My review of "Wintertime"

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 3/15/04 at 12:18am

I saw Wintertime today 3/14/04

I think it was supposed to be a Drama, but it was pretty damn funny to me. I don't know what was worse...the acting or the script?! Marsha Mason was actually good considering the crap she had to feed the audience. She has a great stage presence and delivers her lines beautifully. The only problem was the awful false accent she was using. Her character is from Italy, but has also been living in America for many years. I just think it was foolish on someone's part to have her use that accent.

Some of the other actors were not that terrible.
Tina Benko was good in act 1, but just became annoying in act 2.
MaryLouise Burke was funny but her voice is so irritating. Although if it weren't for Burke, the second act would have been much worse (if that's at all possible). She keeps act 2 alive.
Nicholas Hormann falls into the same boat as Marsha...he was a good actor with a bad script.

The 2 youngest performers: Christopher Denham and Brienin Bryant were just the worst actors I have ever seen live. I hope they were just terrible because they've never done a play before (although their playbill bios state otherwise). Whoever casted them in "Wintertime" should be shot. Bryant was annoying as hell. She clearly does not know how to deliver lines, and seemed as though she had struggled to memorize them because she constantly had a blank look on her face as though she was trying desperately to remember every single word.
Denham was extremely awkward. His use of props is horrendous, and he did not have any chemistry with any of his fellow cast-mates.

The set was gorgeous. It made no sense at all since it seemed to be snowing in these people's living room, but it was breathtaking none-the-less. The staging was ridiculous. I will not even waste too much time talking about how bad the staging is because I don't have all night.
They had Jonathan (Denham's character) breaking a chair at one point. It was supposed to represent how he was taking out his anger for the people, but it just looked stupid.
Following the chair bit there was what appeared to be a door-slamming contest. No, not really; but it sure seemd like that. They slid a door onto the center of the stage, and one by one the actors took turns slamming it shut in different ways.

It was great to see Marsha on stage, but I really would not recommend this play to anyone I liked unless they're in the mood to laugh at something at which they are not supposed to laugh.
People walked out after the first act, and the ones that did stay (such as myself), were probably just fascinated to see how this odd little play was going to end.

Oh, I should also mention that Jonathan has about a 2 minute thing where he keeps running himself into a tree, falling down, getting back up, running into it again, etc., etc. Again...kind of supposed to be a dramtic anger release thing; but my friend and I could not stop laughing. LOL It's so bad I almost want to see it again just for a laugh....note I said almost, not gonna.

Posted: 3/15/04 at 12:24am

How was Elizabeth Hess?

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 3/15/04 at 12:41am

ummmm, not in Wintertime? Perhaps you're thinking of another show.

Cast:
Tina Benko
Brienin Bryant
MaryLouise Burke
Michael Cerveris (who was out tonight and Paul Schoeffler went on instead)
T. Scott Cunningham
Carmen De Lavallade
Christopher Denham
Nicholas Hormann
Marsha Mason
Danny Mastrogiorgio

For the people whose performances I did not review, it was because I was neither taken by nor disgusted by their performance. They were just okay.

Posted: 3/15/04 at 12:43am

Perhaps an understudy?

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 3/15/04 at 12:46am

Oh, maybe? But she wasn't in today's show.

Posted: 3/15/04 at 11:47am

She's one of the professors here at Fordham; she was also the mother in Clarissa Explains it All.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 3/15/04 at 12:42pm

Ohhh k. lol I knew her name looked familiar. I used to be addicited to "Clarissa Explains It All." :)

Posted: 3/15/04 at 1:19pm

What girl wasn't back in 1991?

[Corine2]

Posted: 3/15/04 at 2:17pm

It is a farce.
I do agree with you about Marsha Mason's accent but Marylouise made the show for me. She is a comedic genius.
I thought it was very silly but silly worked for me this weekend.
I went Saturday with my best friend and after a breakup it did the trick.
I loved what the writer states about love. Once you have it you don't want it. It seems to be true.
Read: David Lindsay Abaire- same style(Absurdist farce- compare it to dada art the dada manifestos and let me know what you think. I love farce but it is an acquired taste.) Updated On: 3/15/04 at 02:17 PM

[Ruffian]

Posted: 3/16/04 at 11:12am

...I thought Cerveris was quite funny, but I think by Act Two whatever was going right finally went way wrong

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 3/16/04 at 11:45am

Unfortunately Michael Cerveris was out when I saw it. His understudy was okay, but I would have liked to see Cerveris in it. lol Especially during the strip scene

[Ruffian]

Posted: 3/16/04 at 11:55am

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Wanna hear something funny? I purchased my "WINTERTIME" tix, THEN they announce Michael was leaving a few weeks early to go into "ASSASSINS"...so I had to go buy MORE tix to be sure to catch Michael BEFORE he left

LMAO

[Ruffian]

Posted: 3/17/04 at 12:03pm

....the announced extension won't happen....closing 3/21

[FrontRow]

Posted: 3/18/04 at 4:19pm

It's more of a farce sendup than a farce itself. That's why it includes all the typical farce elements -- doors slamming, people in underwear, etc. -- but in almost a "meta" way.

I think the Times pinned the best word on it: logorrheic (excessively & incoherently wordy).

Marsha Mason and the set made it tolerable.

Everyone in my row seated to my right left at intermission. This show is losing a lot of people at intermission every night, I believe.

TheaterBaby, I thought you wrote a good review. Best point: the son's girlfriend was UGH!!!! Again, she's playing a farce archetype -- sweet young thing pursued by old lech. So she may have been exaggerating the "wide-eyed-ness" of her character on purpose, but she was so freakin' annoying!

I don't think Cerveris should have been cast or accepted this role. It's only like a 5-week run and he left halfway through. That's not fair -- to those who wanted to see him, and to the actors who could have gotten one of his two simultaneous roles! Updated On: 3/18/04 at 04:19 PM

[Ruffian]

Posted: 3/18/04 at 5:13pm

...I guess Michael was hell-bent on "Assassins"

But its true, it was unfair to those who did want to catch him. Like I said, I paid TWICE (wince)...but my friends are using the spare tix on Saturday. I hope they dont run out screaming

[CourtneyM]

Posted: 3/19/04 at 12:32pm

I happen to disagree with Theaterbaby.
I thought Christopher Denham and Brienin Bryant were both excellent.
Brienin Bryant's character was supposed to be that wide eyed, fast talking, childlike character that she so aptly played.
I saw Christopher Denham in both this and Master Harold...And the Boys and his character in both these shows were very different and very well acted.
The rest of the cast was superb. The story line was very diverse, it made you laugh and think, with a surprise around every corner. I enjoyed it thoroughly and would reccomend it to anyone.