PRESENT LAUGHTER Previews

Previews for the fifth Broadway revival of Noël Coward's Present Laughter begin tomorrow night (Friday, March 10, 2017) at the St. James Theatre, starring Kevin Kline, Cobie Smulders, Kate Burton, and Kristine Nielsen! Opening night is set for April 5 for a limited run through July 2.

Who's going?!

Is anyone going tonight?

Any reviews from tonight?

BroadwayLuv2 said: "Anyone win the lottery? Where were the seats?

Where were the TDF seats? "

My TDF seats were side Mezz, about halfway up.

No deep thoughts on the show. I enjoyed it: I found the first act slow, but it gathered speed as it went along. Performances were all solid, set was fine (during slow portions of the play, i kept thinking that I wish I had an apartment like that). I liked it somewhat more than the other early/mid 20th century comedy I saw this season (the Front Page). I'm unlikely to see it a second time, but I'm glad I saw it.



Oh, and most of the cast stage doored, except for Kevin Klein.

Updated On: 3/11/17 at 01:40 AM

I agree, but didn't fine Colbie to be that stand out. I kept thinking someone like Nina Arianda would have a feast with that part while Colbie was just getting the on the page laughs. The audience did respond the best to her so I must be the odd man out.

Kristine Nielson is, as always, a comic genius and makes the most out of her part.

I think it was a solid first preview. Comedies like this only get better with audiences and I have a feeling everyone will grow and find new/bigger/funnier bits, especially Kline. I was expecting full blown Soap Dish/Wanda/Pirate King from him but he seemed very restrained and he didn't even seem to get to a "Fraiser" level of mania.

Why was this production even put together? It's in a huge house. Did it come from somewhere else?

Kristine Neilsen is worth the ticket, she is just a genius, and manages to get a laugh off every line and gesture.

Just seems very "what's the point?" I have a friend working on it, so I'll see it, but can't say I'm itching to see it, and not sure this is the director for it.

Very disappointing to hear all this, but it sounds like a lot of bad choices are being made, with the worst by far being a boneheaded decision to put a Coward comedy in the cavernous St. James.

Perhaps Kline gave up when he realized that he would have to be miked to be heard at all, sure death for high comedy. And I'm not entirely certain that von Stuelpnagel was an inspired choice to direct this kind of piece.

I enjoyed the 1996 Langella revival enormously, and also saw the totally inept 1993 London production with Tom Conti (in which Jenny Seagrove mysteriously decided to play Joanna with a thick Russian accent, killing Coward's rhythms as well as every laugh). I was looking forward to this, but had missed that it was hiding out in the depths of the St. James, instead of playing a house with fewer than 1,000 seats, as it ought.

I was so excited to get tickets for this show on the first night because of the seemingly talented cast list, and I thought it was a classic I hadn't encountered before. Oh how disappointed I was! I even regretted buying my discounted tickets.

I couldn't believe how dull and boring the first act was. My friend who attended with me (who shall remain nameless) fell asleep multiple times and eventually left at intermission. Of course, the sound might've also been an issue. At many times it was hard to understand what everyone was saying. They really needed to turn up the volume. Hopefully that has been fixed in later performances.

The cast was good, but really played it too subtle for me. The text isn't funny enough for a subtle take on things to be funny. Kevin Kline was a huge disappointment. I really expected a masterful performance, but what I saw was rather forgettable.

Kristin Neilsen is a god, but sadly, I felt like her talents were a little wasted in this play. I enjoyed Cobie Smulders' performance, but I was so disappointed in where that character went. I was really hoping for some sly woman with a grand plan, and instead got exactly what it said on the tin.

Overall, I felt like the laughs per minute ratio was far too low for something that didn't have any dramatic heft behind it.

Though, hopefully this has been fixed in later performances! It was the first night after all.

Either I'm going crazy or they've SERIOUSLY tightened everything since most of you saw the show. I saw the show with 3 friends, and we were all in stitches for most of the evening. Yes, there are stretches of dialogue that aren't as punchy, but truthfully I thought this was an excellent production of what is ultimately not my favorite Coward play.

First of all, Kristine Nielsen and Kate Burton were on fire. They both chewed every piece of scenery and it was an absolute delight. Kristine in particular has one moment which had us trying to suppress the church giggles for a good 3 minutes after. Ellen Harvey was a hoot as Miss Erikson, Tedra Millan was a delightful Daphne, Matt Bittner was adorable as Fred, and Reg Rogers was solid in his typical schtick as Morris. The three weak performers for me were Cobie Smulders (her accent was all over the place, but she LOOKED stunning... that dress!), Bhavesh Patel as Roland (wayyyyy too much), and Peter Francis James as Henry (not really sure what he was doing).

As for Kevin Kline, I don't get the criticism. I thought he was exactly what the role calls for. I found him to be incredibly amusing. I think his over the top moments were spot on without descending too much into caricature. Anyway, all in all, I had a great time.

I've really just realized that Garry Essendine is supposed to only be 40 years old (Coward wrote it for himself when he was 38, although he didn't play the role until he was 41); just starting to barely put one toe into middle age. Have these lines about his recent 40th birthday been changed to something more believable?

At even a very well preserved 69, Kline may be too mature to ideally portray the role. (Langella was a flamboyant and viral 58 when he played the role, yet still came dangerously close to dirty old man-ness).

Updated On: 3/17/17 at 01:13 PM

Frankly, kind of surprised that the play is being revived again

I'm guessing this was the case of a star wanting to do a certain role. Kline is notoriously reluctant to commit to stage projects, and he's been bankable in the past (his Cyrano recouped despite playing a very brief engagement); the producers probably thought there was money to be made. But this does seem like a case of a play nobody was particularly dying to see, in a theater way too large for the play to be done effectively. I haven't seen it, and now I probably won't plan to.

The best production of this play I've ever seen was at Two River Theater in New Jersey, in 2013, with Michael Cumpsty as Garry. It was done in a 300-seat theater and the jokes really landed, and the production was gorgeously appointed. The supporting cast was really quite strong too: Kaitlin Hopkins, Camille Saviola, Veanne Cox, and--in a stroke of truly brilliant offbeat casting, the cabaret/performance artist Cole Escola as Roland Maule. I wish that production could have had more of a life, but it's probably better it was left as it was.