Julie Taymor's Midsummer Night's Dream Reviews

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 11/2/13 at 10:40pm

There is something terrifically apt in director Julie Taymor, so loved after creating The Lion King, and so hated after Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, inaugurating a beautiful new theater in Brooklyn with Shakespeare’s play about the fickleness of affection....It is time to love Julie Taymor again.
A Midsummer Night's Dream Review: Julie Taymor Returns, in Brooklyn

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/2/13 at 11:51pm

I'm curious to see how this production will be received as my own reaction to it was ambivalent.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 11/3/13 at 1:23am

surprised the times review hasn't been released yet.

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 11/3/13 at 1:27am

Please explain, BorstalBoy. I felt ambivalent as well. There are spectacular effects, but they occasionally make the language of the Bard feel beside the point, and at times seem to serve as a substitute for plain good acting.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/3/13 at 9:38am

The visuals were sometimes amazing, but there were so many of them that none really landed with resonance. Taymor hasn't always been the strongest storyteller in the world and that was a problem here, I thought. I felt the actress who played Helena was miscast and I realized how integral Helena is to any production of MIDSUMMER. I think she may be the soul of the play altogether, more so than Puck, Bottom, Oberon or Titania. The production isn't ruinous to either the play or Taymor, but there is something naggingly missing about the show as a whole.

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 11/3/13 at 5:22pm

Hollywood Reporter: "Julie Taymor rekindles her artistic flame"

NY Times critics pick: a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” that doesn’t so much reach for the heavens as roll around in them, with joyous but calculated abandon...."Dream” confirms Ms. Taymor’s reputation as the cosmic P. T. Barnum of contemporary stagecraft.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/3/13 at 6:58pm

My problem with Taymor as a director is she makes pretty stage pictures but cannot direct emotions or feelings. EVERY and I mean EVERY Taymor show I have seen has lacked heart. Case in point The Lion King, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, finds Simba and the love of his life on opposiite sides of the stage while a "Look at what a genius I am" costume display goes on with some copulating Afrians on wires. They are all very caluculated to wow you with tableaux. It makes for a cold night at the theatre.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/3/13 at 9:49pm

Seeing it Tuesday for only $20! So excited!!!

[aaronb]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 7:25pm

This is the best MIDSUMMER I've ever seen.
My review of MIDSUMMER

[abbagirl]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 9:32pm

I'm curious, Ripped, how did you get a $20 ticket?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 1:17am

It's a 30 under 30 type thing that Theater for a New Audience does. It's on their website. You can purchase it in advance and pick your seat, etc.

I went tonight and I have to say I LOVED it. I'm not Shakespeare buff, by any means, so if you are you might be a little disappointed. They def. throw in some adlibs and whatnot. But I just thought it was such a spectacle and so vastly entertaining. As the NY Times says, you don't go into a Taymor production expecting amazing performances or emotional depth, and you def. won't get that here. But the visuals are incredible. And the woman playing Puck is PHENOMENAL. She steals the show. She's 60 and doing splits and bends, etc. How a theater like this can put on some such a huge production with so much tech and elevators and projections and yet Roundabout can't even afford moving scenery? I don't get it.

The new space is great. I think it might be one of my favorites in NYC. It feels like a hip new take on the Globe style staging.

[abbagirl]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 10:29am

Ah, I'm over 30, doh. :)

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 11:08am

Well, check the website. It might be an under 35 or something. I don't honestly remember. Or have a friend purchase the tickets and go with you to pick them up! It's worth it!

[BwayGeek2]

Posted: 11/6/13 at 11:21am

30 Under 30 is such a fantastic resource! As for Midsummer Night's Dream, this is my absolute favorite Shakespeare play, so I am itching to see it. I think that this will be a really lovely rendition with the visuals.

[theatrecr8zy]

Posted: 11/7/13 at 8:31am

For those who have seen this production where is best to sit in the orchestra? Front? Side?

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 11/11/13 at 9:46pm

To answer your question, it's probably best to sit in the orchestra or in the back (rather than the sides) of the mezzanine. But it doesn't much matter. It's a small theater (292 seats?). Both the mezzanine and the balcony are just one or two rows deep.

[theatrecr8zy]

Posted: 11/13/13 at 2:50am

Thank you .. got a ticket in the second row of the orchestra on the right side. Looking forward to it!!

[actormcfamous]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 4:35pm

Just got an email that tonight's performance was canceled. Anyone know why? I was so looking forward to seeing the show.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 6:00pm

I'm guessing someone got injured.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 6:30pm

^^LOL

[aaronb]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 7:08pm

Yeah, when I saw it there was about a 20 minute delay after the intermission. Wouldn't be surprised if someone was injured. But you should really try and see it if you have the chance. It was worth the wait.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 7:18pm

glad everyone finds it funny that someone was potentially injured, I was there this afternoon, apparently the show was cancelled due to actor illness (what we were told)

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/24/13 at 8:10pm

I was merely speculating in regards to injury as the show features grown ups quite literally running over children and women in heels speeding around on floors covered with loose cloth.

[ggersten]

Posted: 6/11/15 at 7:25pm

This is going to be shown in movie theatres on June 22 through Fathom Events.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/11/15 at 7:32pm

Now I feel guilty for laughing at 3 Stooges eye gouges.