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Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

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#1

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/3/14 at 10:07pm

Previews began tonight for Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte with little fanfare. I guess that's what happens when they do a straight Shakespeare play without huge Hollywood names (which I'm incredibly happy with if it's well done!)

Did anyone line up? What was the line like?

Excited to hear early reports.
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth! Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming You'll live forever here on earth.
#2

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:30am

Saw the show this evening. Production is beautiful to look at and is produced quite well. The Americanized accents are a little off putting at first, but eventually you get used to it.

Show started off quite slowly (a lot of Shakespeare tends to feel this way), but picked up tremendously halfway through act 1. Some truly lovely, and funny scenes happening up there. The ensemble is mostly successful, and will only grow into their roles. Lots of line trip up/slip ups., though. Not the greatest evening of Shakespeare ever, but certainly a fun, and very respectable addition to the oeuvre.
-There's the muddle in the middle. There's the puddle where the poodle did the piddle."
#5

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:53am

Ehh, I always suppose that when I see Shakespeare, there's always a slightly more "cultured" accent that is used, if it's not British. Some of the accents here sounded like they plucked a random person out of a mall and used that as a basis. It was very colloquial. It worked well in most of the scenes, but not in others

Also. SLIGHT SPOILERS.


the slow starts off completely in Italian. To then hear them switch to a very contemporary American accent was jarring at first.
-There's the muddle in the middle. There's the puddle where the poodle did the piddle."
#7

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/4/14 at 6:29am

Ehh, I always suppose that when I see Shakespeare, there's always a slightly more "cultured" accent that is used, if it's not British. Some of the accents here sounded like they plucked a random person out of a mall and used that as a basis. It was very colloquial. It worked well in most of the scenes, but not in others

One of my best friends is an English teacher, and she told me that some scholars believe that the accent that most closely resembles the one Shakespeare and his contemporaries had is Appalachian, due to their linguistic isolation essentially from the time they settled in the United States.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad
#10

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/4/14 at 10:03am

--"Show started off quite slowly (a lot of Shakespeare tends to feel this way)"

Are you serious with that comment?

Can someone who is more well versed in Shakespeare tell me-- is this production any different or better than all the Much Ados we've seen in the past few years? I feel like I've seen Much Ado 100 times and wonder if this one is worth seeing. Thanks.
#11

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:20am

While I may not be the eminent scholar on Shakespeare, I am by no means completely ignorant of his works. Even in the most glorious productions I've seen (Twelfe Night earlier this year, Henry IV at Lincoln Center about 10 years ago), the first 15-20 minutes can be somewhat exposition heavy. I don't mean this in a bad way, per se - and sometimes it can be the fault of the production, or the actors - but there was definitely a sense of tedium last night in the first 20 minutes or so.
-There's the muddle in the middle. There's the puddle where the poodle did the piddle."
#12

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/4/14 at 11:28am

I totally agree about most Shakespeare plays starting off slowly. I think it's a combination of exposition and getting adjusted to the language.
"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah
#14

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/4/14 at 12:59pm

I'm torn on whether to make the effort. I love Shakespeare in the Park, I'd love to see the cast, but I've seen Much Ado so many times I could probably perform the entire show myself from memory. Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC did Much Ado for their summer Free For All just last year. If I were in town, I'd probably virtual lotto and hope for the best, but this isn't a "Sleep on Central Park West" kind of year for me.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
#17

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/5/14 at 2:12pm

Why would tonight be a great night for standby? The rain happened earlier so it must have been a good day to get there later for the normal line, but I don't see how that would affect standby. Plus I think any day with borough distribution is a bad day for standby because I'm assuming those tickets come from what are usually lotto tickets which means less unused lotto tickets.
#18

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/5/14 at 3:03pm

Was today a borough distribution day?

I think macnyc is generally correct about days that show even a glimmer of rain being the best days to score tickets. I'm on the fence as of now...but may take a chance. I live on the UWS so its not exactly out of the way for me.
#20

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/7/14 at 1:23pm

I saw it last night and it's good if nothing to rave about. Rabe is fantastic and there are some superb performances in the smaller, more thankless roles. LIGHT YEARS better than O'Brien's MACBETH earlier this season, but lacking anything truly unique to make it surprising.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali
#22

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/7/14 at 5:17pm

After being so impressed with Theatre for a New Audience's extremely well-acted and simplistic production at the Duke last year, this production left me a little disappointed. The set design was beautiful to look at, yet a little overdone. And while none of the performances were bad, no one really stood out. It still made for an entertaining evening though - just not the most memorable.
#24

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/20/14 at 9:55am

I arrived at 10.30 yesterday and got tickets. Don't know how many people got tickets after us, but didn't hear anyone announce that there might not be tickets for people just after us.
Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty.
#25

Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte - Previews & Line Status

Posted: 6/20/14 at 1:42pm

I'm sure I'm in a minority of sorts, but I thought the centerpiece of this staging was Linklater, hot Rabe, as delightful as she is. His Benedick is probably the most blatantly contemporary I've seen, but absolutely accessible, charming, and wildly entertaining to spend time with. His "arc" in the piece is particularly well charted, and his frustrated Judd Apatow take on the boy-man in the first third pays off when he "matures" (only to a point, the subtle difference a strength) in the finale. I found myself missing him when not on stage (and it's very much an ensemble piece, which I often forget; Beatrice spends a lot of time out of sight as well).

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling

Updated On: 6/20/14 at 01:42 PM

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