Gin Game Previews- Page 2
Gin Game Previews
Gin Game Previews#25
Posted: 9/27/15 at 12:37am
I saw this tonight. I found it to be entertaining if very slight. I can't really wrap my head around this play winning a Pulitzer. I think right now the dramatic scenes just don't work.I think the direction is perhaps at fault, or this may be something that just needs to settle in through the run.
But that being said, the play is a delight mainly because of the two actors. Cicely Tyson is such a firecracker, and James Earl Jones is very strong. The comedy is excellent and definitely makes the evening worth it.
The set is bizarre. I don't think the set designer has ever been in or near a nursing home. I started to wait for M. Night Shamaylan style twist where they weren't actually at a nursing home but were living in a shack in the middle of the woods! Definitely a miss in that department.
Overall, I can say that I was entertained for two hours, but the play felt a little empty to me. The pleasure of seeing these two legends onstage and having a good time is definitely worth it though.
Gin Game Previews#26
Posted: 9/27/15 at 6:27pm
Stopped by the box-office today to ask about Rush. He said I was free to check back, but at the moment they have no rush policy.
Gin Game Previews#27
Posted: 9/27/15 at 6:55pm
JBroadway said: "Stopped by the box-office today to ask about Rush. He said I was free to check back, but at the moment they have no rush policy."
Thanks for checking, JBroadway! I'm definitely disappointed to hear it, since it looks like the cheapest ticket price is $70+ through Telecharge, so hopefully they do announce a rush policy if they aren't selling out after opening.
Gin Game Previews#28
Posted: 10/7/15 at 5:22pm
Just bumping this up. Has anyone else seen this? Been seeing a lot of talk of other shows I'm seeing on my trip in previews, but very little about this, which kind of worries me.
Hope to hear some more word on this.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
Gin Game Previews#29
Posted: 10/7/15 at 7:04pm
Worth it to see two old, talented pros in a fun two handed.
Tyson and Jones are quite good, all things given. Relish the chance to see them together.
I believe Tyson wears an ear piece. Jones has lines printed on a prop, plainly visible from front mezzanine.
The direction is a bit lazy and occasionally sloppy.
the set design is serviceable at best. Very realistic house, but then the designer seems to have given up on extending it the rest of the stage. The lack of landscape and lack of an an interior are glaring and tacky missteps. The show scrim is lovely, but the lack of a black out drop behind it is foolish and leaves you several moments of watching Jones and Tyson led to and from their places that draw more attention to their physical conditions,
The visible use of stagehands and dressers are understandable and acceptable, but shockingly poorly done.. Absolutely POORLY done. The director should be shamed for it, not just for the laziness, but again for unnecessarily displaying his actors' frailty when it could very easily have been part of the in character action.
Gin Game Previews#30
Posted: 10/7/15 at 11:53pm
I saw this last week and it is one of the very, very few shows I have left at intermission. There was just no point in it for me- a plotless, unsurprising, static play, mired by Jones, who is (sadly) no longer able to handle this much material effectively. Mumbling over lines he's forgotten or unsure of, dropping cues, and going through the motions of the staging- it was, for me, a sad performance to sit through. Tyson fairs better but is nothing more than serviceable.
Also: does the script specify that there is to be a pile of furniture and assorted junk on the porch? It looked like they just cleaned out a garage- hardly appropriate (or safe!) for a nursing home.
Gin Game Previews#31
Posted: 10/8/15 at 8:13am
Kad said: "I saw this last week and it is one of the very, very few shows I have left at intermission. There was just no point in it for me- a plotless, unsurprising, static play, mired by Jones, who is (sadly) no longer able to handle this much material effectively. Mumbling over lines he's forgotten or unsure of, dropping cues, and going through the motions of the staging- it was, for me, a sad performance to sit through. Tyson fairs better but is nothing more than serviceable.
Also: does the script specify that there is to be a pile of furniture and assorted junk on the porch? It looked like they just cleaned out a garage- hardly appropriate (or safe!) for a nursing home.
"Saw the first preview. Was disappointed. Wondering if the language was as crude in the production with Cronyn/Tandy. I don't remember the language being as rough.
Broadway Star Joined: 12/27/11
Gin Game Previews#32
Posted: 10/8/15 at 9:02am
The PBS broadcast of the original 1980 Broadway production is on YouTube:
Understudy Joined: 6/19/13
Gin Game Previews#33
Posted: 10/11/15 at 9:41pm
Has anyone seen the show through TDF? I'm curious about where those seats have been.
Broadway Star Joined: 2/27/06
Gin Game Previews#34
Posted: 10/12/15 at 2:06pm
There was a piece on this play a few days ago in the Times. It certainly sounds like a complicated thing to perform. One wonders if it really has to be THAT complicated. I didn't completely understand how the gin game hands factor into the performances (it probably makes more sense after you've seen it), but it appears that there's a lot for both actors to keep track of.
Gin Game Previews#35
Posted: 10/12/15 at 2:43pm
TDF was rear side mezzanine. First time I've ever been disappointed in TDF seat location.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
Gin Game Previews#36
Posted: 10/12/15 at 3:13pm
Karen,
Gin Game is a deceptive show. As Tyson states in an interview, it is easy to write the show off as simple, but it is actually a deep piece with many conflicting layers to perform in the characters. Add to that it is a very proper heavy show, relatively speaking, in some ways. There are many things to keep track of and specific ways that things must be performed and presented to audience to maintain the show, there is a lot of muscle memory that takes over for an actor, associating dialogue with blocking and business. Gin Game is very repetitive, but each repetition in action is a bit different and that proves challenging for most any actor, let alone an actor of ego.
Videos
.jpg?format=auto&width=365)
