IMPRESSIONISM Reviews

[being.jeremiah]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 3:42pm

The world premiere of Michael Jacobs' Impressionism, officially opens at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre tonight, March 24.

The play, described as "is the story of a world traveling photojournalist and a New York gallery owner who discover each other and also that there might be an art to repairing broken lives," marks the much-awaited return of Tony Award winners Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons on Broadway. Impressionism also features Marsha Mason, André De Shields, Michael T. Weiss, Aaron Lazar, Margarita Levieva and Hadley Delany. Jack O'Brien (direction) spearheads the creative team that includes Scott Pask (scenic design), Catherine Zuber (costume design), Natasha Katz (lighting design), Elaine McCarthy (projection design), Leon Rothenberg (sound design), and Bob James (original music).

Happy opening, Impressionism! May you receive the reviews you deserve.

LimelightMike's lagging behind again, so I'm taking initiative. Please post the official reviews here!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 3:44pm

Here's hoping it improved.
Best of luck with the reviews!

[being.jeremiah]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 3:48pm

The Record is Negative:

"With 'Impressionism,' you perceive there's an intended big picture in his design, something that links the story with the paintings, and Thomas' frequent analyses of premium coffees, and Katharine's fresh-from-Wikipedia description of the life of the artist Maurice Utrillo and her strange exultation over cranberry muffins.

But understanding is hard to come by. (There is, though, a happy ending, you might be relieved to know.)"

http://tinyurl.com/record-imp
Updated On: 3/24/09 at 03:48 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 4:30pm

New York Metro is NEGATIVE:

"When two fine actors like Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen return to Broadway after decades-long absences, you can?t help but have high expectations. Forget it. The tepid comedy in which they star, Michael Jacobs? ?Impressionism,? dashes any hopes of a triumphant homecoming in very short order."

http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/03/24/20/4501-72/index.xml

[esparza 333]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 5:10pm

Is this is a sign of things to come?

[being.jeremiah]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 5:21pm

Hopefully it has a good advance. For now, let's wait and see.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 5:27pm

That Record review was brilliant!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 5:39pm

Foster, didn't you say in another thread that you "didn't think it was half bad"?

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 5:57pm

The New York Daily News gives the show 1 Star out of 5. See the link below.

Updated On: 3/24/09 at 05:57 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 5:57pm

One star from the Daily News:

"It took 16 producers to present "Impressionism," a new play now open at the Schoenfeld Theatre.

They would have been better off investing in low-interest CDs.

Even the talented Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen and director Jack O'Brien, who have five Tonys among them, aren't able to breathe charm or art into this pale drama by Michael Jacobs, which is both obscure and simplistic."

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2009/03/24/2009-03-24_making_a_bad_first_impressionism.html
----

Negative from Frank Scheck, now with the Hollywood Reporter."

"Bottom Line: Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen shine in this problematic, metaphor-ridden play.

It doesn't take an art history major to predict that "Impressionism," the new play starring Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen that opens on Broadway Tuesday, is going to use that groundbreaking style of painting as a metaphor for life. Michael Jacobs' play can be said to resemble impressionist works as well: The closer you examine it, the less moving it becomes."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/theater-review-impressionism-1003954886.story
----

Negative from the Hartford Courant,

"Now that it has opened, it is easy to see why the initial unveiling of "Impressionism" was postponed. Despite a solid cast headed by Jeremy Irons, Joan Allen and Marsha Mason, this new American play by Michael Jacobs too often feels like an art history quiz.

Slides of famous and less-well-known paintings flash up in the projection design by Elaine J. McCarthy in the scattered and inconclusive production that opened Tuesday night at the Schoenfeld Theatre. Though it runs an intermission-less 90 minutes, the eight-scene opus directed by Jack O'Brien seems much longer as it slips back in time and jumps about the globe."

http://www.courant.com/entertainment/stage/reviews/hc-impressionismrev.artmar25,0,5264046.story

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 6:06pm

WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE? YOU HAVE TO LET LIMELIGHT MIKE START THE THREAD A WEEK IN ADVANCE.

[coolkid11776]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 6:13pm

Is this show worth going to? People say it's bad. Is it really that bad. I think it might be worth going just to see how bad it is. If I can somehow get COMPS.
What's it about exactly?

As always thanks for the SERIOUS reponse and
HELPFUL Responses ONLY PLEASE!!!
That means NO B.S

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 6:13pm

It's too bad such talented performers have to deal with these reviews (and a terrible play from what I heard).

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 6:15pm

Andre De Shields is a horrible play magnet.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 6:29pm

Priagua-
HE's had at least two decent shows, The Wiz and Full Monty. Granted those were musicals...

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 6:48pm

Poor Andre.

At least it is a step up from Prymate.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 7:00pm

Backstage is a Pan:

"Jacobs is a veteran small-screen writer who has created such tepid fare as Charles in Charge and My Two Dads. His characters here are as dimensionless as his sitcom creations. They speak the kind of supposedly snappy dialogue that has every line ending in a laugh. They have sudden revelations and change their entire worldview in a matter of moments. Jacobs has written them as if they had to reach a major life shift in time for the next commercial.

To make matters worse, there is no chemistry between Allen and Irons. They act like cubicle chums killing time till the workday ends rather than the loves of each other's lives. Allen is a shade more invested than Irons. In a few of her moments, she does bring a depth to Katharine's loneliness and bitterness. Irons appears totally bored by the entire enterprise. When called upon to express rage and sorrow at the death of an African child during a flashback, he seems only slightly miffed ? as if the corner coffee shop were out of his favorite brand of java."

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/nyc/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003954939

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 7:08pm

Foster, didn't you say in another thread that you "didn't think it was half bad"?

I certainly did! I still think that was a brilliantly written review and a completely simple breakdown of the show I saw but not the way I saw it.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 7:25pm

To Mr. David Rooney: how do you manage to segue from describing the main couple as without charisma, to a "they need some meat on their bones!" comment?

Variety is a Pan:

"Jacobs' "Cheaters" had a brief Broadway run in 1978, and he moved soon thereafter into film production ("Quiz Show") and television ("Charles in Charge," among other series). His overly precious new play smacks of sitcom in its articulate characters, who don't so much speak dialogue as deliver lines that overlap but rarely flow organically. However, the writing aims higher than sitcom. It's Hallmark sentiment masquerading as intellectual sophistication, with every one of its characters' stories and memories contorted into a laborious metaphor for love and life.

That might be palatable if we had some investment in seeing the central couple hook up. But Katharine and Thomas are a bloodless pair without an ounce of body fat between them; one worries they might snap something should they ever get physical."

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939927.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 7:50pm

The Associated Press is Very Negative:

"Several fine actors seem to have been stranded by the play's shrinkage. The most prominent victims are Marsha Mason and Michael T. Weiss, who are largely wasted in roles that have a minimal impact.

That's not the case with scene-stealing Andre De Shields, who does delightful double duty in "Impressionism," first as an African tribesman and then as the elderly owner of a bakery where the two would-be lovers purchase their morning pastries. Even there, the two can't agree. A big deal is made over the fact she loves cranberry muffins, he favors coffee cake. It's that kind of play.

Still, there are those lovely projection designs, courtesy of Elaine J. McCarthy, at which to look. There's a grace and style to their vividness that makes "Impressionism" seem even more washed out than it actually is."

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=114&sid=1632251

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 8:18pm

Newsday is a Pan:

"Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen have great bones. The play, alas, does not.

There must be a reason Irons chose "Impressionism" for his first Broadway vehicle since he won his Tony Award for "The Real Thing" in 1984. Surely, Allen saw something in this plodding romance - by virtual theater unknown Michael Jacobs - to be lured onstage for the first time here since she won her Tony for "Burn This" in 1988 and our allegiance forever in "The Heidi Chronicles" in 1989.

Not to belabor the bafflements, but how is it that director Jack O'Brien - with Tony achievements as diverse as "Hairspray" and "Henry IV" - lavished his entire magnificent creative team from "Coast of Utopia" on this emotional piffle wrapped in fancy dress?

"Impressionism" manages what would seem to be impossible. It makes bores out of two unconscionably attractive and intelligent actors and wastes the sporting efforts of Marsha Mason, André de Shields and an underemployed quartet of less-celebrated talents."

http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/wednesday/partii/ny-etimp6081287mar25,0,3661863.story

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 8:30pm

This is turning in to a total blood-letting, carnage on a CARRIE or MOOSE MURDERS scale ...... almost makes me want to see it before it becomes legend.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 8:47pm

Its worse, Carrie got a few good reviews, a rave from the post if i recall

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 9:56pm

USA Today gives the show 2 Stars out of 4:

"Both lead actors seem stumped by their awkwardly, sentimentally drawn roles, as does their estimable director, Jack O'Brien. Irons manages to bring redeeming grace to the performance, speaking his lines with a knowing gentleness and exuding an easy, rumpled charm. Allen's readings, in contrast, seem breathless and strained, as though she is struggling to force more genuine life and nuance into Katharine.

The supporting players are similarly limited. Marsha Mason has a crowd-pleasing turn as a well-heeled matron, and Andre De Shields gamely does double duty as an African fisherman and the only slightly less cartoonish baker.

Like Mr. Linder's goodies, Impressionism offers warmth and sweetness, and has nicely tart undertones. But art it ain't."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/2009-03-24-impressionism_N.htm

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 9:58pm

At last a rave or at the very least the best review it will get.

The clock has started re when the notice will be posted.