IMPRESSIONISM Reviews- Page 2

[jagfkb]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:04pm

Anyone suspect another one night wonder?

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:05pm

At last a rave-

Huh?

-or at the very least the best review it will get.

Oh. Okay, then.

But why would you even go near the word "rave?"

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:07pm

I was joking.

This is the best they will get so jokingly I said they got a rave.

[singtopher]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:08pm

It'll be interesting to see what quotes they use on their marquee to compete with God of Carnage next door.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:19pm

Well, here's Brantley:

"Pithy little life lessons keep coming at you in Michael Jacobs?s ?Impressionism,? as if off a conveyor belt in a greeting card factory. But the one most immediately relevant to this undernourished play, which stars an ill-used Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen, has to do with looking at life as if it were an Impressionist painting. As Katharine Keenan (Ms. Allen), the owner of an art gallery, puts it, none too academically: ?You can?t get it when it?s right in front of you. You have to step back.? Since this observation causes her devoted employee, Thomas Buckle (Mr. Irons), to reverse on the spot his entire philosophy of existence, I decided to take it to heart and put a little distance, and much squinting, between myself and the production that opened on Tuesday night at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, directed by Jack O?Brien. But I?ve concluded that even if I were to back up all the way to the Hudson River, with half-open eyes fixed on the stage where Mr. Irons and Ms. Allen labor so valiantly, ?Impressionism? still wouldn?t look credible. I mean this both in terms of its plot and as a proposition that would entice some very talented people and a vast army of producers."

(link to come)

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:20pm

Brantley's snippet is up:

"Pithy little life lessons keep coming at you in Michael Jacobs?s ?Impressionism,? as if off a conveyor belt in a greeting card factory. But the one most immediately relevant to this undernourished play, which stars an ill-used Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen, has to do with looking at life as if it were an Impressionist painting. As Katharine Keenan (Ms. Allen), the owner of an art gallery, puts it, none too academically: ?You can?t get it when it?s right in front of you. You have to step back.? Since this observation causes her devoted employee, Thomas Buckle (Mr. Irons), to reverse on the spot his entire philosophy of existence, I decided to take it to heart and put a little distance, and much squinting, between myself and the production that opened on Tuesday night at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, directed by Jack O?Brien. But I?ve concluded that even if I were to back up all the way to the Hudson River, with half-open eyes fixed on the stage where Mr. Irons and Ms. Allen labor so valiantly, ?Impressionism? still wouldn?t look credible. I mean this both in terms of its plot and as a proposition that would entice some very talented people and a vast army of producers. ? -Ben Brantley"
Ouch Updated On: 3/24/09 at 10:20 PM

[James2]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:22pm

Talkin' Broadway is mostly negative. He dislikes the first 85% of the play, but really liked the conclusion.

"It?s a time-honored secret of showmaking: If you must choose between a great first act and a great second act, go for the second act so people will be delighted as they leave the theater - and more likely to tell their friends. If your play is only in one act, so much the better: You can do whatever you want for 85 percent of the time, secure in the knowledge your audience (and word of mouth) will love you as long as you provide a slam-bang finish.

Michael Jacobs has learned this lesson so well, he?s not only implemented it in his new play Impressionism, which just opened at the Schoenfeld, he?s made it the evening?s raison d'être. Seven scenes mill about with intoxicating aimlessness, all while building to a finale that - not to mince words - is great. It?s the most frustrating part of an already maddening outing in pretentious presumption: You can?t thoroughly hate the journey because the destination proved so much fun when you finally got there."

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/index.html



The Word of Mouth panelists pretty much all said, "It was cute, but nothing that must be seen."

http://www.broadway.com/Broadway-com-VIDEO-ON-DEMAND-Word-Of-Mouth-Reviews/broadway_information_html/5015935

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:37pm

Sad. I had hoped they could rewrite this into some form of clarity. oh well.....
NEXT!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 10:42pm

So many of these reviews mention how skinny and pretty Joan Allen is. If I do go see this, which I doubt I will, it will be because of her. I love her. Too bad for these reviews.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 3/24/09 at 11:40pm

Entertainment Weekly, in its' literally one-paragraph review, gives the show a B:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20267629,00.html

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/25/09 at 9:04am

The Post is negative with one out of four stars:

"WE all know what a Broadway flop is supposed to look like: a spectacle of near-farcical vulgarity. Think of the Earth, Wind & Fire musical "Hot Feet" or Farrah Fawcett's "Bobbi Boland" (which closed before it opened).

"Impressionism" doesn't star washed-up actors looking for redemption under a yes man's guidance: It serves up thinking-person thespians Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons directed by Jack "The Coast of Utopia" O'Brien. The show references 19th-century masterpieces, not velvet paintings of dogs playing poker.

On paper, "Impressionism" is all class. Onstage, it's a stupefying bore.
..."




Full Review Updated On: 3/25/09 at 09:04 AM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/25/09 at 11:14am

Did they cut Aaron Lazar? DId I miss that whole discussion? He isn't on the "opening night curtain call" photo op.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/25/09 at 12:45pm

Does anyone have a link to the full times review? Thanks.