Paul Newman's OUR TOWN

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/5/03 at 1:34pm

The TV adaptation of OUR TOWN starring Paul Newman will air tonight on PBS (Channel 13 in New York). I saw the production in New York and loved it. I'm eager to see how it fares in the TV adaptation.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/5/03 at 1:57pm

I have it on tape actually. I recorded it when it first aired on Showtime. The cast/production is good, but I am not fond of how it was filmed. It was filmed in an empty theatre.. much like the 'Cats' video, and so you go get the feeling of the cast playing to an audience.. but without the audience reavction.. if that makes sense. And the Stage Manager's monologues I found to be somewhat jarring. You have the cast ignoring the camera.. then all of a sudden, you have the Stage Manager playing directly to the camera. And naturally, it is missing curtain calls, which cheesey as it may be, tend to be my favorite part of shows.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/5/03 at 2:42pm

The television adaption is much better I think than the live version I saw in the theatre last December. I was very disappointed because "Our Town" is one of my favorite plays, but felt that James Naughton's direction (or lack thereof) really made the play suffer IMO.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/5/03 at 4:33pm

I saw this production when it was on stage. I had to stand in the bitter cold weather one January morning to get a standing room ticket, but really liked the production. I felt that Emily was weak and George looked more like a quarterback than a high school baseball player, but Wilder's prose sounded magnificent and the last act was as touching as ever.

However, I am a great fan of the play. It's one of the staples in my classroom and I've directed three productions of it, playing George in yet another. I guess you could say, Grover's Corners is really a part of my life.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/5/03 at 9:43pm

This show has more accents than the United Nations. Jane Curtin sounds like a Brooklyn Jewish mother.