History Boys Reviews

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 7:21pm

LA Times is a Rave:

"Every once in a while, a play comes along that helps you understand why you keep coming back to Broadway despite its rampant commercialism and overpriced mediocrity. That satisfying feeling, a clear sign that you're in the presence of true originality, is hard to explain, but you know it from the tingling rush of enjoyment that envelops you during the performance and the savored memories that linger long afterward.

"The History Boys," the Alan Bennett play that opened Sunday at the Broadhurst Theatre in a magnificent remount of the National Theatre of Great Britain production featuring the same glorious cast, offers the kind of unabashedly eccentric thrills that can be had only in the theater. Which is to say in the company of others equally appreciative of characters whose heightened peculiarities end up revealing us most truthfully to ourselves. Though it's already been adapted into a film (scheduled to be released after the Broadway run), anyone heading to New York should experience the work in all its vertiginous splendor onstage."
http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/cl-et-history24apr24,0,6753526.story?coll=cl-stage-top-right

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 7:46pm

So far so good. I haven't seen it yet (I'll hopefully be going soon) but I think it'll get nothing but raves...we'll see.

[mabel]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 7:48pm

Good for them...I'm glad I saw it when I did, as it looks like the student rush will be going out the window after the 30th (though I do think they should keep the front/side seats that are obstructed for students).

There's always SRO for a repeat visit.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 8:19pm

ummmmm. WOOOT!

i knew it! i knew it! i knew it!



Yay for the Boys

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 8:19pm

my love for The History Boys is so intense it caused a double post!

Updated On: 4/23/06 at 08:19 PM

[mabel]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 8:28pm

A little overzealous on the Post button, were we, C-Q-TBoo??

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 9:56pm

my enthusiasm for the Boys knows no bounds

i was like: YAY

POST POST POST

[Lamc16]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 9:59pm

So excited for this production. They deserve all the accolades they receive!

[mabel]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:08pm

Talkin' Broadway Review

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:11pm

YAY RAVES! (or semi)

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:29pm

The NY Times is very Positive:

"The seats in the Broadhurst Theater are no softer or wider than the ones in most Broadway houses, where the penalty for playgoing is almost always fanny fatigue. Yet for the entire, substantial length of the "The History Boys," the madly enjoyable play by Alan Bennett that opened last night, you somehow feel nestled in a plump armchair that has been custom made for your body — a perch that you are reluctant to leave, even after more than two and a half hours of sitting.

The components that induce such unexpected comfort are not ergonomic but theatrical, and of a seductive polish that New York audiences have seldom experienced of late. ________________________________________________________________

Mr. Bennett may have serious things on his mind, but he and Mr. Hytner take a cue from the classic entertainers of the music hall: variety and timing are what hold a restless audience's attention. Musical numbers, video sequences, scholarly debates, the acting-out of vintage movie scenes, moments of shocking emotional nakedness and wry internal monologues travel cheek by jowl here, with a cast in which every member stands out as an individual worthy of attention. Then there is the lure of Mr. Bennett's dialogue, as shimmering and warming as a fine Cognac. As befits a play about precocious, irreverent students — a category to which the 71-year-old Mr. Bennett still seems, on some level, to belong — "The History Boys" is a bright brooder with a strong streak of the showoff.
_______________________________________________________________

There's never a patch of dead air. When you think about the show afterward, you may judge it occasionally guilty of some of the sins ascribed to Irwin, especially glibness at the expense of authenticity.

But while you are watching Mr. Bennett's boys of all ages, you're too enthralled to keep such critical notes in your head. That's because he so successfully adapts another dictum from Irwin. No matter what you do, Irwin counsels his exam-bound students, remember that history must be entertainment. Mr. Bennett, with less cynicism and more heart, applies the same rule to the teaching of history, with compellingly watchable results."



http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/theater/reviews/24boys.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:37pm

Ugh I hate Sunday openings....reviews on Sundays suck!!!!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:40pm

The AP is a Rave:

"Hector, a large, rumpled teacher at an English boys' school, has what his headmaster calls "an old-fashioned faith in the redemptive power of words."

So does playwright Alan Bennett, whose latest work, "The History Boys" began a triumphant engagement Sunday at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. It is a remarkable play in a remarkable production, graced by the splendid original cast from the National Theatre in London.

Directed by the National's artistic head, Nicholas Hytner, "The History Boys" is both intellectually rigorous and emotionally affecting. And very, very funny. It's filled with warm, often gentle humor, a comic spirit that grows out of situation and character.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-theater-history-boys,0,127057.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlines

[Lamc16]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:41pm

Do we think this is going to win Best Play?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:41pm

Yep

[Lamc16]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:45pm

Me as well. "Lieutenant" is amazing, but I don't think Tony voters would really want to reward such a *messy* show. I would be very surprised, anyhow.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:47pm

i'm so happy for everyone involved with The History Boys.

this truly is a wonderful play and all their hard work is paying off.

yay.

[musicman89]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:50pm

Great reviews for HISTORY BOYS. If they end up having a box office increase, I wonder if they will extend their engagement.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:51pm

Aside from what may end up being across the board rave reviews, History Boys also has the added credential of being last year's Olivier winner for Best Play and the very nature of the play and production have the sort of prestige and cachet that the Tonys like to be associated with. It would appear to be the heavy favorite to win Best Play this year.

[Lamc16]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:52pm

I was just wondering that myself. If they do continue to receive such high praise all across the board, (which, I have no doubt they will) and if they win the Tony, then they'd sort of have to extend.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:53pm

*knocks on wood*

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:54pm

Due to the strict Equity rules that apply to the all British cast, they unfortunately can't extend past their current closing date of September 3rd.

Updated On: 4/23/06 at 10:54 PM

[mabel]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:54pm

What's the deal with Samual Anderson/Rudi Dharmalingam (Crowther)?? When I bought my tix Wednesday the board said Dharmalingam was going on, he was in on Saturday, and he's in the Times photos. Did Anderson make the hop across the pond, or is he just ill?? Just curious.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:55pm

I just got home from the opening (this wasn't my first time seeing it) and I could not be happier for these reviews. I can't imagine them being less than stellar because this play is everything a play should be and then some. If it does not win best play it will be a complete travesty.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/23/06 at 10:57pm

aaaah Jamie Parker....