Margo Channing Presents The Final "Review" thread of the Season! 110 In The Shade! — Page 3

So far, Ebersole, McDonald, Murphy,and Chenoweth have all gotten raves for their performances. Bundy and Block haven't seem to have gotten reviews nearly on the same level as those three. How were the reviews for Monk and Lea Michelle overall?

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Updated On: 5/10/07 at 02:12 AM

don't forget, all raves for Donna Murphy, too.

D'oh! I knew I forgot someone important. Fixing it right away.

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Brantley raves about Audra, mixed on the show.

Just a few excepts of his love for Audra:

"Is it possible for a performance to be too good? Audra McDonald brings such breadth of skill and depth of feeling to the Roundabout Theater Company revival of “110 in the Shade” that she threatens to burst the seams of this small, homey musical. Ravishing of voice and Olympian of stature, she’s an overwhelming presence in an underwhelming show."

"Watching Ms. McDonald in this gentle, threadbare tale of a love-starved spinster in a rain-starved farmland, which opened last night at Studio 54, is like drinking rare Champagne from a plastic cup. Yes, a Baccarat flute would be preferable. On the other hand who’s going to turn down the chance to sample a vintage Cristal?"

"For what Ms. McDonald makes of Lizzie Curry, an unmarried woman in a household of manly men, is a dazzling case for the musical as a dramatic form that plumbs hearts and minds. She so blurs the lines between spoken and musical expression that one seems like a natural extension of the other."

"Singing for Ms. McDonald is just a more emphatic and articulate way of talking, one that’s needed when emotions are so intense they can’t be captured without the texture and shading of melody. When you listen to Ms. McDonald’s Lizzie sing about the ache of loneliness or her disgust for the words “old maid,” you don’t know how she feels; you feel how she feels. You’re likely to find tears in your eyes by the end of even comic songs."

"When at last the skies open in “The Rainmaker,” in a stage-drenching climax, Ms. McDonald seems utterly happy and at home. Elemental force meets elemental force. Now that’s a love match."

Ben Brantley - Times

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This doesn't sound at all like the show I saw twice in tryout in Boston during the 60s. Where are the dances? Where is the choral work? Why isn't there a convincing Starbuck and File? Why isn't there a Lizzie who can maintain character in both acting and singing?

I found Winer's review in NEWSWEEK closest to my take. Curiously, she -- a woman - clearly sees the complexity of gender (and era specific) issues beneath the old maid stigma. And takes time to sort through it. Brantley takes the easy route, with his "family entertainment, for families without feminists" dig.

Lizzie's loneliness and fear of a life without a partner IS a feminist issue. It cannot be viewed independent of the times in which its set, the patriarchal nature of her home, or the limitations of geography and small town demographics. And more to the point, both of the suitors in the play are deeply flawed men, hardly role models for fulfilment, creating a context for her exploration of her own self-esteem issues. It's a very shallow reading of this story to couch it solely in 1971 feminist outrage. (Gee, let's make AN UNMARRIED WOMAN a musical, and banish these old sexist chestnuts forever!) This show is full of love and forgiveness. To me, there's a lot more sexist stereotyping in LEGALLY BLONDE, a freshly minted ode to young womanhood.

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Just to add to the praise, Paul Wontorek, Editor and Chief over at Broadway.com says, "Believe me, McDonald’s performance is *the* performance of the season!"

Yaay!

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In trying to determine the 5 slots for the Leading Actress Tony, everyone keeps referring to the reviews to determine the final 5. While reviews certainly give an idea of what the "buzz" is, these critics aren't on the nominating committee, so their influence is questionable.

Here's a list of the nominating committee:

Victoria Bailey – Executive Director, Theatre Development Fund
**Joe Benincasa – Executive Director of The Actor’s Fund of America
Susan Birkenhead – Lyricist
Edward Burbridge – Scenic Designer
**Robert Callely – Theatre Executive
**Ben Cameron – Program Director for the Arts, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Betty Corwin – Retired Director of the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts
**John Dias – Producer, Dramaturg, Educator
Mercedes Ellington – Choreographer
**Sue Frost – Producer/Company Manager
**Joanna Gleason – Actor
**David Henry Hwang – Playwright
Andrew Jackness – Scenic Designer
**Betty Jacobs – Script Consultant/Theatre Historian
Robert Kamlot – Retired General Manager
Todd London – Artistic Director, New Dramatists
Brian Stokes Mitchell – Actor
Jon Nakagawa – Producer of Contemporary Programming, Lincoln Center
Lynn Nottage – Playwright
Gilbert Parker – Retired Senior-Vice President of the William Morris Agency
Jonathan Reynolds – Playwright & Screenwriter
**Steven Suskin – Theatre Author
Jac Venza – Retired Executive, WNET
**Tom Viola – President, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Franklin Weissberg – Retired Judge of the New York State Court of Claims

So Brantley and Simon (et al) could love something, but unless the above people concur, their love letters (or pans) to certain shows or performers could make no difference whatsoever.

Good or bad reviews do not a Tony nomination make, necessarily.


So glad to hear Audra is back and at the top of her game!

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"recepted?" At least you don't have to remember the i before e thing when you use that new word

LOL, Tom14850.


Yes, Ahmelie, I know. As I stated, reviews may give us an idea of the buzz surrounding a show or performance, but they don't necessarily guarantee a nomination (or not).

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Updated On: 5/10/07 at 08:25 AM

<< Instead shes just very good, trapped in a ho-hum production.>>

"110" is far from "ho-hum"- ... but thats just my opinion...

Updated On: 5/10/07 at 08:54 AM

I think Audra will get all the precursor awards. Donnna Murphy is wishful thinking.

I think that 110 is the best revival of the year, followed by A CHORUS LINE at 2 and COMPANY at 3.

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ghostlight... Margo usually starts the review threads but has not been on for a while. Sullen started the thread for him.

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I guess I saw a different show then, because I didn't believe her breaking. She was a plain girl and she ultimately liked it, she wished for more, got it, and then decided against it. To me thats not heartbreaking. I really didn't think her Lizzie much cared who she picked in the end, and in this production, it's not her fault - I will say again, it's the directors. Why would she want to pick either of those two miscast gentleman? I think the only person that came across 100% winning in this show was Bobby Steggert.

On a different subject, "Donnna Murphy is wishful thinking." Call me a fool, but I think not. Her reviews were equally if not more winning than Audra's and I perfered her life like performance much more. But we each have our own opinions, so to each their own.

Updated On: 5/10/07 at 11:04 AM