Is The Glass Menagerie All its Really Cracked Up To Be ? — Page 2

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.

#26

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:23am

Jrb~ your snarky attitude is quite unecessary.. you say you are up for discussion yet you have nothing but assumptions to back your comments up. What one person evivsions is not going to be what another person does. You keep saying things like "Well, as long as the production avoids certain cliches and wrongful choices*, it should be stunning." well that is a very big if.. Yet it is not ok for others to make comments based on their ideals and opinions, sounds a bit hypocritical to me.

Look forward to hearing about it BlueWizard..

"All work and no smut makes Cammy lose her edge." ~DG

"Someday I'm going to have a baby and I'm gonna name her L'il Mimi Marquez and I and will sing to her every day and when she's a toddler I will say "L'il Mimi Marquez, clad only in a bubble diaper, will perform her famous play pen handcuff dance to the sounds of breast milk being pumped!" ~Kringas

#27

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:23am

Oh, you meant a stage production of a Williams play. I thought you meant a stage production in general, and I was going to backhand you because THAT would be a stupid question. And no, I haven't seen a Williams production before, although if I could sit through Waiting For Godot without falling asleep, I know subtext is able to be shown effectively on stage once in a while.

Oops, I think the rolling eyes just got stuck at the back of my head.

Blue Wizard, who's in the Toronto cast?

"It's not always about you!!!" (But if you think I'm referring to you anyway, then I probably am.)

"Good luck returning my ass!" - Wilhemina Slater

"This is my breakfast, lunch and f***ing dinner right here. I'm not even f***in' joking." - Colin Farrell

Updated On: 1/12/05 at 02:23 AM

#28

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:24am

I understand that Ned Beatty was a revelation. The supporting cast was said to be very good.

The thing is--and maybe this is where my grit came off in the first couple of posts here--is that in the cannon of great theatre, there is no debating the inclusion of Cat, Streetcar, or Menagerie--to just name 3 of his plays. Sure, you can personally dislike it. But, I would always make sure that I gave something in the cannon the chance. That I try to discover why a certain work is considered unquestionably great.

I realize that's what you guys are doing here--and that is so awesome!

Too many people on this board have no respect for ANYTHING written before 1990. And I need to set my color coded alert on that down a notch.

johnraymondbarker.com

#29

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:26am

Camerangel--you can gladly kiss my glass menagerie. I'm not here to please you.

johnraymondbarker.com

#30

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:27am

OH yes, i have great respect for the classics , for they are what make up what has come recently. I appreciate you realizing your "grit" as well. just because i am an english fanatic, a body of literature is actually a "canon", not cannon . for cannon = BOOM!.

#31

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:28am

I'm bright red! Of course! lol Canon Canon Canon got it. I see "Canon" and think of the camera. Cannon is more fun--more explosive!

johnraymondbarker.com

#32

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:28am

That's the ass-kissing I was expecting, jrb. You're forgiven for previous grittiness then.

And nuh-uh i soooo have respekt for stuff written before 1990. i mean jon larson (aka GOD) was totally outlining the beginnings of rent in the 80s rite??????

ETA: Your glass menagerie, huh? Is it that fragile and a container for animals?

Updated On: 1/12/05 at 02:28 AM

#33

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:32am

very dirty! only if you consider folks like phantom2 and others to be ANIMALS!

And, I'm VERY fragile. So be gentle.

johnraymondbarker.com

#34

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:35am

Oh JRB~ if only.. haha.. you couldn't handle me kissing your glass menagerie..

#35

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:36am

tease!

johnraymondbarker.com

#36

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:36am

Aww, don't pick on jrb, he's one of my favourite people on BWW.

Again, I actually find this thread a bit ironic for me because I understand the impetus behind MENAGERIE and what makes it good drama, but I'm clueless about STREETCAR, arguably Williams' greatest play. Maybe it's because I saw countless parodies before I saw the classic film (and I have yet to see a stage production of STREETCAR), but I feel like I'm missing the magic.

Blue Wizard, who's in the Toronto cast?

I can't find the cast list anywhere; I'm assuming it's nowhere famous. The logo is rather strange (I'm hoping it's not some conceptual rethinking of the play):

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Toronto actually receiving a lot of Williams this year: besides MENAGERIE, there will also be productions of CAT and ORPHEUS DESCENDING at the nearby Stratford Festival.

(OT: I'm seeing the Canstage production of TAKE ME OUT next week -- I have press tickets to opening night. Can't wait! Gotta catch me some naked man action onstage!

)

BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."

Updated On: 1/12/05 at 02:36 AM

#37

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:36am

I've seen several productions of Glass Menagerie over the years and in some ways, I think it is Williams' best play. Perhaps, it doesn't translate well on to some on the page (I always thought it did), but in performance it can be funny, heartbreaking, profound, wistful and incredibly tragic. It's the play that gets the closest to Williams' poetic soul and is most reflective of himself as a writer and a person. You must see it performed to understand this. When well cast and directed, the many layers of subtext -- the longing, the pain, the hope -- get under your skin and can shake you to the core.

None of the roles, including Jim the Gentleman Caller is thankless in any way (his scene with Laura is one of the greatest ever written by an American playwright). These are fully fleshed out beings on stage and on the page. I don't know. This sounds like the reaction I've heard some people having to Chekhov sometimes ..... "what's the big deal?" "Nothing happens." See a first rate production of this play (and I've seen a few) and the potent eloquence and humanity of each of these characters becomes eminently transparent.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#38

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:39am

Exactly! One of the greatest things I learned from Uta Hagen was that Chekov is FUNNY. You have to find the humor. If the play SEEMS boring, an actor has to find the action.

That scene with Jim and Laura devastates me.

Blue--have you seen the film of Streetcar? I suspect (hope) the revival will be stunning.

johnraymondbarker.com

#39

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:40am

Me a tease?? NO NO NO.

but alas you are not here to please me and I am not here to "please" you.. heheheheheheh

**smiles sweetly**

#40

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:44am

Oh, we're taking sides now, are we, Wiz? *throws down gauntlet*

Are you going to Stratford this year? Any major headliners? (I'd love to see Colm Feore back in theatre action - something apart from Chronicles of Riddick, ideally.)

I'm not familiar with most of Chekhov's work, to be honest (so feel free to discredit me

), so I can't comment on any parallels there, but your post is duly noted, and I'll bone up on this play and Chekhov so I can add more to that discussion.

#41

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:45am

I don't think many of us are as read up on Chekhov as we'd like to be!!

johnraymondbarker.com

#42

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:47am

I am.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#43

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:48am

That's cuz you are a nerd! :P

johnraymondbarker.com

#44

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:48am

Yes, the scene between Jim and Laura really is the highlight for me in MENAGERIE.

I have seen the film version of STREETCAR twice, but on both occasions I felt emotionally detached from it. Blanche didn't particularly appeal to me -- why should I care about a pretentious waif who lives in her head and who has a thing for younger men? I thought Marlon Brando was phenomenal, but I don't understand the hoopla over STREETCAR -- is it the dreamy, almost sweaty atmosphere that the play creates? Is it the tragedy of a brute destroying a flower?

#45

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:48am

It just occurred to me while reading this thread how much I abuse the privilege to use emoticons. So now it's going to stop.

MargoC, what would you recommend I read to get my feet wet?

#46

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:49am

Hmmmm, I want to think it's all of the above, blue!

johnraymondbarker.com

#47

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:50am

Honey, that catwoman face is all the emoticon you need!

johnraymondbarker.com

#48

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:51am

Well, I hope someone explains it to me, because I feel like I've missed the boat on this one. Or, did I miss the streetcar? Heh, heh?

OK, I've been awake for too long. Off to bed.

#49

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:54am

are we getting the claws out again?? I can think of good use for claws..

#50

Re: Is the Glass Menagerie all it's really cracked up to be?

Posted: 1/12/05 at 2:55am

jrb, and by that comment, you mean it's dead sexy, am I right?

<-- My ideal.

Updated On: 1/12/05 at 02:55 AM

← Back to Message Board

View all Videos

Tickets From $59

Tickets From $71

Tickets From $95