FENCES Reviews — Page 2

Yeah, most clips don't.

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The AP is Positive:

"Family, particularly fathers and sons. Can there be a more inexhaustible topic for great playwrights?

From Shakespeare (think all those 'Henry' history plays) to Arthur Miller (consider 'All My Sons' and 'Death of a Salesman'), the subject has been potent dramatic fodder. And in 'Fences,' August Wilson made his own unmistakable, powerful contribution to the genre in what is perhaps his most personal play.

First seen in New York in 1987 with James Earl Jones, 'Fences' has now returned with an equally starry actor, Denzel Washington in the lead. Washington, last on Broadway in 2005 in a production of 'Julius Caesar,' acquits himself well in this blistering revival, directed with a sure, steady hand by Wilson veteran Kenny Leon. It's a big, bold performance in a big, bold play, rife with emotion-drenched soliloquies for its star about life, love, death and the devil.

The production opened Monday at Broadway's Cort Theatre for a limited engagement through July 11..."

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wirestory?id=10482207&page=1

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NYTIMES is a Rave
Triumphant reviews for Washington and Davis. Brantley says Davis has a great shot at picking up another tony!!!!
http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/theater/reviews/27fences.html?ref=theater


"What Troy rants about, Rose keeps to herself, and Ms. Davis draws extraordinary power from that reticence; you never feel that Rose is any less deep than her husband. You can sense, so palpably that it hurts, why Troy and Rose were meant to be together, and when it looked as if the marriage might be going south at the performance I attended, you could hear horrified gasps in the audience. Mr. Washington and Ms. Davis prove that lovers don’t have to be as young and star-crossed as Romeo and Juliet to generate shiver-making heat and pathos."

Updated On: 4/26/10 at 10:38 PM

WOW! I was NOT expecting reviews like this, although I did enjoy the show. Good for them! Viola deserves that Tony. And it should really be for Leading Actress.

The NY Times review was interesting.

Brantley pretty much seemed to infer that Washington is giving a better, more complex performance in the role than James Earl Jones did. He made Jones sound like a more broad performance in comparison. Never expected that kind of ink for Denzel. That's like an actor playing Stanley Kowlaski in Streetcar Named Desire, and a critic saying he's better than Marlon Brando....someone considered the definitive performer of the role, to that point.

I guess Denzel and Viola are strong Tony frontrunners now. I think Viola could take it pretty easily in either the Best Actress or featured actress category. Best Actor seems more loaded, and is probably the toughest category. Ironically, I think Denzel's biggest competition will be from another big movie celeb (Jude Law in Hamlet) and two of his former co-stars (Lieve Schrieber and Christopher Walken). But with these type of raves, and the fact that the production is fresh in people's minds, Denzel could well take it.

Yeah, you could be right. Who do you think is likely to win leading? Laura Linney maybe...

On another note, I'm seriously tired of reading reviews for this show that have pretty much the same headlline. Were they all desperate to say "Denzel hits it out of the park" or "Denzel hits a homerun"? Enough with the lazy baseball riffs, m'kay.

Updated On: 4/27/10 at 01:31 AM

"I guess Denzel and Viola are strong Tony frontrunners now. I think Viola could take it pretty easily in either the Best Actress or featured actress category. Best Actor seems more loaded, and is probably the toughest category. Ironically, I think Denzel's biggest competition will be from another big movie celeb (Jude Law in Hamlet) and two of his former co-stars (Lieve Schrieber and Christopher Walken). But with these type of raves, and the fact that the production is fresh in people's minds, Denzel could well take it."

Jude Law wasn't that well-reviewed, and I can't imagine them giving it to a Hamlet that very few thought to be a landmark performance. It was, however, a hit. Shreiber and Walken, possibly. Shreiber won not too long ago, and Walken's performance was priaised but many find it to be second-tier McDonagh.

After these raves, I'm thinking it may be Denzel's time. (I can't believe I just said that...)

Yeah, I just had a look at some of Law's reviews again. Not as good as I thought (he got better ink in the London production). Brantley in the NYT gave him a pretty backhanded review that bolied down to him being "energetic, but shallow and obvious".

Walken is hampered by a production that isn't percieved to be much to write home about, and Schreiber has won recently, and works regularly enough on Broadway, that he'll have many more opportunities to add to his Tony collection.

Denzel has a production that is getting great ink, as well as himself. And it's a great comeback to Broadway, considering the generally mediocre notices of his last outing, Julius Ceasar. He is in a pretty strong postion to win, I guess.

Another potential incentive for Tony voters is that Fences will almost certainly be made into a movie version, with Denzel and Viola. They can pretty much pre-empt the Oscars when the film is released, by lauding the production first. If Denzel wins the Tony, it wouldn't exactly be a huge leap to see him win another Oscar for the same role. The Tonys can say they got there first (not sure if they care, but it's fun to speculate)

Updated On: 4/27/10 at 03:10 AM

I think Viola Davis's performance (as validated by her critical reception) is strong enough for her to win in either category, but the producers will almost surely place her in Featured Actress. She'll have all but a lock on the award there.

There's a reason they chose not to bill her above the title, and this is it.

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I haven't seen "Fences" yet, but it seems to me that Viola Davis could win either Leading or Featured Actress. Laura Linney was good in "Time Stands Still" but I didn't think it was an exceptionally memorable or powerful performance. It sounds like Davis is a gut-punch in this play, and the fact that the show is still running and now looks to be the frontrunner also for Revival, are big advantages.

IMO, Liev deserves the Tony, hands down. His performance is one I still think about. Just hauntingly brilliant.

"I've seen all of the leading male performances this season so far except for Nobert. As far as I'm concerned, Denzel is far and away giving the best performance of all of them. Unless Norbert gets rave reviews tonight, Denzel is almost guaranteed to take the Tony."

I expect Norbert to get raves, but it shouldn't matter.

If Liev hadn't won recently, he might be real competition (as he was absolutely fantastic in the role and has huge support), but I don't think the TONYs will be able to resist giving it to a huge movie star, and these reviews will ease their comfort in doing so.

And the Tony Award goes to Denzel Washington... (at least after the mediocre Enron reviews).