JERUSALEM Reviews- Page 2

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/21/11 at 11:27pm

the "long"list:

BEST PERFORMANCE OF A LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Brian Bedford, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Bobby Cannavale, THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT
Brian Cox, THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
James Earl Jones, DRIVING MISS DAISY
Santino Fontana, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
David Furr, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
T.R. Knight, A LIFE IN THE THEATRE
Dan Lauria, LOMBARDI
John Leguizamo, GHETTO KLOWN
Joe Mantello, THE NORMAL HEART
Al Pacino, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
David Hyde Pierce, LA BETE
Colin Quinn, COLIN QUINN LONG STORY SHORT
Paul Reubens, THE PEE-WEE HERMAN SHOW
Mark Rylance, JERUSALEM
Mark Rylance, LA BETE
Patrick Stewart, A LIFE IN THE THEATRE
Tristan Sturrock, BRIEF ENCOUNTER
Robin Williams, BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO
Jeffrey Wright, A FREE MAN OF COLOR

I am removing Raul Esparza and Tate Donovan from your list as they were both ruled Featured (or rather they WEREN'T ruled leading, and they are both billed under the titles of their respective shows).
Updated On: 4/21/11 at 11:27 PM

[Sauja]

Posted: 4/21/11 at 11:37pm

Just saw the play tonight, and it really is a wondrous thing. I suspect War Horse will take the Tony anyway, but I do hope this show finds its audience. Rylance is simply incredible, and I feel privileged to have seen him (and even more regretful that I missed Boeing Boeing).

This was the last of the new plays this year that I saw, and I'm now wondering what gets the Tony nomations. I'd say this, War Horse, and Good People are locks with Bengal Tiger and Mother****er battling it out for the fourth spot. I'd personally swap Brief Encounter in for War Horse, but I still can't even decide if I'd personally choose Bengal or MF. I think I'll be a little sad for whichever doesn't get in. Have there been this many great new plays in a single season in recent memory? Someone else mentioned all the great male leads in plays this past year as well. It's an embarassment of riches.

[Ryan4]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 12:06am

The variety of new plays is what's particularly amazing about this season. Reminds me of 2006 when we had History Boys, Lieutenant of Inishmore, Shining City and Rabbit Hole. All so great, all so different.

I think the lineup will be War Horse (which I suspect will win), Good People, Jerusalem, and Bengal Tiger, with Motherf/ker left out.

As much as I enjoyed all of them, Brief Encounter was still the best play I saw this season.

[A Director]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 12:11am

Mark Rylance has no understudy. If he is too sick to perform or if something happens to him, what's Plan B?

All the reviews focus on Mr. Rylance. What about the other actors in the show or is this Jerusalem starring Mark Rylance and other people?

Is Jerusalem another in the long line of "England isn't what it use to be" plays that English playwrights are so fond of writing?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 12:36am

Not really. Though it isn't a "under every surface is angst" type play that American playwrights are fond of writing, either.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 12:51am

The reviews focus on Rylance because this play is very much centered on his character. He's onstage almost the entire time. Doesn't mean the rest of the cast is ignored. To wit:

From Variety: Although it's hard to look anywhere else when Rylance is on stage, which is all the time, Mackenzie Crook manages to turn heads with his droll perf as Ginger, the faithful hanger-on who missed last night's bacchanal and may be too strung-out for today's festivities, the St. George's Day fete that is an annual rite of spring...anny Kirrane has a sobering turn as Davey, whose job at a slaughterhouse goes a long way to explain why he parties so hard on weekends. Non-Brit John Gallagher, Jr. ("American Idiot") lends his sensitivity to Lee, a born-and-bred country boy about to strike out for the wilds of Australia. And Geraldine Hughes, welcome in anything, has her moment as Rooster's wrung-out ex-wife, Dawn.

NYT: The play’s inhabitants, embodied by a fully committed ensemble that includes Mackenzie Crook (of Mr. Rickson’s marvelous revival of “The Seagull”) and John Gallagher Jr. (“American Idiot”), speak in slangy, peppery dialogue that regularly cues laughter. And many of the supporting characters are given classic monologues of self-perception that enhance the work’s larger themes.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 12:51am

Lol!

[Scripps2]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 3:59am

"Is Jerusalem another in the long line of "England isn't what it use to be" plays that English playwrights are so fond of writing?"

A Director: no, it isn't, although a superficial glance might interpret it as such.

But don't bother seeing it. If you didn't understand Billy Elliot then you certainly won't understand this.

Incidentally, I'd also be interested to know which plays you are referring to above.

Updated On: 4/22/11 at 03:59 AM

[Weez]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 5:36am

Richard II has that whole wonderful bit from John of Gaunt about how England ain't what it used to be. I don't know about the intermediate links, but if there is such a line, it does at least go back 400-odd years.

[Patash]

Posted: 4/22/11 at 8:52am

Oh, please. That tired old "ain't what it used to be" has been around since parents were telling their kids "in my day we didn't have fire or the wheel." And it will always be with us. Nothing is ever quite so good as how we remember something from the past.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/26/20 at 2:01pm

Apparently Mark Rylance is returning to this in a West End revival in 2021.