MARY STUART Tonight

[GIZMO2]

Posted: 4/3/09 at 12:17am

In a word: phenomenal.

I saw it and loved it.

Sure, the first act drags a bit. But as far as I'm concerned, the set up is necessary for what ultimately happens in the second act. One of the best nights I've had in a theater recently. . . . And I feel that's saying a lot, considering I've really enjoyed so much of what's on B'way these days.

When it comes to range, depth, emotions, and layers, I can't imagine anything outdoing MARY STUART. For me, it's won the Tony for the Best Revival of a Play, hands down. And the Queens -- both of them -- share my bid for Best Actress.

So glad I got to see this!

[soubrette]

Posted: 4/3/09 at 2:47am

So glad to hear this! We're coming to NY next week with tickets to HAIR, WSS, BLITHE SPIRIT and all 3 plays from THE NORMAN CONQUESTS. I am excited about MARY STUART and happy to hear that you liked it so much!

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 4/3/09 at 2:54am

I also saw it tonight and thought it was fantastic.

But I think it's worth noting that a majority of the audience seemed to be bored out of their minds (a group of 7 soccer moms in front of me debated leaving during intermission, and given their 2nd act behavior, I wish they had), and those that didn't seem bored were complaining about the play's historical inaccuracies on the way out (a woman near me muttered "this isn't history").

I thought this was, no exaggeration, thrilling theatre, but I suppose one needs to have an open mind and/or have a slight interest in the subject matter.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/3/09 at 10:38am

I saw it last night and was not particularly impressed. The two leads were excellent, in particular the sublime Ms. McTeer who tears into her role like a shark with a swimmer. The rest of the cast wasn't up to their standard, and will probably come together in the coming weeks until the opening.

I just couldn't escape a "so what?" feeling about the whole thing. This story is so very familiar, and I didn't find anything about it to make me more than casually interested. I'll take EXIT THE KING or HAIR over this production of this play anytime.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/4/09 at 1:10am

I was sort of thrilled by it. I say that questioningly because at the end of Act 1 I was over it. I thought "well this is boring." But by the end of Act 2 I was so into it.

The first two scenes that introduce the two queens are great, but the play sort of lagged for me until the exciting beginning of Act 2.

The two queens are AWESOME. They compliment each other so well. One is an so still and inward, and the other is outrageous and yelling at the top of her lungs. It was so great to watch these actresses and watch their subtle character choices. I kept thinking "This is directed by the chick who did that God-awful Mamma Mia movie?"

The set was minimal, and usually I love a nice set, but it worked perfectly for the show. It was beautifully minimal. I loved the little 'crack' in the brick wall. That was a nice little detail.

I was kind of surprised to read the two actresses bios and find that McTeer didn't win for her portrayal, but the other queen did. It seems like McTeer has the shower role, but I guess the other queen has some great moments in Act 2.

The men are def. not up to par with the ladies, and hopefully they will get there. They were mostly boring in their scenes, and need to up the ante. If the two women are bringing this much passion and fire to their scenes and characters, then there is no reason the men cannot. When it boils down to it, everyone lives are on the line. So why not invest everything into it?

[ulkis]

Posted: 4/4/09 at 7:58pm

I liked it a lot too. And at first I was upset that there was no set, but I loved the way they used the lighting. I loved the silhouettes of the queens. I especially loved when Elizabeth was making her speech over signing the death warrant, and you could see Mary's head in the background, looking more dressed up than she had been previously in the play.

I was kind of surprised to read the two actresses bios and find that McTeer didn't win for her portrayal, but the other queen did.

I thought both were amazing, of course, but I can see how that happened. I loved Elizabeth's speech in the second act, over Mary's death warrant. And her rage at Leicester. And how she stood there at the end of the play as well.

Not that Mary wasn't fantastic too, especially during her confrontation with Elizabeth.

I thought the men were good too, especially Leicester. He seemed to get all the laughs from the audience.

I wouldn't recommend it for everybody, but for anybody who has a passing familiarity with the history and/or play? Totally. Updated On: 4/4/09 at 07:58 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/4/09 at 9:40pm

I think I'll go see it again just to sort of "grasp" it more.

But, looking through my playbill before it seems like there are a lot of shots that aren't in the show. Like, Mary Stuart never meets the other queen while in her red dress. And, the shot on the front of the playbill never quite happens like that, right? She's wearing a black dress in the show.

[ulkis]

Posted: 4/4/09 at 10:13pm

Yeah, I think those are all just promotional shots. I thought for sure because of it that Mary's big triumphant moment was going to all be delivered in the rain. It was still pretty good the way it was done though.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/4/09 at 11:14pm

Me too. I totally thought they were gonna throw down in the rain, but they didn't. I was sort of let down by their big confrontation. I thought it was going to come at the end of the play, but it didn't.