JUNK Previews- Page 2

[JIMG3]

Posted: 10/7/17 at 2:06pm

I have to admit, you do make me laugh!

Updated On: 10/7/17 at 02:06 PM

[NJGUY]

Posted: 10/10/17 at 9:44am

Major snooze fest.  Have seen 2,000-2,500 theatrical performances and have only fallen asleep 3-4 times during a show.  Junk is one of them.  I know where they got the title from!.  Total garbage,  There were four of us and two of us fell asleep.  Neither of the nappers felt we missed much at all. Wolves better ROCK or I am rethinking my LCT membership

[Mediamaven2]

Posted: 10/10/17 at 12:48pm

sppunk said: "Want to see this at the end of the month since nothing else jumps out (Band’s Visit that night). Any discounts by chance?"

Received Theatermania code today

JKTM17

[sppunk]

Posted: 10/10/17 at 4:30pm

Mediamaven2 said: "sppunk said: "Want to see this at the end of the month since nothing else jumps out (Band’s Visit that night). Any discounts by chance?"

Received Theatermania code today

JKTM17"

Thanks! These reviews give me pause - might grab War Paint on TDF instead  just to say I saw it. :)

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 10/10/17 at 4:47pm

I found Act 1 to be incredibly gripping and then Act 2 to be a complete let down. There is an audience for it, but they don't come to the theater too often, so I'm not sure who will enjoy all of this. My best suggestion is to cut a bunch and make it a one act.

FWIW, the usher told me that the producers gave a BUNCH of notes when they saw the show on Saturday and they have a lot of work ahead of them. (what the usher actually knows, I don't know)

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 10/10/17 at 4:48pm

I find it curious that Whizzer really liked the show, but everyone else posting here seems to have been rather bored. Usually WM is a good representative of the general opinion. Different strokes!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/10/17 at 7:25pm

To me it was a lot of "technical" jargon and talk of "stocks" and "bonds," and they kept saying the word "Junk" over and over. And the characters weren't fleshed out or real people. And I thought some of the writing was amateurish. Particularly the narrator's stuff. I don't even really understand why we needed her there? Just to show that greed can happen to everyone? I just found it all very confusing, but not in a twisted narrative interesting way, but in a rather dull I don't care to figure it out sort of way. 

[tpubxzdz]

Posted: 10/13/17 at 4:32pm

Why isn't Michael Aronov in this play?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/14/17 at 5:52pm

I recently saw Junk, and I liked it quite a bit. The play moves at break neck speed, and I think it is safe to say that no scene in the play lasts longer than maybe four minutes at most. There is A LOT going on, and there A LOT of characters to keep track of. 
 

This was my first time seeing a play with pacing this fast, and I thought it was quite intriguing and interesting. The staging, however, was quite problematic. I was sitting in the front row in the side 500s section (seat 505 - so I was not even all the way up against the wall), and I spent a lot of the time looking actors’ backs. The play is playing on a thrust, but it has been mostly directed as if it is playing in a proscenium. 

 
Steven Pasquale is really great as Robert, and the rest of the cast is just as great. I thought the actresses playing the female reporter and Robert’s wife were both fantastic. I found it interesting that I was rooting for these characters even though what they were doing was wrong.

 
Overall, I would recommend this. I found it to be immensely engaging and enjoyable.

Updated On: 10/14/17 at 05:52 PM

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 10/15/17 at 3:19am

I was all prepared for a juicy character study with an intriguing plot but I was bored to death and was shifting and yawning in my seat. The production was so overly stylized that characters didn't seem like they were talking to one another and I did not care about anyone which is misfire 101.The acting seemed mannered and some of it was mediocre at best. It felt misdirected. I think they needed to find the humanity beneath the chilly veneer. Come Tony time the production will long be forgotten.

Updated On: 10/15/17 at 03:19 AM

[tpubxzdz]

Posted: 10/15/17 at 11:04am

You think Michael Aronov would have made it better?

[kevinr]

Posted: 10/15/17 at 11:56pm

Did Steven Pasquale sign and take photos at the stage door?  

[Alfie6]

Posted: 10/20/17 at 11:52am

This was a miss for me, not something I would recommend. Steven Pasquale was excellent but that's the only thing positive I found (I really like the Playbill cover too but I think the cover art of the Lincoln Center Newsletter would have been nicer especially for a window card). I'm not sure if it was the fact that none of the characters were likable or the fact that I don't have a background in finance which lost my interest. There isn't much of a set except for these tiered boxes, and I half expected Paul Lynde to make an appearance. During the final scene, Steven Pasquale was talking about something in finance which a few in the audience started laughing about but I was in the confused camp. If someone could explain that bit with a spoiler toggle would be appreciated. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/20/17 at 11:56am

Didn't understand the ending either, but if I had to guess, it was a nod to the guy who lost everyone's money a few years ago? Can't think of his name. 

[Alfie6]

Posted: 10/20/17 at 1:22pm

Bernie Madoff? That could be it.  I felt like I was missing some inside joke but I felt that way many times in this play even before the final scene. I think it would be a nice idea if the playbill came with some pamphlet that explained some of the financial references since this play is heavy on terminology the average person without an MBA wouldn't get. 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 10/20/17 at 4:04pm

The ending was a reference to the housing bubble that burst in 2008/2009 that sent us into recession. (Topic of the film, The Big Short.) I really loved that final scene- history repeating and all that. 

I'm far from a financial guru, but I personally thought the technical talk was fairly easy to follow. Then again, I find topics like this stimulating and engaging. I could watch the film Margin Call over and over. I could see where if the material didn't hold such a strong interest that it might wash over someone. 

 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 10/20/17 at 4:19pm

I am very far from a financial guru, but I still really enjoyed this play, and I was able to follow it. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 10/20/17 at 8:11pm

@WhizzerMarvin I think if you watched The Big Short and Margin Call, you're probably more informed about the situation than the average person.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/20/17 at 10:43pm

Agreed. I think to me it was just a lot of talk and not a lot like human interaction? I think it'll probably make for a great movie someday, but didn't work for me as a play. 

[yesraccoons]

Posted: 10/21/17 at 12:12pm

People are saying they fell asleep?? I have no idea how. This is one of the best plays I've seen. The dialogue was amazing and the set was great! It was a little slow at first but I actually began to tear up towards the end. It did a great job of examining capitalism and to what extent it's evil or not. 

 

My only background knowledge was watching The Big Short and it was definitely understandable and engaging!

 

also if anyone is wondering about student rush it's D210-214-5 in the loge. So rear mezz.

[Up In One]

Posted: 10/30/17 at 11:32am

If ever there was a timely companion piece to what is going on today - literally today  - with the first of Bob Mueller's anxiously awaited indictments - it is JUNK. Fast paced, riveting, excitingly staged - a huge cast (22 strong a crazy number for a play) dynamite performances - Steven Pasquale, Michael Siberry, Joey Slotnick, Henry Stram, Rick Holmes leading the pack. Having sat through and enjoyed but was non-plused by the Torch Song Revival and Time & The Conways Junk gave my theater going this season the jolt it needed. Very much in the vein of the film The Big Short you get an education in what junk bonds are all about and the strategies of prosecution while making comment on the state of America and its commerce and the personalities and motivations involved.  I sat all the way to the side in the orchestra level of the Beaumont and did not miss a thing, clever use of mirrors within the basic set reflected certain action which may have been missed form that angle but 95% of the show is performed on the thrust. Marketing feels odd on this show - not as sophisticated or intriguing as the show itself but I am sure the LCT subscriber base will help it find its audience. I highly recommend Junk but if films like The Big Short and Spotlight and procedurals are not your thing and dynamic staging and high energy performances wont make up the difference you may want to pass on it. 

[Kkraw1024]

Posted: 10/30/17 at 2:12pm

I highly recommend, too.  Hubby and I went to last Wednesday's matinee.  The woman seated next to my husband seated on a pillow told her date she didn't understand the play.  He explained and she left for the lady's room at the end of intermission never to return.  He date remained and told us he really enjoyed the play.

 

 

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 10/31/17 at 9:53pm

Just heard from a friend that tonight’s performance got cancelled in the middle of the show?? Anybody have any info on what happened?

[Danielle49]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 2:33pm

For the heck of it, I entered the Junk lottery and won a couple of weeks ago (there were three empty rows behind me in the Loge so I'm thinking everyone's a winner at this point). I didn't want far side orchestra LincTix plus the mystery of lottery seating is always more fun. I got left loge, second row.

I've got to say, I'm really surprised that people are falling asleep at this show? Considering how specific its style and subject matter are, though, I understand how this could be a love it or hate it play. It has an audience, but hasn't seemed to have found it yet. I'm not sure that it was in the practically LCT member-exclusive crowd that was there when I went. I loved it. I saw a matinee and then did Sweeney Todd student rush that night and although both were amazing, Junk is the one I keep thinking about.

It's fast-paced as people have mentioned, and does feel very much like a Big Short type of deal, with dense, Sorkin-esque dialogue. From the top, the financial talk is super in-depth and jargon-y, so if you don't understand what's happening at first, make the effort, otherwise you'll be lost. Stay with it. I don't quite have a handle on financial lingo but I was in it the entire time. All of the actors are giving great performances, the huge lot of them. I too felt the narrator was unnecessary, I hope they trim that aspect down before opening night. The usher said they were still doing rewrites.

Regardless, Junk is a story we need to hear right now, and I'm really hoping the critics love it as much as I did. Highly recommend seeing it.

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 02:33 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 2:35pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "Just heard from a friend that tonight’s performance got cancelled in the middle of the show?? Anybody have any info on what happened?"

The sound board froze, according to a friend who was there.