Is He Dead? reviews- Page 2

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 10:45pm

FANTASTIC reviews! I'm so glad this show is getting the recognition it deserves.

It's nice to have such a fresh, well produced COMEDY on Broadway.

CONGRATULATIONS to the cast and creative team and best wishes for a healthy run!

I encourage everyone who plans on coming into the city for the holidays to grab tickets to this crowd-pleaser, whether you're alone or with your whole family.

It's so rare nowadays to have a family-friendly straight play on Broadway that really delivers.

Updated On: 12/9/07 at 10:45 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 10:53pm

Theatremania is Positive:

"The happy hoopla now abounding on the Lyceum stage won't mean much to the late and sometimes bankrupt Twain's personal fortune, but it should add to the coffers of Fishkin and the many other participating producers, thanks in large part to the work of adapter David Ives, director Michael Blakemore, and a cast of zanies led by Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz.

Maybe the best way to get a sense of what unfolds on the two spacious and stunning 19th-century Peter J. Davison sets is to imagine the results of mating Brandon Thomas' Charley's Aunt with La Boheme and Some Like It Hot, and filtering the blend through the comic sensibilities of Milton Berle and Charles Busch.....

...........Calling Is He Dead? a hoot, which it is, shouldn't be interpreted as indicating it's a night of non-stop belly yuks. Twain was a humorist; so for much of the time the developments remain on the broad-smile level. Nevertheless, there are moments of hilarity, some of them extended........

.............. The fun-loving, nose-thumbing Twain has a marvelous ally in Blakemore, who directed Noises Off, arguably the best farce ever offered entertainment-hungry ticket buyers. He knows exactly how to maximize the play's endearing features and how to get tip-top, titillating turns from a smartly cast and hugely talented ensemble. Last seen on Broadway as one of the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Butz, wearing ruffles and sausage curls, plays another adorable scamp. He works his amusingly doughy face and nimble body with risible grace throughout. His colleagues -- chief among them an unusually goofy McMartin, vulpine Jennings, bouncy McGrath, and batty Burke -- are gorgeously silly. Outstanding in four (really five) roles is Pittu, currently one of the town's best second bananas."



http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/12258

Updated On: 12/9/07 at 10:53 PM

[Corine2]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 10:59pm

Sueleen,
I never said I liked it better than Avenue Q and Forbidden Broadway. I said it was my favorite new play. Don't confuse my favorite play(Comedy) with my favorite musicals. They are all glorious.

See them all! Also see DIE MOMMIE DIE!

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 11:22pm

SOOOO EXCITED!!!

Having waited out to purchase tix (I wanted to get the reviewws first...) I *JUST* purchased a pair of front row tix to see it on January 3rd! I'm seeing ROCK 'n' ROLL the night prior, so it should be very, very entertaining 'change' for me.


To anyone who's seen it previously (and) stagedoored: Is Norbs personable? Truth be told, I've *never* waited for him (DRS included - I just started doing so last year), and yeah, he's my idol - So, meeting him would be AMAZING!

Best,
- Mike

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 11:27pm

He's very friendly. He signs and takes his time talking to whoever wants to talk.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 11:39pm

Foster, when you say "family friendly," does that include MY children?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/9/07 at 11:47pm

I think your kids would really enjoy it, Miss P. It's a lot of old fashioned, silly antics. Completely fun for all ages.

And in addition to the fact that it's a straight play, there is some hilarious dancing with music in there for good measure.

One of the reviews here described Norbert Leo Butz as a human cartoon, and I agree with that sentiment. I think your kids would remain very engaged by what goes on in this play.

A tummy-tickling delight.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 12:50am

Oh, I am sorry Corine, I am one of those people who still has a problem remembering that a musical can NEVER be referred to as a "play". (When did that happen, anyway? I never got that memo.)So, it is NOT funnier than Ave. Q or F.B. Is is funnier than The Ritz? Or do you consider that a "musical" not a "play"? What about Jay Johnson's show? Is that a play?

At any rate, it sounds like a really fun show, music or no music. I am happy everyone seems to be loving it.

Updated On: 12/10/07 at 12:50 AM

[Corine2]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 8:22am

Sueleen,
I loved The Ritz! I can love many shows. I did adore THE RITZ.
But, thankfully that show wont compete as it is a revivial.
I guess it is a play with music. My favorite part of The Ritz was the GOOGIE number. And Seth's funny PIPPIN number!


Updated On: 12/10/07 at 08:22 AM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 10:42am

NY Post gives it Two-and-a-half Stars:

"Twain suggests that his fictional Millet (Butz) and his friends staged the painter's prolonged illness and death to raise the price of his paintings.

Who wouldn't rather have present cash than posthumous fame?

Frankly, Twain's play (even with Ives' tinkering) is pretty feeble - a mix of the cross-dressing British farce "Charley's Aunt," written six years earlier (and better known as the musical "Where's Charley?") and dog-eared copies of the frou-frou magazine La Vie Parisienne.

Yet Twain (and Ives) have struck it rich with Blakemore, the set designer Peter J. Davison, the costume designer Martin Pakledinaz and a cast that can spin gold out of lead.

Of his own paintings, the real-life Millet observed: "I make the trivial an expression of the sublime." And that pretty much sums up what Blakemore, Butz & Co. achieve here."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12102007/entertainment/theater/a_twain_to_catch_68235.htm





Newsday is Mixed-to-Negative:

"In his fanciful travel memoirs, "The Innocents Abroad," Mark Twain observed that French morality "is not of that strait-laced description which is shocked at trifles."

It is safe to assume that "Is He Dead?," Twain's recently discovered farce from 1898, will not be shocking the French. Whether the lovingly produced trifle will amuse Broadway theatergoers at the Lyceum Theater depends on their tolerance for deft simpleton whimsy, and their desire to see Norbert Leo Butz flounce with endearing klutziness in big ruffled gowns and long corkscrew curls.

"Is He Dead?" is a bit more than a curiosity but far less than a lost masterwork........

.........Blakemore and Ives offer lots of exaggerated comic asides, mistaken identities and multiple doors to hide plot devices. The result reminds me of the sort of annoying person who keeps tickling you until, finally, you're forced to laugh despite your better judgment.

We suspect that Twain, bankrupt at 63 and depressed by the death of his daughter, was going for more than goofy humor here. He wondered why artists had to die in order to succeed. We're forced to wonder if this would be on Broadway if a living playwright had written it."

http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/monday/partii/ny-etledew5494210dec10,0,496576.story





NY Sun is MIxed-to-Positive:

"In this unabashedly old-fashioned and somewhat effortful comedy, now receiving its belated stage premiere at the resourceful hands of director Michael Blakemore, enjoying those tearful goodbyes is a lot harder to do when you're standing in the same room. In a dress. With two lecherous old coots fighting for your hand, among other body parts......

.......... Mr. Ives has undertaken a similar duty here, streamlining Twain's work to two acts from three and eliminating one-third of the characters. In addition to a potent red pen and a sharp ear for period comedy, he has what might be called the courage of his conventions: No stereotype is too shopworn, no situation too obvious, no sight gag too groan-worthy to avoid his attentions.......

...........This sort of thing had gone over big in 1892, when "Charley's Aunt" became a global sensation. And if the years haven't been particularly kind to this vintage of foolishness — not even Mr. Ives's extensive cuts or Mr. Blakemore's brisk direction can keep the narrative machinery from wheezing and gasping into action — "Is He Dead?" serves as a heartening reminder that comic ingenuity can make even the hoariest material seem fresh and vibrant................

........"Charley's Aunt" continues to be produced in theaters large and small, and based on the current evidence, "Is He Dead?" has nowhere near the narrative confidence of its gender-bending forebear. What it does have is a crisp design by Peter J. Davison (sets) and Martin Pakledinaz (costumes), a cluster of supporting performers willing to score points without overstaying their welcome (Patricia Connolly and Marylouise Burke are joys to behold as a pair of addled spinsters), and an inexhaustible central performance. Reports of this play's death may have been exaggerated, as long as this caliber of talent is around to give "Is He Dead?" at least a tenuous lease on life."

http://www.nysun.com/article/67758

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 11:03am

Like others, I very much enjoyed this play and am pleased that it's getting such positive reviews.

Most of all, considering his absolute pan of DRS, it's nice to see old Ben finally giving Butz the praise he deserves!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 11:06am

The Philadelphia Inquirer is Mixed-to-Positive:

"Is He Dead? is as much a play as a historical curiosity. It's a new comedy by Mark Twain, which opened last night on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre, where Twain himself saw a play 99 years ago........

........Is He Dead? plays as a spirited, unabashed melodrama - Snidely Whiplash to the max - and after intermission, becomes rollickingly funny........The show ends as it should, with a jig that segues into a curtain call. Caprice has its day; in the sure hands of Blakemore, Ives, and the well-drilled supporting cast, it also has its victory.

......... It's all a stylish goof, only mildly amusing in the first act, and a little draggy. But Act 2 is highly draggy in another sense - a full-fledged drag romp, and hilarious.

Butz pulls out all the stops. He's supported by a sizable cast that has the timing down - and in Act 2, by a fabulous drawing room by Peter J. Davison that lets Butz move around with great command. The costumes by Martin Pakledinaz are period knockouts.

Much of the credit goes to veteran director Martin Blakemore, who has thought of every trick melodrama employs, then figured out how to make fun of the tricks as well as the genre, always using the script as his guide.

Is He Dead? is, ultimately, a triumph of staging, not writing. Blakemore should be pleased - he would have made Mark Twain laugh out loud, along with the rest of us."

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/howard_shapiro/20071210_A_Twain_comedy_debuts.html





The New Yorker is Positive:

"In Mark Twain’s recently discovered 1898 farce, “Is He Dead?” (at the Lyceum, under the masterly direction of Michael Blakemore), the painter Jean-François Millet (Norbert Leo Butz) stages his own death and resurrection, in order to raise the value of his masterpieces. Millet comes back to life in drag as his grieving sister, the Widow Tillou. (“It’s Madame Tillou to you,” says Butz, having a field day.).....

........... David Ives’s witty adaptation of “Is He Dead?” gives Twain’s jeu a great deal of esprit. Ives understands the seriousness of a light touch; he’s swift and smart. He doesn’t camp up Millet’s camouflage; his laughs—there are a lot of them—are within character..........

.......... At farce speed, all things eventually disintegrate; “Is He Dead?” soon turns into what Eric Bentley called “the theatre of the surrealist body.” If the confusion and the collapse here aren’t quite sublime, Ives still manages to soup up some sidesplitting disembodied images—he has certainly read his Joe Orton.............. The show ends as it should, with a jig that segues into a curtain call. Caprice has its day; in the sure hands of Blakemore, Ives, and the well-drilled supporting cast, it also has its victory.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/theatre/2007/12/17/071217crth_theatre_lahr?currentPage=2






John Simon is Positive:

"In the winter of 1898, Mark Twain wrote ``Is He Dead?' -- the last of his failed efforts to write for the stage, for which he had no real talent. ``Is He Dead?' did, however, contain a comic idea that, in David Ives's adaptation, has blossomed into a comic play.

As directed at the Lyceum on Broadway by the dependable Michael Blakemore and with an expert cast surrounding that slapstick dynamo Norbert Leo Butz, it emerges very comic indeed......

........... Peter J. Davison's sets, Martin Pakledinaz's costumes and Peter Kaczorowski's lighting heartily join the fun with a cast that seems to enjoy itself almost indecently without stepping out of character. The guffaws creep up on us slowly at first, only to buffet us with a barrage of sidesplitters. Things may have changed a bit since Millet's and Twain's eras, but human folly and finagling remain uproariously alive in ``Is He Dead?'

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=agUEI_86dMKQ&refer=muse





Backstage is Mixed:

"You know you want to laugh. Yet you sit there, observing the latest demonstration of old-time twaddle that's stuffed end to end in Is He Dead? -- adapted by David Ives from Mark Twain's unproduced 1898 play -- stifling that chuckle, squelching that guffaw, gut-punching that belly laugh. Insistently insipid as Is He Dead? is, the actors are all so game that director Michael Blakemore's production winds up far funnier than the material deserves. Still, you must let it out. You giggle. You chortle. You absentmindedly slap your armrest, praying no one saw you............

..............Audiences love Butz; he radiates honesty, and few actors are anywhere near as comically versatile. Butz in drag is like Milton Berle in drag; you want him to ask, "Is it too busy?" But stylistically, Butz is in another play, and I'm not sure he knows which one even as Daisy romps about with glee.

Some things work against Butz -- and the play as a whole. Ives should cut all the asides, and Blakemore should cut the faux musical numbers that turn the boisterous Bobb into a bobbing boob. Is He Dead? is too alive with hokum to kill us with such comedy."

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/nyc/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003683042

[SixAndEight]

Posted: 4/9/08 at 11:54am

REALLY? This show would only be entertaining to the "Three's Company" crowd. Childish, uninspired, and directed with a sledgehammer. I guess there's an audience for everything - I mean, shows like "Moment of Truth" are on the air - but I'm amazed (and disappointed) that any theater critic would sit through the whole show, much less give this show a positive review.

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 4/9/08 at 12:32pm

Is there a reason you bumped this 4 months after it was last posted in, a month after it closed, to give some scathing comments and insult any critic who liked it?

Did you see closing night and it took you a month to realize how much you disliked it? Give it another month--maybe you'll get some of the jokes.

[SixAndEight]

Posted: 4/9/08 at 1:33pm

Hmmmm... "Sorry?"

I didn't know it closed (thank goodness it has, I'd hate to think people were still PAYING for that show) but thought that this might be an open forum where free thought could be expressed without some whining crybaby getting up in my face...

Did it take YOU a couple months to get the jokes? If so, I can direct you to some "Three Stooges" Cliff Notes to help you out.

Get a grip, man. Bad theatre shouldn't be coddled or given a break, no matter how you may feel about the state of live performance.

[YourLilAssassin]

Posted: 4/9/08 at 1:44pm

Someone sounds bitter... and I think I know who that someone is. Anyways, the show was fantastically done, and both times I saw it the audience was in hysterics with tears running down their eyes from laughing so much. There's something to be said for that these days. As it were..

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 4/9/08 at 2:14pm

You're certainly allowed to express your disappointment in a production. However, your condescending, insulting tone about the show and anyone who liked it is immature and not appreciated (and not just by me).

And your quickness to insult me shows a lot of insecurity and is very unbecoming. If you're willing to talk about the show with a little more respect for others and their opinions, you won't have a bunch of "whining crybabies getting all up in your face."

[SixAndEight]

Posted: 4/9/08 at 2:34pm

You assume much. If you want condescension, I can certainly oblige. However, that won't be necessary.

My initial post was a clearly stated opinion, as much of a review as any of the "legitimate" ones were - I'm just not compelled to write positive drivel since I actually had to pay for my ticket, parking and meal that evening. If you take "for the Three's Company Crowd" as an insult, take it up with Jack Tripper, not me - the show was broad and without any intellectual merit. The performances were decent (excepting Butz, who only could have been out-mugged by a brewery) but they weren't enough to save the juvenile nature of the show. It failed on almost all accounts. If saying so is "insulting," you have very thin skin. I hope you're not personally involved in theatre, for your sake.

And you "insulted" me first, by calling into question my ability to "get" the "jokes" - I simply responded in kind.

"...both times I saw it the audience was in hysterics with tears running down their eyes from laughing so much."

First off - "both times?" Really? Wow. Also, you can see people in the audience of "Larry the Cable Guy" with the same response. It doesn't make the show good, it just makes the audience... well, I'll let you decide - I don't need to go there.

And BTW, the only thing *I* have to be bitter about is being out the money it cost to go to the city and see this show. So you MUST be talking about that other guy.
Updated On: 4/9/08 at 02:34 PM

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 4/9/08 at 3:18pm

This show would only be entertaining to the "Three's Company" crowd.

I'm... disappointed that any theater critic would sit through the whole show, much less give this show a positive review.

First off - "both times?" Really? Wow. Also, you can see people in the audience of "Larry the Cable Guy" with the same response. It doesn't make the show good, it just makes the audience... well, I'll let you decide - I don't need to go there.

These are very thinly vailed insults of anyone who likes the show. Alluding that the only people who would like a show must be simple-minded enough to only like simple, uneducated humor IS an insult. If you're going to insist that you're not insulting us, you must think we're stupid--wait, you've already made that clear. And my initial jab was to add levity in response to your initial insult. So sorry to offend.

Whatever, I'm done. I'm not going to argue with you over this. I enjoyed the show (though that's not why I responded), many people on here did, and a majority of critics did as well. If you didn't enjoy it, you have every right to your opinion.
Updated On: 4/9/08 at 03:18 PM

[SixAndEight]

Posted: 4/9/08 at 3:29pm

"you have every right to your opinion."

Thank you. That's all I asked for.

[jpbran]

Posted: 4/9/08 at 3:55pm