Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

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Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/28/12 at 7:29pm

I don't know if anyone still looks on this board (sad) but I just saw Other Desert Cities last night and I wanted to say: if you're in the L.A. area PLEASE go see this wonderful production! There's one more weekend left and I might go see it again. It really is a beautiful play with some amazing performances.

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/28/12 at 7:30pm

A couple people still look at the board.

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/28/12 at 7:39pm

Wish I could see it--the cast looks great.

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/29/12 at 4:56pm

Going next week and I can't wait!

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” ``oscar wilde``

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/29/12 at 8:48pm

Saw it last weekend, a great cast. Enjoyed the show very much. About to head out to see Anything Goes.

Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist. Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino. This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more. Tazber's: Reply to Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/30/12 at 4:39pm

Have fun! I really enjoyed it :)

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” ``oscar wilde``

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/30/12 at 4:44pm

Oh whoops... I thought I put this on the L.A. board haha

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/30/12 at 7:33pm

I have a friend who adored it, and went back a second time. I hear the company is extraordinary, new things found, and that Jeannie Berlin is terrific in the Light part.

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/30/12 at 7:59pm

I hated it. But other wi me really loved it. However that is what I get for going to a matinee in LA.

HUSSY POWER! ------ HUSSY POWER!

#10

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 12/31/12 at 10:28am

Is there an LA board? I didn't even know that one existed!?!

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” ``oscar wilde``

#11

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/2/13 at 3:53am

I'm with you Dame. It was bad. Even when picturing Channing and Lavin, I can't help but think that the flaws in the writing were evident in NY as well -- but this misdirected version accentuated the problems with the script.

I'm wondering if anyone but Albee should be allowed to write dysfunctional families anymore.

#12

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/2/13 at 4:09am

TheatreFreak, since you said PLEASE, I went to Other Desert Cities. I liked it much until the confession. The actors are fine. A solid production. Thanks for the heads up.

#13

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/2/13 at 12:20pm

I liked it too - the second act saved it - although Jeannie Berlin was not on the same level as the other actors. Robin Weigert and Robert Foxworth were the standouts.

Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!

Updated On: 1/2/13 at 12:20 PM

#14

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/2/13 at 1:24pm

I'm surprised to read so many criticisms of Berlin. On paper, she seems perfect.

#15

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/2/13 at 4:38pm

Berlin was just.... odd. Honestly, it kind of works for the character. But since the playwright decided to have her sit at a table for most of the second act with one line, who can blame her?

#16

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/2/13 at 6:20pm

I'll be seeing the show on Sunday night, the closing performance. Really looking forward to finally seeing it. In all my many travels to NYC every year, I just never saw it. You try to see everything on a theatre trip, but just can't.

#17

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/2/13 at 6:22pm

Idiot, the faults of the text were all-too-apparent to me in NY. Even Judith Light couldn't make me turn a blind eye.

"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

#18

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/2/13 at 8:17pm

^ The confirmation is appreciated Kad.

#19

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/4/13 at 4:49pm

I liked Jeannie Berlin, I thought she was quite funny in the role, but it was difficult to understand her at times.

#20

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/4/13 at 4:57pm

Last friday, the 28th. A cell phone went off during Act 1, maybe even two times I don't remember but Robert Foxworth came back on stage to scold the audience about turning your cell phone off. Initially I thought he was going to pull a Lupone as he kept breaking character and angrily staring into the audience. It was at a crucial moment sadly when JoBeth's Character that she will basically never talk or see her daughter if she publishes the book. I had read the play last year and enjoyed it on stage. It took me a while to warm up to Robin Weigert's interpretation of her role as I didn't imagine it as "nerdy" (that's the only way I can think to describe it). But I felt like she kind of over did the crying at the 2nd act reveal as I, nor anyone who was with me could hear what anyone else was saying.

#21

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/5/13 at 12:51pm

I have been excited to see this for so long and I have to admit, I was a bit underwhelmed. I found Weigert rather annoying and never warmed up to her. To me, Foxworth and Weston were the standouts.

I felt it was an okay script, but not the marvel it has been touted as. I kept imagining (and wishing) for Channing. And, I wasn't a hug fan of the direction. Wish I could have seen the original as I may have liked it better. Sorry to be a downer...I really wanted to,love it, but I just didn't.

“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” ``oscar wilde``

#22

Other Desert Cities- Mark Taper Forum

Posted: 1/5/13 at 1:24pm

The L.A. board is a ghost town. I didn't know about it until about a year ago but don't even take a look anymore because it's depressing seeing threads created 2 years ago at the top, lol.

Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.

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