Julius Caesar -- Is this about the quietest opening ever on Broadway for a two time Academy Award winner?

There is definitely a buzz off of BWW. THere's not much talk about it on here because it doesn't feature anyone belting at the end of every song, and, most people on here have never heard of "plays."

---

Updated On: 4/3/05 at 05:18 PM

No your right - twice. I forgot about GLORY.

Yes, it's like RENT without songs, I think. Like, WICKED with no music, get it?

It's Shakespeare - most people pay ZERO attention to that because they automatically thing Shakespeare = boring. Especially with people not into theatre.

---

But the buzz surrounding shows like DRS and SPAMALOT was far greater than JC. I haven't heard ANYTHING about JC, positive or negative. I don't even know anyone that's seen it, so I would say that's quiet.

---

Don't you get lippy with me, MEFfie.

I second what munku said. On the bww.com main page, none of the top 5 articles OR the News Desk items have anything to do with Caesar. And broadway.com doesn't have anything on its front page either.

---

I saw this two weeks ago in previews and I loved it (I have to admit that Julius Caesar has always been one of my favorite Shakespeare plays). Denzel was great as usual (although it seemed as though it took him awhile to get comfortable), but my favorites were the two people who played Cassius and Casca. Casca stole just about every scene he was in. The wives and Marc Antony needed a little work (the actor who played Marc Antony must have had a cold or something because his voice was very raspy, it was like a Vin Diesel thing going on), but I am sure they fixed it in the previews. The set design was incredible, as it seems to spread out into the Belasco Theatre itself (at various points actors watch scenes from mezzanine boxes and enter stage from them). This design pays off particularly well in the Caesar's funeral scene which serves as a turning point of sorts for the play. I highly reccomend it, if not for anything else than for how many times do you get to see Julius Caesar performed this well (I think the last time it was on Broadway was over 50 years ago). Denzel is definitely a draw, but the production and the play itself are reason enough to go.

Btw, haha to munkustrap on pointing out the lack of attention to plays.

Updated On: 4/3/05 at 05:35 PM

It opens tonight. The capacity is around 1200 I think.

---

Ignore me "1200" guess - that's probably WAY too much.

---

I'm curious to see how my girlfriend Jessica Hecht is as Portia. (BTW, don't tell the missus that JH is my girlfriend! )

Capacity @ the Belasco is 1,029 - plus or minus a few. And, yes, it opens tonight.

eta : Playbill.com says 997 - also says it hasn't been selling out, which is difficult to believe.

Updated On: 4/3/05 at 06:34 PM

I was SO excited to see Julius Caesar. It's one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, and one of the few that I haven't seen. The cast was also quite exciting... However, I went to the box office to ask if they'd have student rush, and not only are they not having it, but the people at the box office laughed at me and were very rude. Of course, this is not a reason not to see the show. But I was a bit discouraged. I went back a week or so later to ask about the standing room policy (which I read about on talkinbroadway.com but wanted to double check) and they were even MORE rude to me this time, saying they didn't know what I was talking about.
Not only do I have no urge to go back now, I really can't afford to go unless its student rush prices...
Sorry for sharing such a rant.

---

So they don't sell SRO?

---

I love Shakespeare, but have always had an aversion to Julius Caesar, possibly because it was the play we "did" in high school. Those kind of associations are hard to overcome. I saw the most recent Shakespeare in the Park version, which wasn't bad, but didn't really erase my old negative feelings.