No Porgy and Bess reviews thread?

[tazber]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 7:33pm

Hi!

This is Limelight Taz -

Today is January 12, 2012 and The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess opens tonight.

If you want all that other stuff usually posted in the opening salvo of a reviews thread head on over to ibdb and do a search.

Post the reviews here and let's bitch, praise, whine, laud and pontificate on how long it will remain open here!

Updated On: 1/12/12 at 07:33 PM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 7:38pm

I know you don't want MY review... but, I loved it. All of it.

I'm so anxious to read the reviews tonight. I expect they will be mixed, with raves for the performances.

[tazber]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 7:42pm

I thought your review was very well thought out Addy. I'm not a huge fan of the show but I haven't seen this production yet.

Either way, I think it's great that such an influential cornerstone of American musical theater is back on the boards.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 8:00pm

Taz, I hope you get to see this production. The performances are superb.

I love that new audiences have the chance to come to know this influential cornerstone (great words!)

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 8:04pm

Matthew loves it! (NOT)

The only thing at which this production excels is proving the dangers of mucking around with a major title without understanding what makes it tick and why.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 8:05pm

NYadgal is a rave

I loved it. All of it.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 8:06pm

Too funny.

They can quote me, if they want.

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 8:12pm

Boston Globe looks very positive:

Now that the far-from-happy dust has settled from Stephen Sondheim’s preemptive broadside, now that the American Repertory Theater production of “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess’’ has finally arrived on Broadway, it can be seen, and gloriously heard, for what it is: a fully realized work that pays homage to a classic while infusing it with new, thrilling life.

http://bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/01/13/broadway-porgy-with-bess-its-core/9ffblnwiDCjkqtFFQRjRqK/story.html

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 8:50pm

Does Matthew even like musicals? it seems to be very rare that he gives one a good review

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 9:19pm

The Chicago Tribune is mostly negative:

'Porgy and Bess' on Broadway is missing the push and pull

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/theaterloop/ct-ae-0115-porgy-bess-broadway-review-20120112,0,7500197.column

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 9:21pm

Entertainment Weekly is very positive:

B+

"In the end, though, this is an approachable and heartfelt version of Porgy and Bess that showcases George Gershwin's glorious melodies and the bottomless talents of McDonald."

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20364394_20560908,00.html

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 9:23pm

It's a rave from AMNY!

Four stars.

http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/theater-review-the-gershwins-porgy-and-bess-4-stars-1.3448772

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 9:25pm

Newsday is mostly positive:

"The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" is a luscious piece of musical theater. Despite the ungainly estate-ordered title and some questionable "fixes" in Broadway's latest reshuffling of George and Ira Gershwin's 1935 "folk opera," this is a gripping, in-your-face, vibrant revival with Audra McDonald as a magnificent Bess, Norm Lewis as a heartachingly vital Porgy and a cast that plays both the drama and the music for keeps.:

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/theater/a-porgy-and-bess-made-for-broadway-1.3445473

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 9:27pm

The AP is a RAVE!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120112/us-theater-review-the-gershwins--porgy-and-bess/

"Any criticism of this production is sure to disappear as soon as it's seen. Paulus and Parks have tightened and tweaked and beautifully improved the original opera. You won't miss the goat cart."

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:01pm

Variety is mixed-negative. Positive for the cast, Akerlind's lighting and a near rave for McDonald.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117946827?refCatId=33

[bjh2114]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:08pm

Brantley is mixed to positive (saying it's better than it was in Cambridge), with an all out RAVE for Audra, as expected. He basically says that she should be handed the Tony now:

"It seems safe to predict that Ms. McDonald, a four-time Tony winner, will be in contention for all the prizes on offer this season. She should be. You don’t need the scar that brands her cheek to tell this Bess is damaged goods (and all too aware of that status) and a woman who has always lived in defiance of the pain she is in. That’s evident in her very posture, a mix of coiled defensiveness and thrusting exhibitionism, from the moment she sets foot onstage.

And when she sings — ah, it’s a God-touched voice that turns suffering and ugliness into beauty. No wonder the people of Catfish Row don’t think she belongs among them. This Bess has the breath of divinity in a world that feels entirely too mundane to keep her."

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/theater/reviews/audra-mcdonald-in-the-gershwins-porgy-and-bess-review.html

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:09pm

Brantley is mixed-positive on the show itself but a rave for McDonald!!

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/theater/reviews/audra-mcdonald-in-the-gershwins-porgy-and-bess-review.html

"Ms. McDonald’s Bess is — in a word — great; the show in which she appears is, at best, just pretty good."

"It seems safe to predict that Ms. McDonald, a four-time Tony winner, will be in contention for all the prizes on offer this season. She should be. You don’t need the scar that brands her cheek to tell this Bess is damaged goods (and all too aware of that status) and a woman who has always lived in defiance of the pain she is in. That’s evident in her very posture, a mix of coiled defensiveness and thrusting exhibitionism, from the moment she sets foot onstage."

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:11pm

Bjh - same take from the review, we used one of the same pull quotes, impressive.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:12pm

Great minds.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:13pm

With reviews like these for Audra, Jan Maxwell is gonna have to keep an eye on her bag.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:16pm

Audra may already be inside Jan's bag.

I actually wasn't planning on seeing this and had heard mixed things from friends who did but it may be worth a visit, at least to see Audra if nothing else.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:23pm

Plus, I've heard Norm Lewis ain't too bad either. hoping to see this in March some time.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 10:25pm

Norm is going to win the Tony. I just know it.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 1/12/12 at 11:13pm

I would be happy with Norm's winning the Tony.

[A Director]

Posted: 1/13/12 at 12:04am

Some critics have given this production a new title:

The Cliff's Notes Porgy & Bess

How fitting.