Gary: A Sequel To Titus Andronicus Previews - Page 10

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/30/19 at 8:34pm

I agree with what others have said. I’m not sure what I saw, but I enjoyed it. It’s a master class of actors doing delicious work. They are really getting into their groove. White, whose kookiness I adore, just lights up the other actors. I can’t imagine Nielsen playing Carol now.

Nielsen is really exceptional as is Lane. Fully committed and fully realized.

Nielsen and White did stage door. Both are lovely. White is so kooky in real life. She exited the stage door and yelled, “I didn’t save the baby!!!” She’s a hoot. Nielsen held my hand as she spoke to me since I told her she was in my prayers (she was). She said Mr Lane (she called him that) and Julie were the best people in the world in terms of supporting her.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 3/30/19 at 8:57pm

I'm curious about the setting for the play.  A sequel to Titus Andronicus in Elizabethan meter with actual (stage) blood and gore? 
Is this backstage in the 16th century, ancient Rome, or some other alternate time - or all of the above, depending?

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/1/19 at 12:04am

The show is still sticking with me. Love those kind of shows.

 

Question... Is there any merch yet for the show. I know they have changed the artwork for the show after Martin's injury. Knowing people who work merch, I have been told that it can take a long time to approve what the match will look like. I would love a magnet!

Updated On: 4/3/19 at 12:04 AM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/1/19 at 12:38am

Was there this weekend...no merch besides the drink cups at the bar.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 4/1/19 at 6:45am

SPOILERS BELOW

 

Nope, nope, nope.
 

Sorry, just nope.

 

Saw this Saturday night.  Love Nathan and Julie.  Am familiar with the source material from Taymor's film.  Was looking forward to this from the original announcement and bought tix months ago.

 

This was just dreadful. 

 

It's not gory

It's not funny

It's not making a statement.

 

SO Much potential.  Make it a cross between Spamalot ("Bring Out Your Dead" )  and Guards at the Taj

Make it a commentary on the Fall of Empires

Make it a slapstick comedy

Make it a Shakespearean parody

Make it be ridiculously gore-y, like it sounds like the first few previews were.  Now?  A little early blood and Janice coughs up what she "swallowed" later on in the show.

Make it SOMETHING.

 

Something other than a cavalcade of prosthetic penii, the only original thing in this show.  Lose the cockney accents.  You know it makes no sense, you even comment at length on it and it just takes away from the dialogue.  Throw in some surprises in the pile.

 

First time I have been to theater, a movie, a sports event, or anything where my wife enjoyed something SO much more than I did and that's because she fell asleep about 20 minutes in and I respected her decision enough to leave her be until the end.

 

Looking forward to the reviews

Updated On: 4/1/19 at 06:45 AM

[jbp1232]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 12:01pm

There was a feature in the NYTimes Magazine about Taylor Mac and it touches on Gary. It really helped me enjoy the play even more!

https://nyti.ms/2FIb7bU

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 12:28pm

They seem to not know that Mac’s pronoun is judy.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 12:40pm

“Wolfe, the director, says what he loves about the play is “how fragile emotions and ridiculous situations and a slightly absurdist truth can all share the same space. That, at any given moment, is American madness.” “Gary” is very funny, but it’s also sincere: a play about people who are trying to devise a new way to clean up violence and destruction that is not of their making.”

[DoTheDood]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 1:01pm

HeyMrMusic said: "They seem to not know that Mac’s pronoun is judy."

Yeah that seemed odd to me too. Even the advertisements I've seen have misgendered judy. I get a lot people don't get non-binary pronouns, but it seems odd to then just blatantly ignore Mac's pronouns as a whole, especially in an article that could easily explain judy's pronouns in like a blurb or something. I wonder how Mac feels about this

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 1:59pm

Ugh....I am SO very torn.   This is the last show that I was planning to see on my spring break (with Hadestown and Beetlejuice).  I still want to go, but am having second thoughts for my son.  He's 18, and quite intelligent and VERY theater savvy - I'm just afraid he'll hate it.   

 

Any thoughts? I think our back up would be Oklahoma.  Or Tootsie.  

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 2:03pm

I'd skip Beetlejuice and this and see Hadestown, Oklahoma!, and Tootsie.

I did like this show however and thought it was funny, interesting, and creative, but I do think this will be a divisive one and I think you'd be taking a risk. I loathed Beetlejuice and thought it was awful, but I think you might have a good time. Tootsie and Oklahoma! are both far superior.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 2:09pm

Well, Beetlejuice is his choice and we already have tickets - so a done deal. (He was excited when our school trip initially chose it - and then passed on it to see Corbin Bleu.)

 

 I don't mind a risk - just don't want him to hate it.  (Its not pleasant sitting beside him if we are not of the same mind frame.)

 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 2:16pm

Mac has said that his/him/he is acceptable and that "judy" is also part of a performance, to paraphrase: "You can't roll your eyes and say 'Judy' without being a little camp." 

[jbp1232]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 2:31pm

GeorgeandDot said: "I'd skip Beetlejuice and this and see Hadestown, Oklahoma!, and Tootsie.

I did like this show however and thought it was funny, interesting, and creative, but I do think this will be a divisive one and I think you'd be taking a risk. I loathed Beetlejuice and thought it was awful, but I think you might have a good time. Tootsie and Oklahoma! are both far superior."

Oklahoma! is definitely a divisive show too and since I'm on the other side of the divide, I'd recommend Hadestown, Tootsie and Gary. From the boards, Oklahoma seems to be divisive to even more to the extreme, so you will either love it or hate it. It depends if it's worth the risk to see something you may absolutely hate during your short trip. 

[MikeK3]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 2:37pm

For what it's worth, I took my two sons (ages 15 and 20) and they both loved it. Even if you aren't entirely convinced by the play, the performances are remarkable.  It's an experience unlikely to be repeated!

BTW, I got tickets for last Wednesday night through TDF, and we were seated in the middle of the eighth row orchestra. The Booth is small, and most seats are good...but we felt pretty luck to get those seats!

 

[skeach101]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 10:22pm

So I'm going to try for the Sunday 3PM show of this. Will getting Rush tickets be hard?

[jbp1232]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 10:25pm

I don't think the rush is difficult, but might be more challenging on a weekend. I rushed last Tuesday and showed up at 9:50 and was second in line. The rush seats were front row which was the "splash zone".

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 10:50pm

Is it possible for someone who hasn’t read Titus Andronicus to understand the show? I’m planning to take a friend to the show but worried that she might have a hard time understanding the show.

[haterobics]

Posted: 4/2/19 at 11:32pm

Dancingthrulife2 said: "Is it possible for someone who hasn’t read Titus Andronicus to understand the show? I’m planning to take a friend to the show but worried that she might have a hard time understanding the show."

There is a movie, and Wikipedia, for her to consult beforehand?

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 4/3/19 at 12:58am

this was a real disappointing miss. It feels weirdly clean for a Taylor Mac show, and is lacking in blood for a show with such grotesque artwork on the theater.

dont get me wrong it is really funny, but whatever points its trying to make are muddled and honestly George C Wolfe was not the right director for this material. 

[SamIAm]

Posted: 4/3/19 at 7:04pm

Reading back through this and other threads on other boards, people were initially complaining about all the bodily fluid, blood, etc and the splashing. Now, it seems people are disappointed that there isn't enough blood and that it is not outrageous enough. As with any other show, I always suggest to people that they do their homework and understand what they are buying tickets to and what it is about so that they aren't sitting in the audience annoyed or disappointed. I remember stories of audience members bringing kids to the Producers and being upset because 'Timon was swearing'. Not to say that this play is going to be everyone's cup of tea but if you know going in that Mac is Mac and that the work is not going to be linear, 'normal' Broadway or even something that the creative team expects everyone to like, you are less likely to walk away unhappy. There isn't much in the way of experimental, unique work on Broadway these days and most producers will not put their money behind these types of experiments. Much like improv, this type of process is going to fail sometimes and sometimes it is going to be uneven but we DO want to see new work and work that is not run of the mill. I would be surprised if the critics embrace this one. It isn't a dependable revival and it isn't for everyone. 

Updated On: 4/4/19 at 07:04 PM

[Sauja]

Posted: 4/4/19 at 5:05pm

I was really won over by this show, but this is really going to divide folks. For all the bodies and flatulence jokes, there's a surprisingly subtle work about the power of art to move us and whether there are "right" ways to confront not only individual tragedy but the whole history of oppression and violence that the world is built on. Given the subject, the playwright, and the performers, it's kind of shocking how NOT shocking it is. 

 

It's actually kind of hilarious to see this on Broadway. This has the heart and soul of a small downtown show. It just happens to have attracted some of the biggest talents around, almost guaranteeing that much of the audience that sees it won't enjoy it. 

 

For Mac fans, it's of a piece with all of his work from The Lily's Revenge to the 24 hour history of music to earlier performances--a poke in the eye of oppressors while also a love letter to performance.

 

I couldn't help but think this could go the way of La Bete--loathed in its initial Broadway incarnation but ending up having a long life. But that's just me guessing. I say go. See it with an open mind. There are riches to be found if you dig for them.

[mattyp4]

Posted: 4/5/19 at 11:29am

Wee Thomas2 said: "Make it be ridiculously gore-y, like it sounds like the first few previews were. Now? A little early blood and Janice coughs up what she "swallowed" later on in the show."

Well, it wasn't "ridiculously gory" in the first few previews. That was just a few posts from some over-enthused theater fans. (I got in trouble for implying that earlier but it's the truth & I meant it in the nicest way possible.) It sounds like you saw exactly what we saw.

But I agree-- it needed to be SOMETHING. I was hoping for a full-blown farce. Like Noises Off but really dark. Especially when I saw Bill Irwin credited for "movement." But it really disappointed. The physical humor was great but it needed WAY more of it.

 

[BwayGeek2]

Posted: 4/5/19 at 11:32am

Wow! What a pity, I was expecting much more positive reviews from this show. Granted, I haven't seen it yet, so I am taking these thoughts with a grain of salt and wait until I've seen it myself, but I was really waiting to see Gary as the head of the pack. 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/5/19 at 11:44am

Sauja captured my thoughts on this very well. 

This is a work I'd really like to read. The text is often funny, sometimes beautiful, and full of ideas- but the production is so full of, well, a lot of things, so I feel like I wasn't able to fully process what Mac was actually saying. 

It is undeniably characteristic of Taylor Mac, though, who takes a throw-it-all-in approach and has no fear of failure.