First Preview of Picnic

Anyone else there tonight?

I thought it was pretty good, and easily one of most well-cast group of actors Roundabout has assembled in a while, with one exception.

Maggie Grace is great as Madge. She feels so right for Inge, and would do well with Tennessee Williams too. I'd cast her as Maggie or Stella in an instant. She has a natural beauty that fits the role well.

Mare Winningham and especially Elizabeth Marvel fare best though. Marvel is giving the best performance the American Airlines has seen in 5 years! Like Metcalf in The Other Place, she's dangerous and very exciting to watch. I can't believe it's Winningham's Broadway debut. I know she's done theater, but her performance was already pretty nuanced.

Reed Birney and Ellen Burstyn were good in their smaller roles. Burstyn's final little monologue was beautiful.

The weak spot in the casting is with Sebastian Stan as Hal. He reminded me of James Snyder in Cry-Baby. He looks the part, but lacks that charisma/magnetism that causes the character to turn everyone's lives upside down. It's not like he's terrible or anything; he's very serviceable.

Stronger than any of the actors is the play itself, and this is the type of thing Roundabout should be reviving.

I liked it without loving it, but in this season I would definitely recommend it.

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About 2 hrs and 10 minutes, but it started late and the intermission felt long. The second act is only about 30 min.

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Yes, there was extreme shirtlessness.

Elizabeth Marvel was great in a hilariously over-the-top yet poignant portrayal. I wasn't connecting with Ellen Burstyn until the very end, when you can tell that the encounter with Hal really changed her. The set was very well done and I loved the retro costumes and those shoes!

Updated On: 12/15/12 at 12:19 AM

Yes, Sebastian spends a lot of the first act without a shirt on.

Also Whizzer, I had the complete opposite assessment of Maggie Grace...I thought she looked awkward onstage and was standing with a slightly slumped posture and pigeon-toed and was just generally kind of a dead weight.

I thought Elizabeth Marvel's performance and Sebastian Stan's chest were easily the best parts of the whole evening. Mostly I was lukewarm on the whole thing, but I think that may have to do with my ambivalence toward the play itself. I read it a couple of years ago in school and didn't really like it then, and I didn't exactly dislike this production but I didn't like it either.

Updated On: 12/15/12 at 12:23 AM

I've seen productons where the shirtlessness is minimal, which is strange since the movie poster is basically a picture of Holden's Nipples.

Updated On: 12/15/12 at 12:38 AM

I really liked this. I was not familiar with the play, but really adored it. A slice of Americana for me.

I thought Maggie Grace was fantastic, especially in her second act speech when she asks her mom about love.

Elizabeth Marvel was superb. Her opening scene of Act 2 was heartbreaking.

The rest of the cast was fine. Ellen Burnstyn elevated an otherwise throwaway character.

I don't feel the same way about Sebastian Stan, but maybe I was distracted by his shirtlessness.

A shout out to Madeline Martin for being such a fantastic young actress. I loved her in August Osage County, and then in Californication and her she is really doing some lovely work. I really have enjoyed following her and hope she continues to appear on the stage.

Finally, some kudos to the set design and direction. The second act contains one of my favorite moments in all the plays this year.

The house has lots of windows that allow you to peer into the kitchen. At one point in act 2 everyone (except 1 character) are all inside the house talking. You can't see everything, but enough to get the idea of what is happening. It was a brilliant, brilliant moment that reminded me of something that might take place in a Robert Altman film.

I really hope this show is a hit for roundabout because it is one of the best first previews they have had in years.

It's an ok production, but not as good as the previous ones I've seen.

The play, at least here, now seems a bit quaint. There were some unintended laughs. What was lacking was dynamism and wattage. The requisite tension wasn't there, and it all came off as too lackadaisical.

Aside from Reed Birney and the supporting players, I'd say none of the acting was quite right. Perhaps that will come with previews.

In the original production, Inge was forced by director Joshua Logan to change the ending he wanted. He later revised the play with his original ending and renamed it Summer Brave. Perhaps it was just because of last night's production, but this time I think Inge was right.

Updated On: 12/15/12 at 09:00 AM

For me, the best pars of the evening were Marvel, Birney and Madeline Martin. Marvel's top of Act II was indeed completely and totally wrenching.

As far as Maggie Grace goes, sorry...I thought she was the weakest of weak links. In fact, I thought she was an almost completely wet rag mop. Nothing going on at. all. Oy.

Did anybody meeting the stars after the show at the stage door? And if so, does Sebastian Stan come out to take photos/sign autographs?

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I enjoyed the previous Roundabout production more.

Summer Brave was a fine production. Again, the actor who played Hal could have been better. Alexis Smith was excellent, as was Nan Martin.

I don't think the so-called happy ending imposed by Logan is all that happy for Madge. I certainly don't see a happy future for her running off with this inveterate loser based on a one-night fling. Her mother was right, and last night, I kept wishing that Madge would listen to her.

Inge was right.

Saw the show at the Saturday matinee. The play is quite lovely, but there is a huge gaping hole. Hal and Madge. Not good at all. She less so than he. His performance is high school calibre. The rest of the cast is quite good and, I suspect, will improve until opening night. He's hopeless. Of all the young actors in NYC, this is the best they can come up with?

I'm a little disappointed and surprised that Sebastian Stan is having such trouble. He was very good in the Liev Schreiber Talk Radio revival a few years back, and he is certainly capable of giving a good stage performance.

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Having seen the last Roundabout revival of the play with Ashley Judd and Kyle Chandler who had no chemistry at all and were overshadowed by an excellent supporting cast (especially Anne Pitoniak), I have to wonder if it is the characters of Madge and Hal that are problem with the play.