Posted: 10/7/22 at 11:25am
Village Voice rave, saying the play gets better as things get grimmer.
https://www.villagevoice.com/2022/10/07/an-immense-cast-achieves-aching-intimacy-in-tom-stoppards-leopoldstadt/
Posted: 10/8/22 at 11:51am
I saw last night's performance and really loved it, but I can see how it might not be for everyone. Apologies if this is a bit of a ramble.
It's definitely hard to keep track of the family tree as the play progresses, but the more I reflect on the show the more I think that it was intentional? Would love to hear others' thoughts about it. I'm still processing it but I was very haunted by the whole thing.
I won the lottery and was seated front row center. I'm so glad I was able to see the show from up close - I felt completely immersed in the family's story and at times it felt like I was in the drawing room with them (and the broken teacup almost fell into my lap)! You do have to crane your neck to see the projects, but the stage is low so there are no sight issues otherwise, aside from some scenes where actors sit on opposite sides of the stage and converse with one another (felt like I was at a tennis match).
A final note about sitting so close...there is a LOT of smoking and I could tell it was starting to bother some of the people around me. So if you win the lottery seats, be warned.
The whole cast was in last night. Brandon Uranowitz was incredible, and I was particularly taken by Eden Epstein. I thought the way she evolved the character of Hermine from 1922 to 1938 was extremely powerful. And, um, Arty Froushan is HOT. Didn't realize he was Laenor's gay lover in House of the Dragon until I got home.
Loved the costume design and am curious to know how chaotic it gets during the transitions when that many actors are quickly changing costumes and wigs! I also really loved Adam Cork's original music.
I definitely plan on seeing this again.
Posted: 10/8/22 at 7:04pm
Saw it last night and thought it was magnificent in every way. Thrilling, shattering, haunting. This one will stay with me for a very long time.
As a side note, i don't think the stage of the Longacre ever looked more massive thanks to the glorious and clever set design.
Updated On: 10/8/22 at 07:04 PM
Posted: 10/9/22 at 10:25am
One of the greatest nights of the theatre in my life.
It is a masterpiece.
Posted: 10/21/22 at 12:07am
I saw this on Tuesday night and loved the play uo until the last scene. I felt that the last scene was just too abrupt...the character who was taken to London in 1938 (and grew up to be Tom Stoppard) discovers in the 1955 segment his pre-England roots, after which a 10 - 15 minute discussion follows. For such a monumental discovery, the dialogue just seemed too superficial to me (hell, it could be its own play). The very ending of the scene was extremely stirring; however, I was still left with a sense of disappointment with what I felt could have preceded it.
Had the last scene been as effective as I wanted it to be, I would have given it 5*****, using the ratings that the British reviewers seem to favor; I would have ended up fiving it 4**** because of my stated reservations, still a very strong rating, but not IMO a masterpiece.
Posted: 10/22/22 at 5:03pm
I'm ambivalent about the ending -- at first, my knees said, "Wait, there's more?" But the more I watched, the more I thought the accounting, both on a personal and political level, was necessary. Not just with the very last words, but the sense of grief, guilt, and loss.
Maybe I need to see more plays, but I think this is probably the best constructed play (in terms of the writing) I've seen in the last few years. (But my memory is fairly recent, so that may not be saying much.) You start to see early on how most of the threads are going to unravel. And yet it's still a gut punch at the end.
Also, I kept looking at Seth Numrich and was like, "Where have I seen you?" Benjamin Tallmadge from Turn!
Brandon Uranowitz is otherworldly good in this. Everyone is good, but he elevates above.
Posted: 10/23/22 at 7:34pm
I saw this today, finally. As someone who is very vocal about how much I dislike Stoppard’s writing, I thought this was the masterpiece others say it is. I was fully engaged from the second the curtain rose until it fell at the end, as I was sobbing. it’s impossible to say one person gave a standout performance over another but Uranowitz, Krumholtz and Froushan were just…I don’t even know. “Wow” is the only word that comes to mind.
This really does seem like a once in a lifetime kind of piece of theater that should be experienced by as many people as possible and has given me a newfound respect for Stoppard.
Posted: 10/23/22 at 8:50pm
I, too, saw it today and almost four hours later I am still heartbroken by this masterpiece. I thought it was some of the best theater I have seen lately.
I do agree, at least partly, with one minor point that was mentioned previously - I didn’t want the last moment to be cut, when the whole family returns, but.I also think at least part of the last scene could have been cut. I don’t want to give away the ending to those who have not seen it, but I believe it could have ended right prior to 1955.
Also, I am doubly sadden, not just by the content, but by the fact that I have a feeling this show is playing into an echo chamber - as a Jewish person raising kids who have faced any-semitism in their high school, I wish more people could see and learn, but the audience is probably mostly people who are already horrified by the past, and recognize it is still happening in the present.
Posted: 10/23/22 at 9:13pm
LEOPOLDSTADT is the type of play where I wish every NYC high school student could see it. PIANO LESSON and TOPDOG, too. Too often with dramatic works on stage, kids are exposed to bad productions that drive home the false belief that "plays are boring." They need to be exposed to breathless theatre like this.
Posted: 10/23/22 at 9:17pm
pippy1 said: "I, too, saw it today and almost four hours later I am still heartbroken by this masterpiece. I thought it was some of the best theater I have seen lately.
I do agree, at least partly, with one minor point that was mentioned previously - I didn’t want the last moment to be cut, when the whole family returns, but.I also think at least part of the last scene could have been cut. I don’t want to give away the ending to those who have not seen it, but I believe it could have ended right prior to 1955.
Also, I am doubly sadden, not just by the content, but by the fact that I have a feeling this show is playing into an echo chamber - as a Jewish person raising kids who have faced any-semitism in their high school, I wish more people could see and learn, but the audience is probably mostly people who are already horrified by the past, and recognize it is still happening in the present."
I could not agree more, especially in the context of the collective shrug at Kanye's unrepentant, unabated, and almost comically hateful views.
Posted: 10/23/22 at 9:26pm
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "LEOPOLDSTADT is the type of play where I wish every NYC high school student could see it. PIANO LESSON and TOPDOG, too. Too often with dramatic works on stage, kids are exposed to bad productions that drive home the false belief that "plays are boring." They need to be exposed to breathless theatre like this."
I said to someone in my party today, I wish they could perform this at MSG like they did with TKAMB. That was an incredible opportunity to not only bring theater to those who may not get a chance to see it AND show an important show. There are so many other shows, Leopoldstandt included, that could do the same.
Posted: 10/23/22 at 9:30pm
Has anyone sat in the partial view mezz seats? Trying to see this but definitely can’t afford the prices it’s going for currently. Wondering if they’re decent or too obstructed.
Posted: 10/23/22 at 10:06pm
I was in the rear mezz and don’t know where partial view could be for this.
And yes, I’ve been thinking a lot about how sad it is the show is as timely as ever after the past week or so. Hell, after the past 6 years, really. There was something a bit comforting though, sitting in a huge theater surrounded by fellow Jews experiencing it with me, though.
Posted: 10/23/22 at 11:15pm
pippy1 said: "I said to someone in my party today, I wish they could perform this at MSG like they did with TKAMB. That was an incredible opportunity to not only bring theater to those who may not get a chance to see it AND show an important show. There are so many other shows, Leopoldstandt included, that could do the same."
This may be asking too much, but: I think kids ALSO need to be exposed to theatre up-close. Meaning from the orchestra. Oftentimes these group rates and student tickets are waaaay at the back of the house, where it's easier to disengage or not notice the specifics.
Posted: 10/24/22 at 9:19am
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "pippy1 said: "I said to someone in my party today, I wish they could perform this at MSG like they did with TKAMB. That was an incredible opportunity to not only bring theater to those who may not get a chance to see it AND show an important show. There are so many other shows, Leopoldstandt included, that could do the same."
This may be asking too much, but: I think kids ALSO need to be exposed to theatre up-close. Meaning from the orchestra. Oftentimes these group rates and student tickets are waaaay at the back of the house, where it's easier to disengage or not notice the specifics."
And how exactly do you propose this becomes an option? I think we've become very demanding lately. Theatrical changes don't happen overnight (yes I'm aware no one said they do, but still)
Posted: 10/24/22 at 9:21am
I saw it yesterday and really wanted to love it. I liked it. The cast is uniformly excellent. I’m not sure how to pinpoint it but it just didn’t click for me.
Posted: 10/24/22 at 9:42am
hearthemsing22 said: "And how exactly do you propose this becomes an option? I think we've become very demanding lately. Theatrical changes don't happen overnight (yes I'm aware no one said they do, but still)"
It’s merely a pipe dream, not something that I think will actually happen!! Though I suppose when a play sells as badly as TOPDOG or PASS OVER or DANA H, that could be more achievable.
Posted: 10/24/22 at 10:23am
I saw it Saturday afternoon and agree with the recent raves. I found it shattering, ultimately, though I was fully engaged from the start. The last and fifth act, as it's been designated in structural discussions, in no way disappointed me. If anything, it was the the moment the grand design revealed its purpose. No more spoilers. What's notable, and I'm hardly the first to say so, this play is in many ways a small canvas masterwork. Rather than create a 2-sitting, 8-hour exploration of the nooks and crannies in this family, the 2 hour and 10 minutes carve a smaller-scale epic from set pieces that reveal the whole. Its relative economy, for Stoppard, is both its genius and calling card. It's a play I'd happily pay to see twice. I can't shake its powerful grip.
Posted: 10/24/22 at 10:41am
Auggie27 said: "I saw it Saturday afternoon and agree with the recent raves. I found it shattering, ultimately, though I was fully engaged from the start. The last and fifth act, as it's been designated in structural discussions, in no way disappointed me. If anything, it was the the moment the grand design revealed its purpose. No more spoilers. What's notable, and I'm hardly the first to say so, this play is in many ways a small canvas masterwork. Rather than create a 2-sitting, 8-hour exploration of the nooks and crannies in this family, the 2 hour and 10 minutes carve a smaller-scale epic from set pieces that reveal the whole. Its relative economy, for Stoppard, is both its genius and calling card. It's a play I'd happily pay to see twice. I can't shake its powerful grip."
I like the way you describe. Thank you for that perspective. And I don’t disagree that the last scene was incredibly powerful, and important. I see the need for it, and still wonder if it could somehow have been intertwined with the scene before. I will however say that at no time did I feel like the show was dragging and 2 hours plus passed quickly. I was engrossed, and like you, I am still thinking about it today.
Posted: 10/24/22 at 12:33pm
Want to see this in January but $379 a ticket is crazy expensive. Any discounts that go beyond November?
Posted: 10/24/22 at 12:40pm
sppunk said: "Want to see this in January but $379 a ticket is crazy expensive. Any discounts that go beyond November?"
The only options I've seen are lottery and rush. I have not seen discount codes.
Posted: 10/24/22 at 3:12pm
sppunk said: "Want to see this in January but $379 a ticket is crazy expensive. Any discounts that go beyond November?"
There are tickets available for less than that. It also shows up on TKTS regularly.
Posted: 10/26/22 at 12:36pm
cotous6 said: "Does the show offer rush tickets?"
If you look above, I mentioned that the show does in fact offer rush tickets. I believe they're $40 each.
Posted: 10/26/22 at 12:57pm
Auggie27 said: "The last and fifth act, as it's been designated in structural discussions, in no way disappointed me. If anything, it was the the moment the grand design revealed its purpose."
Absolutely agree. In a way it reminded me of "Sunday in the Park", in the best possible way.
