LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT Previews- Page 4

[petewk87]

Posted: 4/6/16 at 1:56pm

I bought A5 and B7, via Hiptix Gold. They are extreme house left but front two rows. Would I miss much, in terms of moments close to the stairs?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 4/6/16 at 2:29pm

Like I said, I don't know. I was in the mezz.

[mordav]

Posted: 4/7/16 at 8:07am

Petewk87 I don't think you'll miss anything 

[diem86]

Posted: 4/9/16 at 10:19am

Has anybody seen this in the past couple days who can share the newest run time? 

[abbagirl]

Posted: 4/9/16 at 11:08am

I was there last night (loved it!), and it ran 3 hrs 39 mins (intermission included).

[masmore]

Posted: 4/9/16 at 6:01pm

musicman_bwayfan said: "How was the stage door?"

For a Saturday matinee show, no one came out. Understandable considering that they're starting another performance in 2 hours.

Update: Even for the evening performance, no one came out. Around 20 people were lining up behind the barricade and saw the security asking the car to move back near another door and John Gallagher Jr came out and got into that car and left.

Updated On: 4/9/16 at 06:01 PM

[Hellob]

Posted: 4/9/16 at 6:24pm

I went today, had an orchestra 101 seat but staging definitely favors the higher number seats and odd number side seats. I had the most annoying older couple behind me talking the whole time, I finally told them to stfu. 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 10:50am

Caught this last night and think its a fine production of this classic play.  All four performers were strong and ideally cast, with Michael Shannon and Jessica Lange being the standouts for me.  Michael Shannon continues to impress with a stage presence that is singularly powerful in its intensity, and I thought Lange was absolutely mesmerizing as Mary Tyrone. This is by far her best stage performance, in my opinion. I suspect she is going to be a strong contender for the Best Actress Tony - and given her outstanding body of work, could see this possibly being her year to win.

The show is of course long but it rarely felt it. One of the greatest plays of the 20th century; I am always delighted anytime I get a chance to experience it.  This is an excellent version of it.

Updated On: 4/10/16 at 10:50 AM

[Tom-497]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 12:25pm

I saw Long Day's Journey last night from the lower level box, house right. Given the discounted price, I'd say it's a good seat purchase because it's close to a lot of the action. The real negative, which I'm guessing would be almost as true for some other house far-right seats, is that Jessica Lange's back was fairly often at least partly turned toward those seats (she is frequently sitting on a little stool close to the audience, or in a chair at a table, in both cases looking toward house left). On the plus side, Gabriel Byrne (both when speaking with her and otherwise) was often facing house right. 

 

As for the show itself, I thought the whole cast was good to excellent overall. Byrne, in particular, struck me as really embodying an aging romantic theater idol, Shannon was especially convincing when his character was snarling accusations that he wished weren't true, and Gallagher, I thought, did a particularly good job in conveying his character's conflicting emotionalism and growing sense of detachment as the day wears on.

 

SPOILERS

Regarding Lange's performance, which was mentioned above, I did not get the sense that she started out too crazy or at too high a pitch. She is playing the role of Mary in a more annoyingly bitchy, passive-aggressive manner than I've sometimes seen it -- I repeatedly thought that the rest of her family, and particularly her husband, were quite right in wanting to get the hell away from her. But her approach did not strike me as in any way unjustifiable.

 

The aspect of her performance that I wasn't wild about was her drugged-out reveries -- her delivery sometimes became too monotonously fluttery and drawn-out, I thought. Even then, however, that approach may be perfectly justifiable in terms of realism, and also in terms of its being another one of those things that particularly galls her character's family: when the rest of them get wasted (with alcohol) they tend to fight and, in certain ways, actually grow closer, but when she gets wasted she just starts "rambling" -- away from them.  

 

But even that idea was, I thought, arguably taken a bit too far visually in the final extended tableau. Mary delivers the last part of her long closing speech bathed in light and turned away from her family, all of whom nearly disappear into darkness. 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 12:45pm

Thanks for that great review Tom. I guess, I'm not quite understanding what you are saying about Lange's performance (certainly the character, as you point out is annoying to her family and deteriorates into her own world). I'm curious what other performers you have seen do the role...

I kind of liked the last tableaux -- it was her own descent into 'night'. The fog completely obliterating the view of the family around her.

[Tom-497]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 2:08pm

Regarding the previous message -- the other performers I've seen in the role of Mary were (live) Vanessa Redgrave and (on video) Katharine Hepburn, Constance Cummings, and Bethel Leslie.

 

 

 

Spoilers

I guess one of the main impressions I got about Lange's performance (and which I don't mean in any negative way) was that, for whatever reasons, her character couldn't fight with her family in the same manner as they fought with each other. As I remember other performances of Mary, none gave me such a strong sense that she would have liked to be part of that dynamic but nobody would fully take the bait -- instead, they tended to just become offended, in part because she was so annoyingly disingenuous about supposedly not wanting to fight. In fact, at the performance I saw, much of the audience was laughing at the absurdity of her "we mustn't criticize" refrain as she relentlessly tore apart her husband.

 

It was this sense of things (as I saw them) that caused me to notice in particular the line about how she wished she'd had a daughter -- she just didn't ever quite connect with the men, nor they with her, despite their having so many things in common (as Edmund suggests when he sarcastically compares his father's memories of theatrical glory to his mother's memories of her wedding dress).

Updated On: 4/10/16 at 02:08 PM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 4:14pm

Ah, Tom, yes - I see what you are saying now.

Lange's Mary Tyrone was fascinating to me because this was a portrayal of a woman who had learned to use her femininity and extreme beauty to 'mask,' manipulate, and get away with...well, just about everything.

And when we think about the context and time of the play, that, frankly, made much of the story ring more true to me.  

Many of the women who have played the role (great actress, all) have perhaps felt more 'earthy' or pragmatic, but with Jessica Lange (arguably the most classically beautiful woman I can recall having played the role) this was a lady who - of course, would have been idolized (and remained faithful to) by her husband, put on a pedestal by her father, and who would have considered herself 'above' socializing with the other actors in her husband's troupe or taking a trip in a second hand Packard.   And needless to say, a beautiful woman at that time "needed" to remain perfect; it was her only worth.  The desire to mask loneliness, age and physical ailments would have been essential for a woman whose mask was so physically surface.  So I thought the portrayal was really fascinating.

And what was scary was that in the moments where Lange 'dropped' Mary's affectations, there was a complete monster underneath that feminine facade.  There was moment late in the play when suddenly her vocal inflection dropped about an octave that gave me goosebumps. It was like the rouse was finally over.

Who of the women you've seen has been your favorite in the role? I'd love to have seen Vanessa Redgrave. Laurie Metcalfe, despite really being miscast, was a fascinating departure in the part.

 

Updated On: 4/10/16 at 04:14 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 4:45pm

Can I ask: in what way do you judge Metcalf to have been miscast?

Honestly, if I ever saw anyone in the role of Mary who was miscast -- at least on paper -- it was Redgrave, who looked the picture of health with her tall, sturdy frame, and who played the early scenes like a venerable old oak. Of course, her entire interpretation was absolutely shattering in the end. 

[followspot]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 5:00pm

You've described Lange's Mary Tyrone beautifully, QueenAlice. Mary's untethered mood swings from tormented to tormentor are all there in O'Neill's text, and Lange's performance is the first I've seen to mine them so deeply and believably.  And, as you say so well, the fragile femininity and beauty Lange already possesses fit perfectly with Mary's time — it's not difficult at all to see the gossamer girl that would have captured a James Tyrone, or the woman of standing Mary would have once expected herself to become.

Essential to Lange's success in the role, however, is Gabriel Byrne's equally believable James Tyrone.  In the 1962 film, Katharine Hepburn comes closest to capturing much of what Lange achieves — the match of actress and role is nearly as perfect — Hepburn was rarely as delicate and feminine — but she is sandbagged by Ralph Richardson's insufferable and utterly uncharismatic James.  Byrne supplies both the complex psychology and sexual energy required to fully illuminate James and Mary's history together.

 

Updated On: 4/11/16 at 05:00 PM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 6:04pm

AC12-  I consider Laurie Metcalf one of the best stage actresses of her generation. But her career has been built on playing tough, extreme salt of the earth, plain women. None of those are terms I would use to describe Mary Tyrone, but Metcalf used all of those traits, and found an unusual way into the character that was compelling. It was a great performance but one that principally worked, I thought,  because the skill of the actress was so great, despite being inherently at odds with the part on the written page.

Updated On: 4/10/16 at 06:04 PM

[The Other One]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 6:38pm

I am so looking forward to seeing this on the 24th!  

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/10/16 at 7:40pm

I'm seeing it on Wednesday, and must say Queen Alice's post whets my appetite.  An astute analysis of Mary, one that sets up my expectations for the Lange performance.

[sorano916]

Posted: 4/11/16 at 1:13am

Today's (Sunday's) matinee started at 2pm and over at 5:45pm. Jessica, Gabriel, and Michael didn't stage door, but John did.

 

I was trying to figure out if there was something else that they could have done instead of the curtain between the acts because it was just... weird. It just seemed short/reminded me of a shower curtain...

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 4/11/16 at 9:09am

I'm not a fan of the between-scenes curtain either.

Tom-497, I agree completely with your assessment of the way Lange is playing Mary. For some reason, she is unable to connect with the men at all, perhaps because they're walking on eggshells around her.

I'm excited to see this production again so I can look more at the way they interact with each other.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 4/11/16 at 10:27am

Well, I think the reason is exactly that neonlights.  Mary is recently out of a sanitarium and in the first scene is continually described as 'doing well.'  As someone who has dealt with a family member in and out of treatments for addiction, I can certainly confirm there is always that cautiously optimistic walking on eggshells feeling that 'maybe this time it will stick' - if we don't upset her and keep everything happy and surface.  But families can only be on their best behavior so long -- deep seated issues are too strong and they inevitably pop up, and of course in the play, they are trying to hide (unsuccessfully) that their youngest son may have the same sickness that killed Mary's father.

And I think the text also would support that Mary hasn't connected with anyone in the family for a long time. She has been in the private fog-filled room of her fantasy/addiction for twenty years. I'd say the text even goes so far as to say she has NEVER had a true connection with her children.  How can she have? She hasn't been 'present' for much of their lives.

Updated On: 4/11/16 at 10:27 AM

[followspot]

Posted: 4/11/16 at 10:32am

Out of everyone in the household, Mary appears to only feel at ease with the maid, Cathleen, as we see in their one scene alone together.

The scene change "shower curtain" swipes are awkward, to say the least.

Updated On: 4/11/16 at 10:32 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/11/16 at 10:34am

Interesting that Lange has tackled both Mary Tyrone and Amanda Wingfield- characters who are very similar in many ways.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 4/11/16 at 10:42am

I think there is even a little Blanche DuBois in there and maybe even a hint of Maggie the Cat.  Its interesting how all these great roles of the American theatre can sit together on a shelf.  I wonder how many other great actresses have played each of these parts.

As someone pointed out earlier in the thread -- Jessica Lange's career as an actress is rather unorthodox. She was a model - not taken seriously - who, essentially through hard work and dedication to her craft has 'turned herself' into one of our greatest actresses.  That she was never a Meryl Streep who burst on the scene as a Sarah Bernhardt like 'insta-talent' makes the journey all the more sanguine.

Jessica Lange's stage career has followed that same progress. And how interesting too, that she returned on multiple occasions to roles like Blanche and now Mary Tyrone - by all accounts giving markedly different portrayals each time.  Lange may not have started her life on stage as an 'intuitive theatre actress,' but I think she has become that.  This performance to me feels the culmination of everything she has done in her career.  It's a great performance and I hope she wins the Tony for it.

 

 

Updated On: 4/11/16 at 10:42 AM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/13/16 at 8:21pm

MILD SPOILER (staging): Saw it this afternoon, and fully agree with the praise and thoughtful discussion heaped on Lange. She is the centerpiece of the production and its interpretation. The play is of course about Mary's descent, yet I've never seen a production as Mary-centric as this one (and I've seen formidable Marys, including Dewhurst and Caldwell.)  Lange owns the first three acts as fully as anyone has.  To that end, Kent has made some intriguing and strong staging decisions, starting with semi-isolating Mary upstage left for much of the first half.  (This means audience right must observe a great deal of Lange's back and side, a downside).  Mary seems tethered to the upstage porch door, in effect trapped in a room she loathes and cannot escape except through addiction. It's a daring conceit, and if it creates some static blocking, the payoffs later in the play are brilliant and worth it.  I won't spoil the most critical. But watch the way Kent breaks this, in counterpoint cornering Mary on the downstage right banister, rendering her vulnerable and frightened.
 
The other cast members -- in strong service of this focus on Mary -- find their bigger moments, predictably, in the last act.  Byrne shines here, and Shannon takes big risks, and fearlessly depicts the most unsentimental portrait of Jamie's 11th hour drunkenness.  It's played large and scarily confrontational, more than any other I've seen.  Shannon is a character man playing an actor uncomfortable in his profession and own skin, with colors I've never seen used before. That danger in Shannon -- so memorable in his films, and even the "Our Town" stage manager -- adds new texture to Jamie. The production's least successful performance, early in previews, is Gallagher's. He's fine in the first three acts, if slightly invisible.  But his bravura 4th act material is rather one note at this point, not varied or emotionally full enough in contrast to three actors who leave it all on the stage. (He's upstaged by rather intrusive if beautifully wrought FX)  I believe he'll find Edmund more fully in the days ahead; this company certainly inspires it.  Mainly, it's Lange who is the event.  More more fairly: it's a heartbreaking portrait of Mary Tyrone that will haunt.   

Updated On: 4/13/16 at 08:21 PM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 4/14/16 at 8:01am

Auggie, I was at the matinee yesterday too. Would that I had known you be there and we could have met up at intermission! 

 

As for the performances, I'll have to take your word about Lange as I was one of the people sitting on house right and had a lovely view of the back of Jessica's wig for four hours. If anyone has any specific questions about the wig I'd be happy to answer them. 

 

Honestly, what is with this crappy set design/direction that ruins the view and enjoyment of a large portion of the audience. Tuck did it with the giant tree stage left and now Long Day's Journey has the house on an angle, with a corner of the room slightly sticking out into the audience. The problem the play is directed as if the proscenium were around the tilted set and Mary rarely seems to leave stage left, giving us her backside and a rare profile view.  There seems to be no reason for this set-up and it left a bitter taste in my mouth, I'm sorry to say. 

 

From Lange's vocal performance I did enjoy her big act three scene.  It appeared to be played wonderfully; too bad I couldn't see her face for most of it! I wasn't instantly taken with Byrne, but I agree that this big moments in act four were very moving. Shannon goes all out in his follies moment (the last hour really feels like Loveland with their big set pieces coming one after another), and I think what he's doing works for the character, but it felt a little jarring compared to the acting styles of his castmates. John Gallagher Jr was fine, but still seems like he's finding the character more than the others. 

 

As you say, the production is all about Lange and it's a shame to sit through the damn thing and not really be able to experience it.