Posted: 6/22/17 at 4:41pm
No intermission might have minimally helped, but again the biggest problem is that this doesn't belong in a Broadway house. It loses everything that makes this play work when played to a house that large.
Posted: 6/26/17 at 8:53am
I was there Saturday night and it exceeded my expectations. Was it the best play ever? No. But I was fully engaged and invested the entire time. I thought the cast was overall strong and very funny.
I do agree that the set is awful (as is the music) and I was unsatisfied with the ending. There are some pacing problems and if you sit too far left or two far right you will miss chunks of action. I was in row K, seat 2 (so right on the aisle) and even I had an issue seeing anything that was happening on the right side of the stage.
Overall, this was a very pleasant surprise. Definitely better than the last few tenants of the American Airlines.
Posted: 6/26/17 at 8:58am
I haven't seen this production yet, so take my comments with a grain of salt, but it seems like its succumbing to my worst fear--that the play's intimacy would be lost in a bigger space. The play can still work wonderfully. I saw a production in Chicago two years ago (featuring Deanna Dunegan as Aunt Ruth) that was shattering. But it really needs that intimacy to get off the ground. I still plan to see this, but I'm less hopeful now.
