see it off Broadway), but I think I expected something more.
I suppose my biggest issue is that I think I needed more context in how all these characters came to their decision to break the mold at the play's end. It felt like everyone's transformations sort of just "happened." No real justification for it (outside of maybe 1 or 2 characters). Which made me feel like "but what are you actually trying to say with this piece?" I also think there was a lot of dead space in many of the scenes where things could use some tightening.
Overall I'm glad I saw it. Chris Herbie Holland is a riot (and maybe their one acting nomination at the Tonys??) and the ending is fun. As are its use of Shakepeare's text. But I expected something else. And I'm not sure how this challenges Leopoldstadt at all for Best Play. In fact, I think Leopoldstadt, Ain't No Mo, Cost of Living, and Good Night Oscar will all rank higher than this one with plenty of voters. But maybe I'm just missing something. Really wanted to love it but I'm just not there.
Posted: 4/8/23 at 9:24pm
I’ll admit I had a fun but I didn’t really get this one. I wasn’t super impressed by the performances. The mother’s accent was really over the top and out of place. I didn’t believe for one second the dad or the uncle were remotely capable of killing anyone. The uncle seemed like a preppy country club asshole with a bad temper but not a murderer. I didn’t get that gingerbread monologue at all and that’s where the show really started to fall apart for me. The ending was energizing and fun to look at but I had absolutely no clue what it was supposed to mean. I enjoyed the ghostly effects and I did laugh quite a bit. I wish they had explored the attraction between the two queer characters, that scene between them really injected some tension into the play for a few minutes. Especially because I also didn’t believe for one second Juicy was going to kill anymore. It was amusing but ultimately much ado about nothing.
Posted: 4/9/23 at 7:08am
MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "But I expected something else. And I'm not sure how this challenges Leopoldstadt at all for Best Play. In fact, I think Leopoldstadt, Ain't No Mo, Cost of Living, and Good Night Oscar will all rank higher than this one with plenty of voters. But maybe I'm just missing something. Really wanted to love it but I'm just not there."
I don't think you missed anything. There isn't much there. I'm amused at the industry social media campaign to gaslight people into buying a ticket and convincing them that this subpar, goofy show is somehow an equal contender to this season plays.
Posted: 4/9/23 at 7:13am
Yes, because who could imagine a Pulitzer prize winning play to be "a contender"?
That being said, I haven't seen this yet - so no personal opinions, but am very much looking forward to it.
Posted: 4/9/23 at 7:55am
dramamama611 said: "Yes, because who could imagine a Pulitzer prize winning play to be "a contender"
if you expect equal brilliancy of A Strange Loop or Cost Of Living, you're in for disappointment. I haven't read the Fat Ham script, but the production itself is not anything remotely on the award winning level. As someone mentioned, more than half of the time you wonder why the characters do what they do and just are not entirely convincing. Not much logic in this play, although it's based on the familiar material. It's truly bizarre to me this production is being hyped the way it is.
Updated On: 4/9/23 at 07:55 AM
Posted: 4/9/23 at 11:46am
Caught this yesterday. It’s really well-written and clever (which explains the Pulitzer win), but I definitely agree with the posters who say it doesn’t quite add up or come together well. Glad I saw it, though.
Posted: 4/9/23 at 5:27pm
In a different timeline, Usher became Tyler Perry’s permanent ghost writer and started trolling the world by writing this.
Posted: 4/9/23 at 9:26pm
To those who have seen it recently, is it still running 1:50 (as reported for the first preview)? I have a tight schedule for a matinee and am hoping for closer to the listed 95 minutes.
Posted: 4/9/23 at 11:51pm
Yep, it’s still running about 2 hours.
Posted: 4/10/23 at 12:21am
Tonight I clocked it at 1:47 (Start is 7:05, End is 8:52)
The show is in great shape and the audience is catching on for sure, which allowed the actors to ad-lib a bit more and break the fourth wall more often, including a few references to today being Easter Sunday.
There was also a magnificent talkback moderated by Cynthia Erivo that was extremely moving. One of the main questions Erivo asked the cast was about the "cost" of them being on stage in their roles, and they each shared very personal stories - Adrianna Mitchell sharing how having her son three months ago means her life is strictly regulated so she can easily balance the show and still having time to rear her son, Calvin Leon Smith shared about how he grew up gay in Tennessee and having a family that doesn't accept him-finding a chosen family with the cast, and Benja Kay Thomas shared about being away from her husband has been hard for her, while she makes her Broadway debut well into middle age.
It all felt very therapeutic and bonhomie and not at all like a standard talkback.
Posted: 4/10/23 at 11:36am
TotallyEffed said: "II didn’t get that gingerbread monologue at all and that’s where the show really started to fall apart for me."
Check the spoiler box!
It took me a few viewings before it clicked (and I understand not everyone can afford to do that), but I did actually ask Chris Herbie Holland and the whole monologue is meant to be Tio's "coming out" story in a way. In the beginning of the play, he is aggressively heterosexual in presentation (playing porn out loud and simulating sexual positions with a balloon).
However, once he comes back and he's high as a kite, he realizes through his stoned sexual interaction with the gingerbread "man" that his sexuality is far more expansive than he previously realized - and that helps him relate and gel more with all of the other young characters who are in different stages of reckoning with their sexuality - Pride (Opal), Indifference (Juicy), and Repression (Larry)
Posted: 4/10/23 at 12:54pm
Thanks, Quiz! I just found the monologue to be distractingly vulgar, bizarre, and long and I started to check out a little. What are your thoughts on the last “moment” of the show?
Posted: 4/10/23 at 1:10pm
TotallyEffed said: "Thanks, Quiz! I just found the monologue to be distractingly vulgar, bizarre, and long and I started to check out a little. What are your thoughts on the last “moment” of the show?"
I actually love it. (See below)
According to James Ijames at a talkback - he did not want to have the play with a sad ending when there was so much joy to be had. Having Rev die and everyone else carry on subverts the Shakesperean "tragic ending" trope (which, to me, is the goal of the play). Also, it gives closure to Larry, who is so repressed throughout the play, and allows him to finally express his queerness and joy as opposed to just leaving him on the sad note where he assaults Juicy for "outing him".
It brings to mind a line from "The Boys In The Band" - "It's not always like it happens in plays, not all fa**ots bump themselves off at the end of the story."
Posted: 4/10/23 at 1:18pm
It just felt like it should have been Juicy’s moment. It felt so unearned to me.
Posted: 4/10/23 at 1:37pm
TotallyEffed said: "It just felt like it should have been Juicy’s moment. It felt so unearned to me."
I disagree in the sense that the end of curtain call...
Larry jumps into Juicy's arms, which indicates they are now happily together and living openly and that ties it all up for me.
Posted: 5/1/23 at 1:35pm
Saw the show this weekend and it is still running closer to 2 hours - it started just after 2 and we were out on the street a little before 4.
Updated On: 5/1/23 at 01:35 PM
Posted: 5/31/23 at 11:19pm
quizking101 said: "TotallyEffed said: "II didn’t get that gingerbread monologue at all and that’s where the show really started to fall apart for me."
Check the spoiler box!
"
I kinda thought that and it came to mind even before the monologue. Reason in spoiler box...
The "why don't we all kill each other" scene kind of came out of nowhere and just didn't seem to make much sense. (Although I think I saw what they were going for, it felt more of a diversion for the bit of magic that happens)
As for Tio's monologue, I immediately thought he came out when I saw the rainbow colors on the sneakers. Or at least he was bi-sexual. After thinking a bit about it I thought his pointing out people and one person a few times was him kind of saying it is in a lot of us to be bi. I loved his description of planet earth though.
Also, did they change "she" to "he" in the song "CREEP"? I was so surprised that was happening I didn't notice or think about it until I got home.
Saw it tonight and agree with the comments that it just didn't seem to come together in the end. The whole "premise" seemed to fall away and everything seemed to shift. As a black man I totally liked the way the interacted with each other and it was realistic. On that level, I really enjoyed the writing.
But I do feel as if I missed something near the end. Even at close to 2 hours with no intermission, it is engrossing and flew by. I could easily sit through it again and might, just to see if I missed something in those final 20 minutes or so. But I am glad I finally got to see it. We had Mr. Gibson as Juicy at our performance.
Also, I think I totally get why Tedra has a thicker accent than the others after reading the Setting and Time in the Playbill. Nikki Crawford totally deserved that nomination. I felt that the characters represented different parts of the south.
Just my random thoughts!
Updated On: 5/31/23 at 11:19 PM
