Norma Jeane Baker of Troy

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 7:09pm

It's the first production at the new venue The Shed, and there's a lot that needs to be said, so I'll break it down into two sections:

The Venue:

It's a good thing I left myself a lot of time to explore the area because it's not the easiest to find from 34th since it's down a lot of steps and looks from the corner like the entrance is closed.  They're still working on the area, so lots of construction happening.  Much easier to enter from 30th, but it's on the street level, not the Highline level.  The theatre is a few floors up, and one of the escalators wasn't working. 

Once you're inside the theatre, it looks more like an auditorium than anything else.  The floor seats are folding chairs with cup holders.  There's are no levels to it, so if you're short, you may have a hard time seeing with people in front of you.  The mezzanine (I suppose) in the venue make it a bit easier to see, but the seats themselves aren't great.  Leg room is good, but the seats are tight.  The building itself is moveable, and from the sound and feel of people walking around, this seems to be that way also.  Seems like everything could be cleared out in moments.  My seat shook whenever people walked.  The exit from the room is not in the back of the theatre; it's on the side.  This makes it very obvious when people leave early (see below for why).

The Production:

Oh boy...the only reason to see this is Ben Whishaw.  He is fantastic.  Everything else will put you to sleep.  So many other shows that I've seen have left me thinking, "What happened to the 'art' of theater?"  This show has too much art and not much of anything else.  Mr. Whishaw's character, from what I could gather, is writing about Marilyn Monroe and doing research on other famous female "vixens" for his writing.  His typist, Renee Fleming, writes down everything he says, so her "singing" for the first hour is just her repeating the last word that he says.  Eventually Mr. Whishaw transforms into the iconic lady, and I honestly can't tell you why or anything else that happens.  An older couple around me left after 10 minutes.  Literally.  The whole room saw the door open.  I saw others get up and try to find a less obvious exit but gave up when they realized their only way out would be a distraction to everyone and disrespectful for the hardworking actors.  I suppose the venue will be focusing more on abstract theater.  If that's your thing, go for it.  Not sure I'll be back.

 

[msmp]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 9:16pm

Was the music worthwhile, at least? With Renée Fleming as the typist I had been hoping it would be a score that could show off her talent more than it sounds like it does.

And did they have a poster/window card or anything? I've loved the keyart on the website but that's all I've seen.

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 10:21pm

The music is not worthwhile.  There were a couple of moments where I thought it may sound bluesy.  Then there were a few moments of power and strength that come at about an hour in in the form of cantorial sounding music.  Most of it is droning, and my eyes actually closed.  

Nothing being sold.  No merchandise and no drinks or anything.  It's 90 minutes with no intermission.

[CarmenA3]

Posted: 4/7/19 at 11:43pm

Thanks for the info DramaTeach!

Sorry you had to sit through it, but you've helped me decide. I was curious and thought about going as it's the first production in The Shed, but even at just 90 minutes, I don't think I'll like it.

 

[LarryD2]

Posted: 4/8/19 at 9:42am

A friend of mine -- a woman with a Ph.D. in literature and nearly 50 years' experience as a college professor -- saw the first performance on Saturday night. She described it as "incomprehensible." 

[songbird6]

Posted: 4/8/19 at 11:37am

i saw the first preview saturday night and had basically the same experience. I'm a massive ben whishaw fan so getting to watch him act was definitely a treat. And based on the brief synopsis, I was throughly prepared for something more experimental, which it definitely delivered on, but i also couldn't tell you what happened. I felt fortunate that in my research for what the heck this show even was, that I had stumbled across a couple interviews with whishaw where he casually and briefly mentioned more of his character's backstory, so at least I knew what was driving his character even if i couldn't understand the spoken words. 

The venue space felt so cavernous for just a two person play in regards to both audience seating and the stage itself. I was in the 2nd row on the left, and it felt like the actors were miles from me when they were on the other side of the stage. My seats also shook though when anyone was walking and it was very noticeable when a few people in the front rows left about 30mins in. 

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 4/13/19 at 10:21am

FYI, someone is selling 2 second row center seats on StubHub for tonight's performance, $14.53 each, plus fees, $42.47 total.

Updated On: 4/13/19 at 10:21 AM

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 4/14/19 at 9:21pm

DramaTeach said: "The building itself is moveable, and from the sound and feelof people walking around, this seems to be that way also. Seems like everything could be cleared out in moments. My seat shook whenever people walked."

 

Blech. 

 

Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the designers mostly do lobby renovation and additions to performing arts complexes. They also do arts installation. What they haven't seem to have done a lot of is dedicated performing arts spaces that aren't designed as a venue for multi-purpose events.

 

Updated On: 4/14/19 at 09:21 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/14/19 at 10:03pm

Ok then, looks like I'll be the lone yay-sayer! 

It's true that much of the text is somewhat incomprehensible, but the text is not the play. The text is a play-within-a-play. And the play itself is not very hard to follow at all. It's New Year's Eve on 1963, Marilyn Monroe has just died, and a young man and a typist meet in an office to write a play exploring a thematic link between Monroe and Helen of Troy (from reading the program, it's suggested that the play-within-a-play is an adaptation of Euripides' "Helen". 

For me, the story of these two people in the office is fascinating. I interpreted it as being a story about hidden forms of expression. In the wake of Monroe's death, two people find personal release and comfort by paying a private homage to her. Whishaw's character dresses as Marilyn and writes the play, and Fleming's character, a somewhat homely typist in 1963/4, finds her release in singing. And as the evening unfolds, there is a deep kinship and sadness that exudes from both of them. The themes of social imprisonment that face both Norma Jeane and Helen, both reflect and contrast with the social imprisonment that these two people face. And the creators explore these ideas with a bend of history, verse, music, and sound in a way that is indeed complex and difficult to riddle out entirely, but if you let go somewhat of trying to understand every word, the sentiments and ideas come through pretty loud and clear. 

I admit it's not an easy piece, but it was disheartening to see people giving up on it so quickly, either by completely checking out and talking amongst themselves, or by ditching the performance entirely (and making loud clomping noises on the stairs in the process). 

 

[songbird6]

Posted: 4/15/19 at 3:01am

Oh wow it looks like they definitely beefed up the synopsis description on the website and program since the first preview, the most descriptive it had been before was just that it was an exploration about two iconic women. (I also really liked the show but I fully understand that it's not for everyone. The amount of walkouts or rude audience members though is truly enraging)

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 4/27/19 at 2:46pm

is there a stagedoor?

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 4/28/19 at 7:46pm

good lord this show was BONKERS, I guess The Shed is looking to be on the St Anns/Under The Radar side of things in terms of theater programing. 

first of all they seem to have figured out how to stop people from going out that side door and through the back, maybe about 16 or so folks left last night.

this was some of the campiest stuff I have ever seen, me and the three people next to me were having a blast and seemed to be the only ones laughing

interestingly they have the publish script already in the book store downstairs, the twist being its not the production script, it is the script that is being constructed within the show.

what a weird night, Renee and Ben are great but what they are saying is a real jumble of references which if you don't know Euripides HELEN you are going to be absolutely screwed.

weirdly I didnt hate it, but I also cant say I would recommend it to anyone, so many folks stay seated long after and clumps of people went up to the stage after to try and look at the cork board, this show was way to small for a 500 seat house, but I will ultimately say atleast it wasnt uninteresting bore, just a real mess.