Howard Katz Reviews

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 10:05pm

Leave it to Matthew Murry to like this piece of dreck:

"You’re a pro. I respect that.” These six innocuous words take on bold and troubling dimensions when stated three separate times over the course of Howard Katz, Patrick Marber’s deceptively delicious drama at the Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre. As delivered by Alfred Molina, these words become not just the professional credo of the chief agent to the used-to-bes, not-quites, and never-weres of the London talent scene, but the sole philosophy standing between him and his self-erected gallows.

Such caressing care masquerading as a razor-honed rapier is hardly unusual territory for Marber, whose play Closer (which opened on Broadway in 1999) examined the destructive and self-destructive tendencies of a quartet of London anti-romantics. But Howard Katz, at least as vividly directed by Tony winner Doug Hughes, finds an aching realism and spirituality in its characters that keeps them at such an uncomfortably close distance you can’t help but take notice - and take on more than a little of their pain."

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/03_01_07.html
Updated On: 3/1/07 at 10:05 PM

[gustof777]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 10:18pm

yankee did you like closer or any of Marbers other stuff? just wondering?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 10:22pm

I saw the film version of Closer and thought it was extremely dull. On the other hand, I thought Notes on a Scandal was the best movie of 2006 (prompting me to buy the ticket to this).

I'll agree that Alfred Molina was out-of-this-world in the part, but the show was just so pointless. As I said in the thoughts I posted yesterday, it was like Fiddler on the Roof meets Death of a Salesman, only without the meaning. There is no inspiration for any of the events that take place on stage. It would benefit a great deal from even the slightest shread of exposition.
Updated On: 3/1/07 at 10:22 PM

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 10:29pm

Mike Nichols is great at choosing projects that reflect their time. As uncomfortable as Closer is as a movie, it's going to be a time capsule for the angry way peolpe didn't connect at the time it was made.

[AC126748]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:08pm

Wow. For once, I agree with Matt Murray.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:11pm

I hated HOWARD KATZ. I thought it was horrible.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:23pm

Times is up.

Brantley doesn't like it.

The last paragraph:

"Perhaps part of his point is that there is no originality in the male midlife crisis, but that this doesn’t make the pain any less real for those who go through it. Unfortunately that includes the audience."

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 1:37am

Another unreadable Brantley review.
How many words can he use?

yes everyone in the audience is going thru a mid=life crisis???
WTF?

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 2:11am

"I saw the film version of Closer and thought it was extremely dull. "

From my experience, most people who know the play think the movie pales in comparison. I haven't see the movie, but I think the play is brilliant. Supposedly there were changes in the plot, etc, for the movie that just didn't work.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 6:23am

I think that Brantley's line was referring to how painful it is to watch, but I could be wrong.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 9:21am

I thought Brantley went EXTREMELY easy. As I stated before in another thread, this show is an excruciating mess. Not fond of CLOSER, but I'd sit through that ten times before sitting through this again. One of the worst of the year for sure.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 2:39pm

Agreed.

Brantley was obviously referring to the audiences pain, not their age.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 2:44pm

I yawned when I saw the show....trouble was I was in the front row....next to a woman in sweatpants and a sweatshirt who bought an extra seat for her bags.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 3:51pm

Brantley's review was kind. This show blew!!! And honestly, I didn't even really think that Molina was that great. Don't get me wrong, he was fine...but it's not going to earn him a Drama Desk nomination (at least I hope not).

[D2]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 4:13pm

When I saw CLOSER in London, I liked it. When I saw it in New York, I liked it less. Hated the movie. I loved NOTES ON A SCANDAL, but mainly for the performances, not the script.

Brantley was way too easy on HOWARD KATZ. One of the worst evenings I've ever spent in the theater, unbelievable that this got produced at all.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 4:14pm

Is Lizzie Franz that hard up?

[D2]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 4:20pm

What a waste of a phenomenal talent. She worked hard, and unlike many of the other cast members hid her embarrassment. But at the curtain call she, like everyone else, looked mortified and ran off as quickly as possible.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 4:20pm

Poor thing.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 4:26pm

Jacques le Sourd on CBS 880 radio this morning made sense of the whole "wasted talent" thing. I forget his exact words, but they were something along the lines of "the main problem is having the same actor play 3 or 4 parts. In one scene, the father dies. Two seconds later he's back on stage wearing a different hat, prompting the audience to say "huh?"

Rath, the entire cast was wasted. You could tell that they're working hard to overcome the flaws, so that makes it even sadder.

It's especially disappointing to see great actors like Liz Franz and Jessica Hecht go from meaty, phenominal roles in previous works (Death of a Salesman and House in Town, respectively) to these 2/3 with about 15 minutes of total stage time.
Updated On: 3/2/07 at 04:26 PM