Glass Menagerie Reviews

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 4:54pm

Didn't think I'd be starting this thread so early, but Newsday jumped the gun and has Winer's review up already (two hours before curtain) and it's mixed-to-negative:

" The news thus far is not happy. David Leveaux has staged a tone-deaf "Glass Menagerie" with downright bizarre ideas about the relationships among the pushy and disappointed Amanda Wingfield (Lange); her disabled daughter, Laura (Sarah Paulson); and her restless son, Tom (Christian Slater), the playwright's autobiographical proxy.

No matter how many incarnations of the troubled Wingfield clan we have seen, we have never seen one so loving. Make that lovey-dovey. Make that laden with suggestions of incest, primarily between Tom and his agonizingly shy sister, who snuggles his face, rubs his thigh and even lies down on him as he passes out on the sofa.

Since the tension in the play is rooted in emotional estrangement, all this affection is more than a little unsettling.......
_______________________________________________________________

The problem here is not Lange, whose subsequent stage work in London has turned her into a fascinating stage creature. While hardly a typical Amanda Wingfield in the fluttery-matron tradition, she brings a sexual, almost stylish flair to the woman's confused vitality."
_________________________________________________________________

"Unfortunately, Lange has too much competition in the experimental department. Slater, a late replacement, plays Tom more like Barney Rubble than like a trapped poet whose factory buddies call him Shakespeare. Slater was compelling in London last season as the rebel Randall P. McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Inexplicably, he is playing the same lummox here.

Since the play is Tom's memory, we want to believe that he will run away from his hopeless family for sensitive reasons. When Slater talks to us from the metal fire escape alongside the Wingfields' airless apartment, he is just a sardonic lug who plays the heartache for laughs.

Except for her visceral dependence on her brother, Paulson's Laura has the gawky, sweet enchantment of a forest creature. Josh Lucas is appealing as the gentleman caller, though a bit too dashing and confident for a fallen high school star probably doomed to failure like everybody else."

Newsday Review

Updated On: 3/22/05 at 04:54 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:06pm

I haven't seen the production, but that review seems to be similar to what we've been hearing here and on other boards. I would imagine that most reviews will be in the mixed-negative catagory.

I'm glad that Winer was able to recognize that Lange is actually a gifted theatre actress, who in this instance may have been poorly directed.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:10pm

Figures. Was anyone really expecting anything marvelous? Glad to know I'll be passing it up.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:13pm

I wonder if Dallas Roberts is somewhere smiling right now.

[Theatreboy33]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:18pm

Im sure he is. And all i can say as far as that review goes is hooray. After posting my review and getting attacked from all ends on it, Id say Newsday hit my sentiment right on the head. So apparently, im not such the idiot others on this board might believe me to be. Let's see how Brantley treats it though.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:19pm

I wasn't very interested in seeing this revival anyway. But based on what I've been hearing (not just this review, but a ton of word of mouth) it seems like I'll be skipping it.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:23pm

I'm surprised this review is up so early, but not very surprised by what it says.

"I'm glad that Winer was able to recognize that Lange is actually a gifted theatre actress, who in this instance may have been poorly directed."

I'm glad somebody else realizes that. Ms. Lange was incredible in both "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Long Day's Journey Into Night".

[Theatreboy33]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:26pm

Thismight be off topic slightly, but why does the design/logo of this show have to feature Jessica Lange's headshot? I know she's the star, but why couldnt they have her pic taken as Amanda at least? I just cant think of a show (besides one man shows) that just feature an actor's headshot.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:29pm

And Winer is right about one thing -- she's powerfully watchable here, and delivers a risk-taking, intelligent interpretation. Had her Amanda been in a more conventionally staged production, with less stark design components (nothing poetic in that set) she might have been a major event of this season. She remains so for me, but I fear Winer may be an early glimmer of what's to come. Leveaux will very likely be smacked hard by Brantley.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:31pm

Nah, I can't imagine Dallas Roberts is smiling right now unless he promptly got another offer. Regardless of quality, a Broadway paycheck goes a lot further to paying the rent then unemployment.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:39pm

According to IMDB, Roberts has three films currently completed and in post-production -- any one of them probably gave him a bigger paycheck than being trapped in a bad production doing Tom for the next four months would have. As in demand as he is both here and in Hollywood, he won't be relying on unemployment to pay the bills anytime soon.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:41pm

Let's hope not - he has a baby on the way.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:45pm

Does anyone else hate it when people use critics' opinions to decide whether or not to see a production. Get rush tickets and decide for yourself!

Updated On: 3/22/05 at 05:45 PM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:48pm

"Let's hope not - he has a baby on the way."

I believe his child has already been born.

EDIT: Just looked it up. His son was born in October.

Updated On: 3/22/05 at 05:48 PM

[LaCageAuxFollesFan]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:48pm

For the first time in awhile I can finally say, Linda I AGREE with you - wholeheartedly! Wonderful review, hit the nail on the head about such a misguided production!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:48pm

Well, as a general rule, if I had a hundred dollars to spend, and I wasn't a student, I'd want to know what what to spend my money on. That's the whole point of reviews. And for the record, it's not always a negative barometer. I've read some rave reviews and have skipped the production because I could tell that show wasn't going to be my cup of tea...

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:51pm

And that is fine...I just don't like it when people say:

I am not going to bother seeing this production because that one guy in the paper said it was bad.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:54pm

So what was the scoop with Roberts leaving the show? Was it his choice? Did they want a bigger name? I missed that drama.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:56pm

Roberts was apparently doing experimental things with the character that made Jessica Lange uncomfortable and she had him replaced. She, ironically, is also the reason he got the job in the first place.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:56pm

No one critic has the power to make me see or not see a show (I pretty much see everything anyway). But a dozen ones all saying the same exact thing is usually a good barometer of a show's quality -- not everytime, to be sure, but very often.

[jjdude2000]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 6:28pm

Broadway.com is up:


http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=508822

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 6:44pm

Broadway.com loved Sarah Paulson.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 6:46pm

Roberts was apparently doing experimental things with the character that made Jessica Lange uncomfortable...

Rather ironic cosidering the experimental take David Leveaux seems to have taken with the rest of the production.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 6:48pm

Talkin Broadway is up, right on time (6:45) -- Negative on nearly all counts:

"There are cracks aplenty in The Glass Menagerie as directed by David Leveaux. The revival at the Barrymore only reinforces long-standing questions about Leveaux's facility with American works: His productions of Nine and Fiddler on the Roof were botches, but his revival of Tom Stoppard's Jumpers last season was dazzling. Now, his reconception of Tennessee Williams's gently sweeping dream play is nothing short of a discordant nightmare."

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/GlassM.html

Updated On: 3/22/05 at 06:48 PM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 6:56pm

Wow, that was really brutal...