INHERIT THE WIND - First Preview - March 19, 2007

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:20pm

An excellent play plus two brilliant actors...I knew this show was going to be good going into it, but I had no idea it was going to be *that* good. Wow. I am still in shock. The acting I just witnessed on stage was some of the best I have ever seen.

I'm sure some of you were wondering about the on stage seats...honestly, I counted at least 50 of them...probably more! There were two sets of on stage seats, on either side of the stage, with a corridor in the middle for actors to walk in. The actors also entered on either side of the stage and in an upstage balcony. The set worked extremely well, and no, the audience's modern clothing did not distract at all. Some of the on stage seats were purposely left empty for some of the actors, and all of them were full. I'm not sure what the view was like from on the stage, but I'll let WannaBeAFoster speak to that, since he was there tonight as well.

I sat in a $26.25 seat in the balcony and I must say, it was a GREAT deal. I had a full view of the stage and the view was a lot better than the balcony at the Walter Kerr. If you can't afford to pay much to see this, the $26.25 are totally worth it (but I wouldn't have felt like I wasted a penny had I paid full price).

I had read the play in high school and watched the movie so I was familiar with the work. For those of you who don't know, it is about a man who is on trial for teaching evolution. The prosecuting lawyer, Matthew Harrison Brady, believes in the bible's word 100% and refuses to read any of Darwin's teachings. The defense lawyer, Henry Drummond, believes in the power of thought and doesn't like to take anything literally, so he has read both the bible and Darwin's teachings and really gets the jury (and the audience) to look at things another way.

Special mention goes to Denis O'Hare as E.K. Hornbeck and Byron Jennings as Reverend Jeremiah Brown...both of them were excellent.

Brian Dennehy as Matthew Harrison Brady was excellent. He is very convincing as someone who takes the word of the bible as law and fact and does not stray from what the bible says. However, when he is being questioned by Drummond in Act 2, he does a wonderful job holding his own while Drummond is trying to confuse him and get him to admit to things he doesn't want to admit to regarding the word of the bible (How long was the first day that G-d began creating Earth? Where did Cain's wife come from if Adam and Eve were the only two people before they had children?, etc). Dennehy gives a wonderful performance...and this was only the first preview!

This was my first time ever seeing Christopher Plummer on stage and I was not disappointed as all. In fact, I was completely blown away by his performance. Mr. Plummer is a brilliant actor. Even at age 79, he commands the stage (I couldn't take my eyes off him) and says every line with power and conviction. He has a bunch of great lines in this play...all of which he delivers with perfection. Even at the very end of the play, where he doesn't have a line, just an action, it is done so well. He picks up both Darwin's Theory of Evolution and the Bible, looks at them both, then starts putting them both in his briefcase...and blackout. His facial expressions are excellent as well. I really can't say enough about his performance...and again, it is only the first preview.

I was able to meet both Dennehy and Plummer after the show. Both of them were more than gracious to sign playbills for the handful of us waiting. Christopher Plummer also signed my CD cover of CYRANO, which was very kind of him. The cast went across the street to Bond 45 for drinks after the show to celebrate their first public performance.

I urge all of you to get tickets to this play. Not only is the play excellent, but Dennehy and Plummer give stellar performances that, in my opinion, are not to be missed. I will definitely see this play again and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did tonight.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:33pm

Fantastic review. I wish I could see it.


Glad you enjoyed it!

[sidjones09]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:36pm

Thanks for the awesome review. I'll be checking it out soon.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:49pm

I'm incredibly excited to see this over the summer! It's one of my favorite plays and with this cast, it is too much to pass up. I'm so glad to hear it is as good as I knew it would be.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:52pm

So you like Older Men huh?

How ws Beth Fowler?

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:53pm

Awesome, awesome, AWESOME review!

I'm SO stoked to see this one in May -- I have onstage seats (for myself and a friend) ... Thanks!

Best,
- Mike

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:54pm

very funny, curtain...

Beth Fowler was fine as Brady's wife...she didn't have much to do, but did well with what little she had to work with.

...oh and by the way, the run time was about 2 hours and 10 minutes with an intermission
Updated On: 3/19/07 at 11:54 PM

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:57pm

Thanks WAT! I "skimmed" of course because I don't want to read too much before I se it, but I'm thrilled that you liked it so much. I am going to order my tix tonight!!!

[bwayaddict]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:02am

Great review! I ordered my tickets yesterday for on-stage seating the first week in April! Can't wait.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:05am

"I wouldn't have felt like I wasted a penny had I paid full price"...that means WithoutaTrace REALLY, REALLY, REALLY liked it!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:07am

Yes, it is definitely worth paying full price. I hope you all love it as much as I did. My aunt is seeing it tomorrow night with two coworkers and I already called her to rave about it. She is so excited.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:11am

Glad you enjoyed it!

After doing it in high school though, there is no way I could sit through it again.

Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:16am

I'd like to see this production but, as much as I like Plummer, I doubt that the acting compare to Paul Muni, Ed Begley, and Tony Randall as Hornbeck.

Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:16am

I'd like to see this production but, as much as I like Plummer, I doubt that the acting compare to Paul Muni, Ed Begley, and Tony Randall as Hornbeck.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 8:25am

Can't wait to get to work and tell everyone to go see this production...still thinking about it...what a wonderful evening!

[karen24]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 8:47am

Thanks for the great review! I have tickets to see this in June with my parents and my son (who will have turned 15 by then.) He read the play in school and loved it--I think they acted parts of it out in class. This will be the first straight play he'll see on Broadway and I'm so glad he'll be seeing a great production with such legendary actors.
Karen

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 9:22am

Wow...Trace...did we see the same production? I was too at last evenings first preview performance, but I must say for me it was much ado about nothing. I plan on going back during press, but they have some work to do.

I will say Doug Hughes does what he can and ultimately succeeds in his direction. And Brian Dennehy is certainly the force to be reckoned with on stage that he always has been turning in another great star turn as Matthew Brady.

But...that said, it is still THAT PLAY. It never really bores, but it never really goes much of anywhere either. There's just not enough umph and characterzation behind any of the characters to get the audience through that courtroom drama.

Two casting blunders in my opinion were newcomer Maggie Lacey as Rachel. Some of the worst acting witnessed on a Broadway stage. If I were the producers I'd replace her now. She takes everything the director and other actors attempt to do and ruins it when she opens her mouth.

And ultimately failing is Christopher Plummer. Henry Drummond is man who has come to town to fight the fight, and even though he is knocked down by everyone in town continually...he never gives up defending his client. Plummer (after having seen George C. Scott years ago) was a mear portrait of how Drummond could be played. Without sounding cruel, Drummond is not a whizzened old man, but a force to be wreckoned with. Here it seems the whole way through that Drummond will colapse of a heart attack come plays finale. And eventhough I was in the first row of the Mezzanine, Plummer needs to project - many, many of his line readings were thrown away because I just couldn't hear them.

What I was hoping would be a brilliant revival turned into another mediocre evening of theatre with a play that will always fall short of greatness. It reminded me of last seasons "The Caine Mutiny Court Marshall," completely lacking edge of your-seat suspense and any real gut churning excitement. Hopefully that will change.

[Tirso de Molina]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 9:25am

thanks for the review!

I'm seeing the second preview tonight (Tuesday), and now I can hardly wait. (But gee, I'll somehow have to amuse myself in NYC all day. However will I manage?!)

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 9:29am

LaCage: I agree with you on one point..."newcomer Maggie Lacey as Rachel. Some of the worst acting witnessed on a Broadway stage." She was not very good at all, especially compared to Plummer and Dennehy. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it (and frankly I'm shocked that anyone could not enjoy what I witnessed last night), but hopefully when you revisit the production, you will realize it is brilliant.

I hope it gets across the board rave reviews when it opens in a few weeks.

...and I was in the second to last row of the balcony and had no problem hearing Plummer's lines.
Updated On: 3/20/07 at 09:29 AM

Posted: 3/20/07 at 9:30am

"Drummond is not a wizened old man"

That's the way Paul Muni played it, and magnificently too. It appears that Plummer has it right.

[AC126748]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 9:35am

Surprised to hear Maggie Lacey is under par. I have such fond memories of her pitch-perfect Emily in the Paul Newman revival of OUR TOWN.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 10:06am

Great review, and thank goodness !!! I think I had mentioned previously that I have tix for 15 different dates for this show (going with various people) - My fave play, and after seeing Dennehy in "Death....", could not wait to see this- Going 4/28 for my first of many !!

Thanks again for posting such a great review !!

Updated On: 3/20/07 at 10:06 AM

[alliez92092]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 10:08am

Great review. I adore this play and hope I can see it.

[Smartful Dodger]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 11:51am

Saw the first preview, too, and suspect my reaction is somewhere between LaCage and WithoutATrace. Since it was the first public performance, I don't think it's appropriate to post a full review. BUT, I offer the following...

Christopher Plummer steals the show. It's marketed as a Plummer-Dennehy deal but there's really only one star. In fact, at curtain call, Plummer enters after Dennehy and gets the last solo bow (last night, to thunderous applause).

Denis O'Hare does his shtick. Nothing special here. In fact, his character becomes so repulsive at the end that I wished there was more nuance to O'Hare's performance so he doesn't seem quite a cynic, a villain. I don't think Hornbeck's written that way.

Maggie Lacey as Rachel needs some support or direction. She comes across determined but is ultimately confused. If Bert Cates is such a smart guy, why does he end up going with her at the end? I didn't get the relationship at all. It's a very romantic, 1950s ending that needs updating.

And, speaking of updating...why did they go with a period setting? The play could have been set in a 2007 community, in a contemporary courtroom and said so much more about how little things have changed since it was first written. Some of the lines and insights would have provided a profound indictment of where we, the U.S., are with respect to the Christian right mandating much of the Bush Administration's social and cultural agenda. A missed opportunity to make the play relevant for today's audiences. In it's current state, it's a just a pleasant revival.

Now, to the issue of on-stage seating. Is this the new easy way to increase house revenue and make the audience feel like they're part of the action? I find it odd that two big shows this season that deal decidedly with the temerity of thought -- of CONJECTURE -- have onstage seating: SPRING AWAKENING and INHERIT THE WIND. Maybe it's a coincidence but I think it's too funny that the creative and producing teams of both shows want to make sure that some portion of the audience is so close to the action that they have to "think." Imagine if LEGALLY BLONDE or THE LITTLE MERMAID had onstage seating...
Updated On: 3/20/07 at 11:51 AM

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 12:00pm

Did anyone sit onstage? I'm buying tickets soon and am curious to know what the experience is like from those seats.