Just Back From "Jumpers"...

[testing123]

Posted: 6/19/04 at 6:13pm

Let me start out by saying that I love TDF !!! Got the tix a few days ago on-line, and we had 9th row center orchestra, right smack in the middle of the row. Excellent seats !!
Reg $96. So, we are sitting waiting for the show to start, when all of a sudden, John Cleese walks in and sits 2 seats away from us. He looked to enjoy the show immensely !

So, about the show.. We loved it, and are so glad that we got to see it before it closes next month. Simon Russell Beale is absolutely amazing !! The fact that he can remember all of the dialogue is astounding in itself. Essie Davis was perfect (and not too bad on the peepers either !) She is incredibly beautiful. And Nicky Henson, Nicholas Woodeson, and John Rogan make a great supporting cast. Yes, it is wordy, but it is incredibly funny, and Beale's performance is so amazing that the long philosophical speeches didnt seem to bother anyone. He has the type of face that any mere gesture can make you laugh out loud. I started flashing back to when my father and I used to laugh hysterically watching Benny Hill and my mother thought we were nuts. The plot is incredibly quirky, but the superb actors make it all seem believable.

Very enjoyable !! I believe there are still a few dates left on TDF. Well worth it !!!

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 6/20/04 at 3:24am

I'm glad you enjoyed Jumpers. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as you did--the philosophical segments were a little too verbose for my taste--but I still had a great time and the performances were extremely stellar.
I think one performance that often doesn't get mentioned, but is truly a highlight of the show, is Eliza Lumley's as the silent secretary. It's hard enough work for an actor to have proper impact on an audience with words, but it's even more difficult, I think, to be able to do that while being still and quiet for the entire show, and Ms. Lumley manages to achieve that. I always wondered what she was thinking while she was taking her notes, and I loved it when she would give Beale's character these looks, as if the two of them were on the same plane and she knew when he was going too far (turns out, Ms. Lumley made her character a religious philosopher as well when she was fleshing out her background).

[mallardo]

Posted: 6/20/04 at 6:46am

Ms Lumley does get to ride the swing at the beginning of the show. It probably helps.