HBO's 'Year of Magical Thinking'

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 9:43am

As per Variety, negociations are in the works for an HBO airing of Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking," starring Vanessa Redgrave.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117965907.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 9:52am

Score!! I cannot wait for this!

I hope it really is just the play as is and they don't try to dress it up with adding in "action". The beauty and power of this play IS the simplicity of the solo performance...and the realization that these things, maybe not in the same way, can and will happen to each of us.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 9:55am

Oh! I'm really excited for this!

[folkyboy]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 10:18am

they would be better off releasing a book on tape than this horrible piece of crap. is it going to be like follow the bouncing ball and we all read along with her?

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 10:20am

Have you READ the book? It is not an exact reading of the book. It is beautiful and powerful. Just because no one flies in it...

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 10:29am

This piece is so very theatrical that I don't see it translating to film very well. It's a one-woman show where she talks directly to the audience. Who wants to watch her just talk to the screen for two hours?

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 10:38am

Me.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:05am

^ Me too! I'd watch Vanessa Redgrave read the phone book. Letting her weave a spell around me with Joan Didion's words is EASY!!

[folkyboy]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:35am

i haven't actually read the book, no. but her interpretation of what i saw on stage proved how lacking the material was. poor Vanessa kept urging us to FEEL something for this dead dead piece.

and i'm not sure what the reference was regarding flight? can you explain that? did you SEE the show? she sits in a chair the whole time. she doesn't fly around. that's the green girl show. Vanessa's too old to fly Updated On: 5/29/07 at 11:35 AM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:37am

Folky, I think you totally missed the point. It's a beautifully written piece and it's brilliantly performed.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:39am

no i got the point. i was just being passive aggressive for her equating that i'm a Wicked fangirl. the piece itself was wretched, but i'll stand alone in my personal feelings of that. i still will say that i'd see Vanessa in anything else she ever does, though.
Updated On: 5/29/07 at 11:39 AM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:41am

How it it wretched? Joan Didion is one of the best authors out there.

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:43am

It's a great book, but it doesn't work on stage. AT all. I find it hard to see how film is any better a medium for it.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:45am

oh i have no doubt she is a great author. the critical acclaim has been able to prove that for me. i'm not talking about authorship as much as being a playwright.

the play had everyone around me in baited breath because they were waiting for the moment when we could clap that it was over.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:46am

Wicked isn't the only show that has flight. I just got, from the tone of youy post, that you feel like there need to be effects in a show for it to be worth something.

Yea, I have seen the show. Twice actually. And I will be seeing it twice more before it closes.

Taking it for what it IS ~ an intimate converstaion (not like he says x, she says y...in the more metaphorical sense) it is a beautiful piece of solo theatre.

And you can't really take the book and the play together. They're totally different art forms. Each beautiful in its own way.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:47am

Exactly.

It's not meant to be a typical play.

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:51am

Atypical plays are fine.

Plays that don't work are not fine.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:57am

It may not have worked for you Walt, but it does for me and for a lot of people I've talked with. The first time I saw it, I was shaking as I walked out of the theatre. The second time, I expected my reaction to be a little less, but it wasn't. I can only imagine what it will be like seeing it with my parents in 2 months. This show has touched and changed me like no other.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:59am

I think this is one of those pieces that everyone will disagree on.

I personally found it to be one of the most cathartic evenings I've ever spent. I saw the beautiful Vanessa Redgrave perform Joan Didion's incredible piece twice - each time it was more of an incredible journey. I am thrilled that this will likely be aired on HBO, as I would love to have a copy to cherish forever.

Perhaps it is only important and beautiful to those who have experienced or understand loss. Perhaps it's not. But where your audience, Folkyboy, was waiting for it to end, I was hanging on every beautifully spoken and written word.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 12:02pm

I agree. It was the quickest 90 minutes of my life.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 12:03pm

My thoughts summed up perfectly iluvtheatertrash.

The second time I saw it, when I knew she was getting to the end I couldn't believe it was over so fast. It FLEW by.

Updated On: 5/29/07 at 12:03 PM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 1:22pm

Thrilling news! I loved this show when I saw it in previews. Redgrave was absolutely fabulous...I was completely captivated the entire 90 minutes. I'm glad others will be able to see her incredible performance.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 1:36pm

This is great, I think. I still want to go see the play sometime soon.

I just wish they would also release their CAROLINE, OR CHANGE.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 1:37pm

It was filmed for HBO?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 1:40pm

I don't know if it actually went through or not.