OTHELLO Previews — Page 3

MasterThespian 2 said: "Between this, Al Pacino’s struggles in China Doll, Tayne Daly dropping out of Doubt with an “illness,” and George Clooney stressing about blanking onhis lines, makes me think Broadway is a young person's game. For those who have been attending Broadway shows for years, has older performers forgetting their lines always been a thing? Or a more recent occurrence?"

Tyne Daly was actually hospitalized. Why are you putting scare quotes around illness?

chrishuyen said: "Was this ever an issue with Glenda Jackson in Lear?"

I saw it in previews and she was off book

Shakespeare also has iambic pentameter rhythm so every word and enunciation is important.

For a musical or non-Shakespeare play, one can hide it more if you forgot a line or makeup a line.

Younger actors forget lines too. Back in 2018, Children of a Lesser God had supertitles and Joshua Jackson would at times forget his lines.

For Great Comet, I recall Oak's first performance was postponed a week since the director didn't feel he was ready.

Age affects everyone differently - I certainly will never forget a 90 year old Estelle Parsons crawling through a window in the 2018 revival of Bright Room Called Day with as much vigor and ease as someone a third her age- but it is very surprising to hear that somebody who is constantly working like Washington is struggling with lines, particularly with a text he’s had for a long time.

Updated On: 2/25/25 at 11:43 AM

As someone pointed out above, Tyne Daly (not "Tayne") was hospitalized and withdrew from Doubt for legit health reasons. To suggest that she secretly couldn't handle the show is beyond rude and based in nothing.

Washington forgetting lines is surprising though. This is usually more of a problem with folks who don't do theater that often. But Washington has been on stage fairly regularly. Still age affects everyone's brain differently and even stage vets can be affected. Joel Grey once forgot the words to Mr. Cellophane so much that he couldn't continue and just walked off stage mid song in Chicago. Angela Lansbury really wanted her final stage appearance to be Caucasian Chalk Circle, but had to give up that dream because she just couldn't keep lines memorized like she used to.

Shakespeare requires an actor to be precise, its difficult language. I wonder if this will reach a point where the opening night is pushed.

pagereynolds said: "FWIW, there are still zero people in this thread confirming he called for a line."

CapeTwirlofDoom confirmed he called line enough during the final dress that it was concerning, which is also still too late in the process for that.

pagereynolds said: "FWIW, there are still zero people in this thread confirming he called for a line."

There is a thread on Reddit about the first preview and an attendee confirmed he called for line several times

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "pagereynolds said: "FWIW, there are still zero people in this thread confirming he called for a line."

I'm sorry, am I chopped liver? Or not a legitimate source for you? I wasn't exactly counting how many lines he called. But it was more than a few."

Not sure who "invited" you on Saturday (or were you one of the "got an extra ticket" regulars hovering outside?), but either way, it's incredibly ill-mannered and obnoxious for you to be posting about what went on in a "Friends and Family only" invited dress. I'd say you should be ashamed -- but I know that the concept of shame no longer exists in society.

Just gross behavior.

Kad said: "JSquared2 said: "GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "pagereynolds said: "FWIW, there are still zero people in this thread confirming he called for a line."

I'm sorry, am I chopped liver? Or not a legitimate source for you? I wasn't exactly counting how many lines he called. But it was more than a few."

Not sure who "invited" you on Saturday(or were you one of the "gotan extra ticket" regulars hovering outside?), but either way, it's incredibly ill-mannered and obnoxious for you to be posting about what went on in a "Friends and Family only" invited dress. I'd say you should be ashamed -- but I know that the concept of shame no longer exists in society.

Just gross behavior.

"

You really don’t need to post every thought that pops into your head."



Nor do you -- but here we are!

MasterThespian 2 said: "Between this, Al Pacino’s struggles in China Doll, Tayne Daly dropping out of Doubt with an “illness,” and George Clooney stressing about blanking onhis lines, makes me think Broadway is a young person's game. For those who have been attending Broadway shows for years, has older performers forgetting their lines always been a thing? Or a more recent occurrence?


Wick3 said: "GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "So, how many times can Denzel call line before that $300+ seat's price tag starts to really sting? Because it's one time too many for me."

Oh wow. He is 70 years old so it may be harder to memorize lines. Since this is a double billing, I can see Denzel fans forgiving him but Jake fans may think otherwise. I applaud Denzel for keeping the first preview as scheduled. In other productions, they would have postponed previews a few days or even a week if the actor or producers felt they weren't ready."

Denzel called for lines through most of the preview period of The Iceman Cometh. Hickey, of course, is an enormous role. By most accounts, he was on very solid ground with his lines by the time the play opened officially.