Posted: 9/19/16 at 8:22pm
Starring Mary-Louise Parker and Denis Arndt, Heisenberg begins previews at the Friedman tomorrow night, September 20. Who's going? Cannot wait to catch this (though I won't be going until later in the fall).
Updated On: 9/19/16 at 08:22 PM
Posted: 9/19/16 at 8:30pm
I'll be going on Sunday after the flea market and I can't wait! I nabbed two 30 Under 30 tickets for the front row on the stage. I caught this at Stage II last year and absolutely loved it. Mary Louise Parker and Denis Arndt work so well together.
Posted: 9/20/16 at 9:59pm
I saw this tonight and while I have mixed feelings about the play itself, I am thrilled to say that Mary-Louise Parker(after duds like Hedda Gabler and The Snow Geese) has finally found a play worthy of her talents. This is a showy role, her character Georgie demands your attention from the first scene and doesn't let go until the very end.
There is no stagecraft here, simply chairs and two tables and the actors around surrounded by the audience both onstage and off. (Too bad the timing couldn't have worked better, it would have been a good fit for Circle in the Square). I can imagine you'd have a great intimate view sitting onstage though I had a nice seat in the front mezzaine.
I thought both actors handled the material beautifully. Parker, has the showy role but Denise Arndt has great chemistry with her and I appreciated his dry wit.
For me what it comes down to is the play. I don't think it is for everyone and I think I would have enjoyed it a great deal less with a lesser cast. I liked this more than Constellations, though there are parallels here as Brantley mentions in his review. It's a very lovely portrait of two people who both the audience and the characters themselves never thought would be together, but I didn't find much more than that. I felt like the story was just getting started when it ended. Still, I hope that Parker finds a Tony nomination from this.
Posted: 9/24/16 at 10:49am
Wonder if there are any differences between this one and the version that was off-Broadway last summer?
Posted: 9/25/16 at 7:49pm
I saw this this afternoon, and I very much enjoyed it. The play was not at all what I expected it be. Based on the art work, I was expecting a very heavy handed and dark drama, but the play is actually very endearing in a strange way.
Both Mary Louise Parker and Dennis Arndt are giving fantastic performances. Mary Louise Parker's performance is simply mesmerizing, and she had me on the edge of my seat the entire show. I really hope she is remembered with a nomination come Tony season because she is sublime in this.
As others have mentioned, there is no set whatsoever to speak of. The lack of a set actually enhances the story and relationship between the two characters even more because all of the focus is on the two characters and their relationship.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable afternoon in the theatre, and while this won't be everyone's cup of tea, I would recommend it. For those wondering, I did the TodayTix rush and got row front row mezzanine. It was a great view. If you are on the app right at 9:59am and stay on the page, the app will automatically update at 10am with the number of seats available. You have to act fast, but it can be done.
Posted: 9/25/16 at 11:12pm
I saw the matinee of Heisenberg today as well and enjoyed it just as much as I did when I saw it last year at Stage II. To address the question of what has changed, briefly: nothing. One of my biggest fears about the transfer is that the original production would lose the intimacy of the space that I found so integral to the success of the show. I had a great on-stage seat for the show today, so I can't describe how this plays up to the mezzanine, but I think the idea of taking 200 seats out of the mezzanine and putting them on the stage was brilliant and tremendously helps the show feel like it fits in the Friedman.
So much has been said about Mary-Louise Parker's performance already, and she deserves all of the praise she has and will receive. Her character propels the play forward, and she brings so much humor and heart to a role that could, in less capable hands, be played merely as an eccentric woman. I, too, hope she's remembered in the Spring with a Tony nomination.
I do feel like not enough has been said about Denis Arndt, though, who would also be a deserving Tony nominee for his understated, yet tremendously resonant performance. He certainly has a more passive and quiet role in the proceedings, especially at the beginning of the show, but he works so well as a complement to Parker and he is so warm and endearing. His brief moment alone on the stage during the mid-point of the show is one of the more emotional portions of the show, too.
Although I had hoped for a bit more elaborate staging for its Broadway transfer, I'm ultimately happy that they kept this production as bare-bones as the original Off-Broadway because, as bwayphreak234 said, it helps focus your attention on just the relationship between the two characters and the two actors. As for the play itself, I could understand how one might think it's "slight," but I think Simon Stephens has written a beautiful, simple, and elegant two-hander that's thought-provoking without being too heavy or depressing. Speaking of Stephens, he was in the audience today, and on our way out of the theater, we ended up walking next to each other in the aisle. I complimented him on the work, and we had a nice conversation about the play and the transfer from Stage II to the Friedman; he was truly lovely and appreciative of the support.
I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being one of my top ten shows of this season. Highly recommended!
Posted: 9/27/16 at 5:50pm
Can anyone report on where the rush seats have been?
Posted: 9/29/16 at 9:14am
I saw this last night from the onstage seating area and enjoyed it too, but I was more involved with watching two great actors develop their characters than actually being captivated by the text.
Mary-Louise Parker is great and after Hedda and The Snow Geese it's nice to see her relaxed and having fun. It's plain as day that she's having a ball playing this outspoken, manipulative yet vulnerable, compulsive liar of a character. As much as I liked Parker, I was really wowed (and moved) by Denis Arndt's performance. He has the tougher of the two roles and always had me rooting for his character. It's their chemistry though that really sells the piece. Heisenberg would be deadly with two actors who weren't connecting, and luckily that's not remotely an issue here.
I kept waiting for the play to offer up a little something more than it did. Maybe it's just that we're so conditioned to expect a big twist or reveal from this little two person plays and this is basically a straightforward tale. As soon as it started my mind was guessing: maybe it will turn out that Arndt is dead this whole time; maybe Parker is the ghost of the girl that got a way and Arndt is imagining what a relationship with her would be like; maybe Arndt is the imagined version of Parker's long lost son that she is finally getting to see how his life turned out. Of course, the play never promised to be any of these things, and sometimes straightforward storytelling isn't so bad. The play kind of just gets out of the way and allows the actors to shine.
Posted: 10/1/16 at 7:39pm
Saw this last night and was surprised how infectious the play was...Arndt and Parker do a great job of balancing off one another...Thought Arndt was superb...As Whizzer mentioned, he does have the harder of the two roles and the chemistry between the two is what makes the piece work...
Maybe it's just me but did anyone else feel like they could see Parker "acting?" While I enjoyed her performance and believe she fully committed, I keep going back and forth on her performance...She's excellent and sells the role...At times though, I found her to be a little much...
Either way, this is worth seeing...
Posted: 10/2/16 at 12:29am
Anyone know if they have been signing afterwards at all?
Also when 30 under 30 seats will be going on sale for the end of October?
Posted: 10/4/16 at 4:44pm
Show has extended: https://twitter.com/MTC_NYC/status/783341166716710918
Posted: 10/4/16 at 11:20pm
@z5 said: "Anyone know if they have been signing afterwards at all?
Also when 30 under 30 seats will be going on sale for the end of October?
"
I'm curious about this, too. They only have 30 Under 30 available thru October 15th. Very irksome. I wanna see this, but NO WAY I'm mpaying $150 for 80 minutes. LoL
Posted: 10/5/16 at 7:52am
BroadwayConcierge said: "Show has extended: https://twitter.com/MTC_NYC/status/783341166716710918"
Good to hear...The show deserves it...
Posted: 10/5/16 at 10:32pm
Just took a look and was able to buy a $30 front row, stage seat for the end of October...apparently they put up more 30 under 30 seats.
Posted: 10/5/16 at 11:17pm
Thanks for letting us know more 30 under 30 were put on sale...
Posted: 10/5/16 at 11:21pm
Stage front row is definitely worth it. You are right in the middle of action. The stage is very high so you probably don't want to sit in the auditorium front row.
Posted: 10/5/16 at 11:54pm
Did they add height to the stage? Has anyone sat in Row A of the orchestra?
Updated On: 10/6/16 at 11:54 PM
Posted: 10/6/16 at 5:44am
I saw it over the summer and again about a week ago. Arndt had grown in his role and the performance was much cleaner. I thought he was quite good. I found Parker's continuous shouting and whininess kind of annoying (I guess I am in the minority here). If her character had approached me on a park bench I think I would have been gone within 2 minutes, regardless of any loneliness, curiosity or physical attraction..
When I heard about the seating on the stage I was a bit apprehensive but it worked fine and it was not a distraction. The direction was efficient. Over the summer I was sitting on the stage and I preferred having some distance in viewing the transfer.
The play did not appeal to me for some reason and although it flowed nicely (much stronger than the summer version) I found myself thinking about other things. The one impression it left me with is how we all use each other to some degree and how over time it becomes justifiable and acceptable.
Posted: 10/6/16 at 9:07am
Only slightly OT: I was thinking of "Snow Geese" this past weekend, seeing the published script at B&N. Sharr White was a writer to watch after "The Other Place," which (like this play) had a galvanizing performance by an actress, in that case Laurie Metcalf. And then along came the widely dismissed, in some camps with vitriol, "Snow Geese," and White's promise was all but denounced. A second play in NYC is often tricky for a newly emerging writer. Just worth noting.
"The Snow Geese" was produced within an inch of its life, stunningly designed, with trappings almost more appropriate to a musical. Dan Sullivan directed it accordingly, and the whole thing felt overthought and ultimately overdone. (I thought Victoria Clark and Danny Burstein were quite wonderful in it, in the glass half full department.) It makes the decision here to hold to minimalism very good for a script. A lot can be said about less-is-more; it can reduce audience expectations in the best sense.
Updated On: 10/6/16 at 09:07 AM
Posted: 10/6/16 at 9:13am
30 under 30 tickets are now on sale through November 13th. Hope they release more for the middle of November soon!
Posted: 10/6/16 at 2:01pm
anyone who has been, can you comment on the mezz? im wondering why they are only selling four rows of it. do they have the rest blocked off by curtains or are just not selling it? trying to figure out how making the mezz smaller would benefit the show. curious :)
Posted: 10/6/16 at 2:59pm
I believe it has to do with the number of occupants allowed in the Friedman? They merely moved x-number of seats from the rear mezzanine to the stage. The seats in the mezzanine are just blanketed, i.e. there's no curtain blocking off the back of the mezzanine, the exits, etc.
