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HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

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#1

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 4/30/19 at 7:13pm

Performances for Happy Talk, written by Jesse Eisenberg and directed by Scott Elliott, start tonight, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Happy Talk is set to run through June 16.

This play, formerly named Yea, Sister!, stars Marin Ireland, Tedra Millan, Daniel Oreskes, Nico Santos and Susan Sarandon.

Who's going?

Updated On: 5/3/19 at 07:13 PM

#5

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/2/19 at 5:47pm

Has anyone seen this yet? I'd love to hear what you thought, and more importantly (at least for logistical purposes) what the run-time is.

#6

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/2/19 at 6:01pm

FactsAreFacts said: "Has anyone seen this yet? I'd love to hear what you thought, and more importantly (at least for logistical purposes) what the run-time is."

The confirmation email says 1hr 45, no intermission. I'd swear that two different ushers on my way in said two different runtimes, one saying 1hr 50, one saying 2 hours. Anyway, it was somewhere in this area; no intermission.

#7

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/2/19 at 6:06pm

I saw it last night and it's solidly ok and ran at pretty close to 2 hours with no intermission (they told us 1:50 at the door, but it ran longer).

It's well acted and pretty funny with Marin Ireland having more fun than I've ever seen her have on a stage. Sarandon is good (not great yet). She got her laughs fine but I kept thinking of what someone like Kelly Bishop would have done with this part. The characters of the daughter and theatre friend are pretty one dimensional and the actors do fine with what they're given.

It's a pretty good play with actually funny jokes (and musical theatre references) but I wasn't raving after either. It takes a VERY unearned and weird turn in the last scene that felt false.

In short it was worth my time, especially for The New Group.

#8

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/5/19 at 2:07am

Saw this Saturday night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ll admit I was a tad bored/unfocused during some parts of act 2 (there were 4 acts or 3 breaks, anyway) but fully engaged for the rest of the show. The usher said it was 1:45, but it was closer to 1:50, no intermission. I thought the plot was interesting and serious and funny at the same time. I actually felt emotional during some parts. I felt it was well worth the cost and time spent. The cast was very good.
#10

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/5/19 at 12:01pm

I saw Octet on Friday and was just sitting in the lobby after. Sarandon came out and was extremely sweet to everyone before meeting some friends. I don’t know if she just came out to the lobby because her friends were there, but either way was incredibly sweet.
#11

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/5/19 at 2:27pm

Saw this last night and no thanks. See my other "Open Letter to The New Group" thread for more, but this was Boring with a capital B.

Jesse Eisenberg sat down at one of the tables outside the theater about 30 minutes before curtain. The woman at the table with him didn't recognize him but a few other folks did and came over for selfies and quick chats.

The set is nice. Crowded Surburan Home, with sliding screen/glass door in the back to a small yard. The lighting crew had some trouble as some scenes were missing lighting for half the backyard. There were also some set/prop issues, including a piece of a cabinet falling off in Sarandon's hand. Still early in previews, I'm sure they will fix these.

Jessica Lange was in the house.

The show doesn't work. There is only one character who is fully developed and that character is onstage for less time than the other four characters. Sarandon plays a caricature, and flubbed a few lines. The rest of the cast got through their lines ok, but it looked to us as if they sometimes realized how poorly written some of the lines were. A couple times it appeared that Sarandon and Ireland were about to break.



This is our 7th New Group show in the past 2 1/2 years. We live outside Boston, so we have limited slots in which to fit shows and of the 7 shows there was only 1 we'd recommend: Sweet Charity. That's a Won/Loss record that is not going to change as we just aren't going to keep giving them chance after chance after chance to entertain us.

#12

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/6/19 at 9:19am

Saw this Sunday and mostly enjoyed it. Susan was terrific and couldn’t help feeling she was playing a version of herself. Or st least a caricature. She pretty much had her lines down and had one snafu with a prop. My first time seeing Marin Ireland and I get the feeling she’s a chameleon and I may see a different actress depending on the performance. She was pretty much a caricature as was the husband who was note perfect for what little he had to do. Anderson Cooper was there and I kept watching him to see if he reacted to the many gay jokes, he smiled at maybe half. On the other hand there was an Asian family that was rolling in laughter every time the gay Asian character opened his mouth. I felt like they might be his family. Tedra Millan was good but I wish these kids would cool it with the tattoos, they’re so distracting. Ms. Sarandon even has a couple. Come on. Jesse Eisenberg seemed to be his hyperactive self flying in and of the theater. He did stop to sign a playbill but that was it.
#13

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/16/19 at 2:49pm

Saw it last night and the more I think about it the more I dislike it.

The performers are all great and doing their best despite the poor material. There isn’t anything really original about it, it tries to tackle big themes, it fails not for not presenting anything new, but for falling for every possible cliche there is. I don’t have a problem with a play not being super original, as long as it’s good. This was not. The immigration aspect in particular was very poorly handled.

Also, the final scene is a complete mess and it felt completely out of character.
#16

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/31/19 at 12:03pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Has anyone “stage doored” this lately?"

No, but last weekend I was seeing Curse of the Starving Class, which has its intermission right around the time Happy Talk ends. I got up to use the facilities and Sarandon and Daniel Oreskes were already in the lobby by that time. Sarandon seemed to be greeting the people who spoke to her. I would say if you want to catch her, get to the lobby quickly after the performance ends.

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#18

HAPPY TALK off-Broadway (The New Group)

Posted: 5/31/19 at 3:21pm

Jordan, when I went I waited on the street outside the theatre and I was successful in getting to meet her. She was very kind! I waited on the street because the lobby is so open, and has so many doors, that I was worried I might miss her. Seems safer to wait by the main entrance.

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