MACBETH 2022 Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 1:31am

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 8:40am

Do you think there'll be a critic who writes his/her review in iambic pentameter?

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 10:21am

The review embargo was altered to 4pm on Friday (due to much press rescheduling with so many of the actors out recently). Sooo, I guess we won't get reviews tonight unless someone forgets to change their publish date.

Updated On: 4/28/22 at 10:21 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 10:42am

Dollypop said: "Do you think there'll be a critic who writes his/her review in iambic pentameter?"

Yesss. I want it! 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 10:49am

MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "The review embargo was altered to 4pm on Friday (due to much press rescheduling with so many of the actors out recently). Sooo, I guess we won't get reviews tonight unless someone forgets to change their publish date."

I know this is primarily related to Covid, but that timing is classic "we want these reviews BURIED." If they actually wanted people to see the reviews, at least wait until Sunday to run in print on Monday.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 10:54am

Dollypop said: "Do you think there'll be a critic who writes his/her review in iambic pentameter?"

 

Macbeth has popped up time and time again,
An oft-repeated play on Broadway’s stage. 
And likewise Mr. Gold won’t go away,
Continuing to make us scratch our heads.
His bells and whistles seem to take some risks, 
And some may find it entertaining fare,
But most reject his vague director’s hand 
Except for A-list stars who fill the seats. 
When Gold directs a living writer’s work
He seems to keep things crisp and fairly sane,
But when to Shakespeare’s work he hitches reins,
It’s beer, and soup, and other random things. 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 11:46am

JBroadway said: "Dollypop said: "Do you think there'll be a critic who writes his/her review in iambic pentameter?"



Macbeth has popped up time and time again,
An oft-repeated play on Broadway’s stage.
And likewise Mr. Gold won’t go away,
Continuing to make us scratch our heads.
His bells and whistles seem to take some risks,
And some may find it entertaining fare,
But most reject his vague director’s hand
Except for A-list stars who fill the seats.
When Gold directs a living writer’s work
He seems to keep things crisp and fairly sane,
But when to Shakespeare’s work he hitches reins,
It’s beer, and soup, and other random things."

 

 

Bravo!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 1:16pm

Will the reviews matter? Maybe, maybe not. Surely the focus shifts to whether anyone is considered eligible for awards at this point. If the Outer Critics' choices are any indication... But who knows? There's a widespread belief that the show is sold out, particularly the cheaper seats. It isn't really. I just had to move April tickets for family members, and got better seats for June 16th at the same price.    

By the way, rear mezz seats at the Longacre are less enticing, sightline wise, than the front balcony. And cost more. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 1:23pm

If the reviews are good, they will help sales.

If the reviews are bad...well, sometimes that still makes certain people buy tickets when there's a big star. It's free publicity that Daniel Craig is on Broadway, and some buyers don't care if the show is good or bad if he's in it.

If the reviews are buried (as they will be tomorrow afternoon), that will allow the production to craft a narrative based on whatever positive pull-quotes they can use in paid advertising.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 2:08pm

Word of mouth on this is pretty dire, and if it’s coupled with negative reviews, then it could cause people to bail.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 11:51pm

"It’s beer, and soup, and other random things."

I'd have this on my tombstone if I were to ever have a tombstone. Or die.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/28/22 at 11:59pm

Will the reviews matter?

Nope, it's James Bond. 

[Wick3]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 12:08am

Isn't opening night a few hours ago? Where are the reviews?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 12:09am

Wick3 said: "Isn't opening night a few hours ago? Where are the reviews?"

See earlier in the thread: the embargo will lift later this afternoon.

[Wick3]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 12:14am

Thank you for the clarification! I just glanced through the thread looking for links but now I understand why there won't be any until after 4pm Friday.

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 10:29am

Yes, word of mouth is not great. So they obviously hope to bury negative reviews so they don't see sales drop off. Right now they are doing fine selling tickets based on Daniel Craig's name alone. 

And given that it seems like this one is falling fast in Tony predictions, they won't want to damage their one selling point (I think at this point, all this revival gets nominated for is Ruth Negga. Lead Actor and Featured Actress are simply too competitive right now for actors from a divisive show to make it in, even if individual performances are good). 

[Wick3]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 11:56am

Is tomorrow April 30th the last day to get refunds? Or did they extend the day to May?

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 2:38pm

What's the advance on this? Is it pre-sold enough to at least eke out the rest of its limited run? 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 2:55pm

everythingtaboo said: "What's the advance on this? Is it pre-sold enough to at least eke out the rest of its limited run?"

This question is always tough to answer in a "scientific" way, but I just randomly clicked around on 6-7 scattered dates on Telecharge, throughout May and June, and it looks like they are selling decently; far from booked solid, but far from pitiful. Looks like the front/side orchestra, and center orchestra is selling well, but not necessarily the premiums. Rear side orchestra looks to be fairly empty. Mezzanine and Balcony are selling fine, but lots of seats available. And it seems like a production that would sell well week-of, as people get to NY and realize James Bond is on Broadway.

[MasterThespian 2]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 3:07pm

JBroadway said: "everythingtaboo said: "What's the advance on this? Is it pre-sold enough to at least eke out the rest of its limited run?"

This question is always tough to answer in a "scientific" way, but I just randomly clicked around on 6-7 scattered dates on Telecharge, throughout May and June, and it looks like they are selling decently; far from booked solid, but far from pitiful. Looks like the front/side orchestra, and center orchestra is selling well, but not necessarily the premiums. Rear side orchestra looks to be fairly empty. Mezzanine and Balcony are selling fine, but lots of seats available. And it seems like a production that would sell well week-of, as people get to NY and realize James Bond is on Broadway."

I admit, that’s what attracted me to this production. But early reviews were so horrible I requested a refund a few weeks ago. Nothing I’ve heard since has made me regret my decision. James Bond or not, this looks like a confusing, boring bomb. Reviews will be released a bit later today. Will be interesting. Think people have until tomorrow (4/30) to seek a refund.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 3:44pm

Three stars from Time Out:

Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga are the nominal stars of Sam Gold's take on Macbeth.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/macbeth-broadway-review-daniel-craig-ruth-negga

"Broadway’s 2021-22 comeback season goes out with a shrug in Sam Gold’s production of Macbeth, the kind of passive-aggressive theater party that invites two big stars to attend—Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga as the regicidal title couple—and then makes a point of ignoring them. Short, eloquent, violent and packed with sensational business (murder! witches! madness! ghosts! a decapitated head!), Macbeth is usually one of Shakespeare’s most exciting plays. Not so here: Deliberately murky, this anemic modern-dress production creeps at a petty pace from scene to scene, to the last syllable of the tragedy’s verse and beyond into a wistful folk-song coda."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 4:01pm

Variety:

‘Macbeth’ Review: Daniel Craig, Ruth Negga Star in a Broadway Production That’s All Smoke

https://variety.com/2022/legit/reviews/macbeth-review-daniel-craig-ruth-negga-broadway-1235254654/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 4:02pm

Observer:

Review: Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga’s ‘Macbeth’ Is Chic but Incomprehensible

At Longacre Theatre featuring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, director Sam Gold takes on Shakespeare's Macbeth. Incoherent yet star-studded.

https://observer.com/2022/04/review-daniel-craig-and-ruth-neggas-macbeth-is-chic-but-incomprehensible/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 4:02pm

B from Entertainment Weekly:

Macbeth review: Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga bring movie-star glamour to a starkly modern Broadway staging

Purple hair, cans of beer, and Bond (James Bond): Fair is foul and foul is fair in Sam Gold's hyper-updated production.

 

https://ew.com/theater/theater-reviews/macbeth-broadway-daniel-craig-ruth-negga/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/29/22 at 4:03pm

NYT is mixed:

Review: In a New ‘Macbeth,’ Something Wonky This Way Comes

Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga star in Sam Gold’s oddly uneasy take on the Scottish play.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/29/theater/macbeth-review-broadway.html

"Still, at the end of an often brutal Broadway season that was rightly concerned with harm and heartlessness — in which many shows, including this one, were bedeviled by illness and delays — I liked Gold’s showing us that in times of distress and violence people should remember to care for one another. If it has nothing to do with “Macbeth,” it has plenty to do with us."