OUR TOWN 2024 Broadway Reviews- Page 2

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 11:06am

At least at this point, the Lead Actor in a Play field feels a bit less competitive than in most years. So Parsons actually does look good for a Tony nomination. 

Cole Escola and Denzel Washington will probably join him. Other eligible folks are Kit Conner, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr, Peter Friedman, Peter Gallagher, Daniel Dae Kim, maybe someone from Stranger Things or Purpose (don't really know the structure of those plays), and maybe John Mulaney (unclear if he is lead, or the whole cast goes featured). The characters from Glengarry have historically all gone featured I believe. Out of this field, I think Parsons gets in fairly easily.

I expected this show to get mostly B or C grades, so the Times Critics pick is surprising and lucky for them. Hopefully they can use that to overshadow the negative and middling reviews elsewhere. Anecdotally, plenty of industry folks have walked out feeling rather "meh" about this production.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 11:10am

Mark Gatiss will also be a big player for Motive And The Cue (which hasn't been announced but is expected). And who knows what else is in the pipeline for this spring.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 11:31am

MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "At least at this point, the Lead Actor in a Play field feels a bit less competitive than in most years. So Parsons actually does look good for a Tony nomination.

Cole Escola andDenzel Washington will probably join him. Other eligible folks are Kit Conner, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr, Peter Friedman, Peter Gallagher, Daniel Dae Kim, maybe someone from Stranger Things or Purpose (don't really know the structure of those plays), and maybe John Mulaney (unclear if he is lead, or the whole cast goes featured). The characters from Glengarry have historically all gone featured I believe. Out of this field, I think Parsons gets in fairly easily.

There's also Jake Gyllenhaal -- who I'd imagine would be in the Lead category (unless they petition for him to be in Featured Actor).

 

[Markie27]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 11:45am

Oh I think you can count out RDJ.  I’m not that impressed with his work on an ok show.  Plus it would have ended before Christmas I’m guessing he would be forgotten come Tony month.  I haven’t yet watched Our Town but I do hope Jim would be memorable enough to clinch that nomination.  But then again you can’t underestimate the star power of RDJ…. But… then again (whew I’m already contradicting myself so many times now!) Tony voters doesn’t usually get swayed with A Listers doing Broadway. (Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchette to name a few)

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 12:08pm

Markie27 said: "Oh I think you can count out RDJ. I’m not that impressed with his work on an ok show. Plus it would have ended before Christmas I’m guessing he would be forgotten come Tony month. I haven’t yet watched Our Town but I do hope Jim would be memorable enough to clinch that nomination. But then again you can’t underestimate the star power of RDJ…. But… then again (whew I’m already contradicting myself so many times now!) Tony voters doesn’t usually get swayed with A Listers doing Broadway. (Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchetteto name a few)"

Blanchett got nominated for The Present

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 12:18pm

At this point, I just need Daniel Dae Kim to be remembered come Tony time. I can't stop thinking about that play.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 12:53pm

I thought I was missing something when people tried explaining how this production is actually “different”, or “For Our Time”…

Judging by these reviews, I wasn’t. They made intentional diverse casting choices, and there’s questionable costuming. That’s about it. 

Was actually looking forward to a reimagining/book adjustments/more of an actual update of some kind (for it to be marketed as “For Our Time”), as someone who played George in a regional production twenty years ago and holds the show close to my heart. It was one of my favorite play discoveries in acting school. Bummer. Seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity, but maybe the next revival will do something interesting. 

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 12:54pm

Yes, of course we can count out RDJ. That play is abysmal. We can likely count out a few people from the names above. I was merely listing folks who would be eligible in the category to give a view of the entire field, not people I predicted would be nominated.

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 1:06pm

I mean, RDJ was the only Oscar nomination for Tropic Thunder and the only Emmy nomination for The Sympathizer. Admittedly I liked the play more than most (and it's a long season) but I wouldn't be totally surprised if he got nominated 

[Ensemble1728379893]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 1:14pm

In response to Jordan Catalano and Yellow Face mention:

 

 

I hope so. I am afraid that it would have been better for them if it had opened closer to Tony deadline, but...

I think the play, Kim, and both Ryan Eggold and Francis Jue are all worthy of a nomination. 

Updated On: 10/11/24 at 01:14 PM

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 2:15pm

Fordham2015 said: "I mean, RDJ was the only Oscar nomination for Tropic Thunder and the only Emmy nomination for The Sympathizer. Admittedly I liked the play more than most (and it's a long season) but I wouldn't be totally surprised if he got nominated"

Also, while the play was largely trashed, Downey's performance was not. It could be a situation not dissimilar to Rami Malek winning the Best Actor Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody in part because he was seen as holding together an infamously messy production.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 2:23pm

JSquared2 said: "MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "At least at this point, the Lead Actor in a Play field feels a bit less competitive than in most years. So Parsons actually does look good for a Tony nomination.

Cole Escola andDenzel Washington will probably join him. Other eligible folks are Kit Conner, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr, Peter Friedman, Peter Gallagher, Daniel Dae Kim, maybe someone from Stranger Things or Purpose (don't really know the structure of those plays), and maybe John Mulaney (unclear if he is lead, or the whole cast goes featured). The characters from Glengarry have historically all gone featured I believe. Out of this field, I think Parsons gets in fairly easily.

There's also Jake Gyllenhaal -- who I'd imagine would be in the Lead category (unless they petition for him to be in Featured Actor).

There are a lot of critics who think Iago is the juicier role.  In the last production of Othello I can remember, Christopher Plummer received a Tony nomination for his Iago, while James Earl Jones did not for his Othello.  I seem to remember that that was not a highly praised production.

Based on roles, if they are actually really good, I would think that Clooney, Washington and Gyllenhaal will be tough competition for a nomination.  I have not yet seen Oh! Mary!, so I have no idea re Escola…Will he be recognized for play or for both?  IMO Kim got better reviews than Parsons and would be in the running.  That said, it is mid-October. 

Will The Motive and the Cue Come Over?  How many productions that we.don’t even know about will open and their leading man be outstanding?

 I am guessing that by May Parsons will not be remembered.

 

Updated On: 10/11/24 at 02:23 PM

[JSquared2]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 2:42pm

MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "Yes, of course we can count out RDJ. That play is abysmal. We can likely count out a few people from the names above. I was merely listing folks who would be eligible in the category to give a view of the entire field, not people I predicted would be nominated."

 

Never count out RDJ.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 10/11/24 at 4:18pm

I loved this production......and what a joy to see this play again. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 10/16/24 at 10:32pm

I saw this tonight, going in essentially blind (I've never read or seen the play and only really knew it was about two families).  On the whole I enjoyed it and found it rather charming for a lot of the duration, but I was puzzled by the ending.  I thought the third act conceptually was pretty interesting, but it just seemed to end rather abruptly.  And while I wouldn't say the pacing of the show overall was rushed, it did feel rather brisk.  But not knowing the play at all, I'm not sure how much of that is inherent in the play itself and how much of that is Kenny Leon's direction.

I rather enjoyed Jim Parsons in this, a lot more than in Mother Play especially.  I thought he had a great energy as the Stage Manager and it was even just interesting to watch him watching the scenes play out.  Ephraim Sykes, Katie Holmes, and Julie Halston were other standout actors for me but I wouldn't really say there's a weak link anywhere (I found John McGinty a bit hard to understand but most of it could be figured out).

I was pretty surprised at how quickly the play flew by, especially since it didn't feel like "gripping drama" in the same way something like Hills of California did.  But whenever the Stage Manager announced the ends of the acts, it seemed like both he and the audience were confused as to whether there should be applause there, and like I said, the ending felt pretty abrupt.  Maybe it was just that Jim Parsons didn't deliver the last lines with a tone of finality that I was expecting, but I thought there might be something more conclusive, especially since people had mentioned how emotionally moved they were by other productions.  It's probably part of the pacing, but I felt like I never truly got invested in the idea of this town enough to feel anything really (though the briskness does demonstrate some of the larger themes discussed in the show, but I guess the tradeoff is just how it feels for the audience).

That said, I liked the general use of music in this show (not sure how much of the diegetic music is usually in the show), and I thought the set, lighting and sound design were all wonderfully done, though I'm not convinced that the onstage seating adds much of anything.

I got a lottery ticket which was row D front mezz all the way on the left.  It wasn't a huge issue but some scenes in the Gibbs house were blocked a little by the box and the lights hanging from it.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/18/24 at 11:51pm

Saw this tonight.  Thoroughly forgettable production of a great play.  The only performance that stood out was Zoey Deutch, who I admit to loving before this show, so that might be biased.

The last Stage Manager I saw was Paul Newman, so you can forgive me for thinking that Jim Parsons was totally forgettable.  

Our Town is a great play, but I am not convinced that it is not better read.  (NOTE: I never saw the Cromer version).

Finally, this the 7th production I have seen  since Tuesday, and represents the first time I was bored, though not terribly because of the great writing.  I have never been impressed by Kenny Leon’s direction and this changes nothing

Updated On: 10/21/24 at 11:51 PM

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 10/27/24 at 12:45pm

Has anyone seen the show yet, when one of the stars is out? 

Since Jim Parsons naming the cast is part of the performance, I'm curious to what degree that's tweaked when an understudy goes on. 

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 10/27/24 at 2:58pm

I didn't love all of Kenny Leon's choices in this production, but act 3 remains incredibly powerful no matter who's at the helm. Zoey Deutch and Richard Thomas were cast MVPs

[northlandfan]

Posted: 10/27/24 at 9:18pm

I saw a 10 at the end of September and was very fortunate that Jim Parsons and  Kenny Leon came out right after the performance and was gracious enough to sign our play bills. Does anybody know if they both comes out and sign  on a regular basis?

[Dan6]

Posted: 11/8/24 at 11:35pm

Saw this tonight and had mixed feelings about some of Leon’s choices, though it’s such a great play it’s hard to screw up completely. I’ve seen several previous productions but missed Cromer’s, which some on the other thread spoke of rapturously. I checked out Isherwood’s NYT review and he spoke of “a beautiful feat of stagecraft” in the third act. Can anyone who was lucky enough to see it please let me know what that was, and share their memories of what made that production so special? 

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/11/24 at 5:34pm

Parsons scheduled for Seth Meyers tonight 

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 11/12/24 at 12:13pm

Dan6 said: "Saw this tonight and had mixed feelings about some of Leon’s choices, though it’s such a great play it’s hard to screw up completely. I’ve seen several previous productions but missed Cromer’s, which some on the other thread spoke of rapturously. I checked out Isherwood’s NYT review and he spoke of “a beautiful feat of stagecraft” in the third act. Can anyone who was lucky enough to see it please let me know what that was, and share their memories of what made that production so special?"

Maybe I should use Spoiler text, but the play's nearly 100 years old, so...

 

In the third act, when Emily returns to her memory of her birthday, Cromer suddenly revealed a highly realistic period kitchen with a working stove, on which Bacon was frying. lasted only as long as the memory did. People lost their minds. 

[Skip23]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 9:43pm

They repeated the bacon bit in this production too. I just saw tonight and everybody was commenting on how you can smell the bacon in the third act.
 

This certainly is Our Town for this time. Totally pushed through with little emphasis or nuance or shading,  Perfectly works for the disposable world we live in. 
 


 

 

Updated On: 11/15/24 at 09:43 PM

[MezzA101]

Posted: 12/11/24 at 2:16pm

In ‘Our Town,’ the Characters Are Fictional. The Bacon Is Real.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/dining/broadway-our-town-smells.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gk4.aRWm.uky8eEFp-ewR