#1
Posted: 9/9/11 at 11:56pm
It seems Roundabout has given us another doozie. The biggest question I have is why revive this play? It flopped the first time around, and I'm sorry to report this isn't an undiscovered gem of the past that deserves a second chance. The characters are all fairly unlikeable. I certainly didn't care what happened to any of them and therefore the play lacked any dramatic tension.
There's a lot of financial mumbo jumbo, and although not overly confusing, it turns out the details are all for naught. What should be interesting is the rocky relationship between father and son, and the drama behind their feud is never really explored.
Slight Spoiler? Act One is basically a set up for a big red herring that ends up having no bearing on Act Two. A love interest of the boy is given a lengthy opening scene only to disappear for the rest of the play. Act Two opens with the entrance of Langella's wife, an unnecessary character better left mentioned and not seen.
Despite the fact that Act Two begins immediately where Act One ended the two acts seem to have little to do with one another. The second doesn't build on all the set up of the first.
The play takes place in what is supposed to be a small, dingy basement apartment in Greenwich Village. The set is quite possibly the most spacious, albeit it dirty, apartment I've ever seen in the village.
Langella is giving a fun, almost campy at times, performance, but the rest of the cast is all over the map. If the Roundabout was able to secure Langella for a show was this really the best property they could find to showcase his talents? I have to wonder in general what Roundabout is thinking. After coming off their biggest hit since The Pajama Game is this really the way they want to kickoff their fall season? I think they need to go back to the drawing board.
There's a lot of financial mumbo jumbo, and although not overly confusing, it turns out the details are all for naught. What should be interesting is the rocky relationship between father and son, and the drama behind their feud is never really explored.
Slight Spoiler? Act One is basically a set up for a big red herring that ends up having no bearing on Act Two. A love interest of the boy is given a lengthy opening scene only to disappear for the rest of the play. Act Two opens with the entrance of Langella's wife, an unnecessary character better left mentioned and not seen.
Despite the fact that Act Two begins immediately where Act One ended the two acts seem to have little to do with one another. The second doesn't build on all the set up of the first.
The play takes place in what is supposed to be a small, dingy basement apartment in Greenwich Village. The set is quite possibly the most spacious, albeit it dirty, apartment I've ever seen in the village.
Langella is giving a fun, almost campy at times, performance, but the rest of the cast is all over the map. If the Roundabout was able to secure Langella for a show was this really the best property they could find to showcase his talents? I have to wonder in general what Roundabout is thinking. After coming off their biggest hit since The Pajama Game is this really the way they want to kickoff their fall season? I think they need to go back to the drawing board.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
