(Re)Frozen and Al Dente

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 8/15/04 at 2:35pm

I had seen Frozen maybe three weeks ago. The night we went, Swoozie Kurtz was out and her understudy, Pippa Pearthree, played the mother of the slain child. I've never been that enamored with Kurtz, so the substitution was fine with me. I thought the play was terrific.

I had the opportunity to see it again last night, this time with
Swoozie. I found myself actually responding more to her than I had to Pearthree. Swoozie played the role with an edge of rawness. She managed to convey the sense that no matter how well she seemed to be coping in the decades following the murder of her daughter, a vein of suppressed hysteria was never far below the surface. She would draw close to exposing it at times, but never quite did. It was a complex and brilliant portrayal. The understudy I had seen the first time, gave a very good performance, but she had more of an air of overwhelming sadness about her. I identified more with Kurtz.

Bryan O'Byrne, as the killer, is just awesome. (Guess maybe that's why he won the Tony, huh?) Our seats tonight were on the opposite side of the stage and I was able to see some subtleties of his performance that I missed the first time. He captured so many layers of the troubled serial killer. His use of body language in his physical performance is a wonder.

::::

And in the you never know department, I was chatting with the
gentleman seated to may left at intermission and we came to discover that we both post on this site. I was honored, and frankly, speechless, to find myself talking one-on-one with our very own Al Dente.

Posted: 8/15/04 at 2:52pm

O'Byrne gives a marvelous performance in FROZEN, in my opinion. In the end, the show doesn't add up to much for me (because of the character of the social worker), but Bryan and Swoozie were simply terrific! Well worth seeing.

I had something of a similar, albeit muted, experience with another BWW member. In my case this esteemed member of BWW told me in a PM after the fact that he saw me standing under the ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY marquee before an evening performance as he headed down 42nd Street on his way home after work. He never spoke and I never knew he walked in front of me.

Life in the naked city...

[Plum]

Posted: 8/15/04 at 3:13pm

You have all the luck, iflitifloat. You get to meet Al Dente at Frozen, and who do I see when I go? An English teacher from my high school. I don't dislike her or anything, but meeting teachers outside of school (especially once you've graduated) is always an awkward thing.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 8/15/04 at 4:30pm

I, too, was riveted by the performances in Frozen, it's not an easy topic to put in to a watchable play that you actually find yourself caring about. I found myself becoming engrossed in the characters and their personal journey under the effects of the situation they dealt with. Bryan O'Byrne conveyed volumes with a mere glance or clenching of his jaw. It became a poignant story about humanity and the accountability of our actions.

Iflit, talk about a surprise and treat. I overheard you talking and couldn't resist joining in the conversation, because really, how many people in New York not only saw, but LIKED that show. And sure enough,like Christmas fruitcake (no insult intended), there IS only one Prymate fan who keeps surfacing in different places. And for the record, she truly doesn't look like she just wandered in off of Yasgur's farm. 'Twas a pleasure.

I just got back from L.A. on Thurs and wanted to catch as many shows as possible before having to return to the land of theater void (L.A) and no, I'm not terribly interested in seeing Val Kilmer playing Moses on the same stage as the American Idol contestants.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 8/15/04 at 5:04pm

Excuse me, but was I just referred to, however obliquely, as a 'fruitcake'???? Nice.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 8/15/04 at 5:06pm

But only the best fruitcake Iflit, say from Sweet Lady Jane's in L.A.?

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 8/15/04 at 5:14pm

Oh, well...as long as its *quality* fruitcake...

Jeesh.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 8/15/04 at 5:16pm

Only the best Iflit, only the best! L.A. may have terrible theater, but the dessert shops are magnificent. Ironic, don't you think?

[Al Dente]

Posted: 8/16/04 at 7:42pm

O.k. Iflit, how about Eggnog?

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 8/16/04 at 8:30pm

Oh, lordy, Al. Eggnog...as in "I'm a good egg"? Guess it's better than being a fruitcake, but really...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/16/04 at 9:55pm

A non-hippie fruitcake tho. So that's good, right? Which one of you squealed the loudest when you revealed each other's screen names?

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 8/16/04 at 10:20pm

That would be Al. I merely cooed, "far out".

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/16/04 at 10:37pm

That is totally cosmic man.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 8/16/04 at 10:49pm

Certainly you meant to say "kozmic", no?

[Al Dente]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 10:05am

Not squealing exactly...maybe a mild yelp of excitement.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 10:41am

Mr. Dente is far too dignified to squeal in a public venue.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 1:45pm

Dignity. Isn't that the gay Catholic organization? Who here is a gay Catholic?

(Kidding. Please don't answer that!)

[Al Dente]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 4:52pm

Now that's comedy!

[Ruffian]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 5:04pm

This is a cool meeting-up story

I loved FROZEN....its so intense. Great perfs

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 5:17pm

Frozen was a cut-throat evening of theater. I loved I Am My Own Wife, but Frozen deserved the Tony (I try to root for the underdog). The cast was beyond riviting and the show was just so real and you felt as though you were in the show itself, dealing with this horrible crime. It's performances were the strongest and most ultimatley moving ones of the year. There were flaws, but it was a completley wonderful evening of theater. You leave the show refreshed, and you almost feel as though you have gained more intellegance. (I felt the same way after leaving I Am My Own Wife.)

[Al Dente]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 6:58pm

I agree.

[Plum]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 9:03pm

When I lose the Avenue Q lottery tomorrow, I'm finally gonig to see I am My Own Wife. I can't wait.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 9:05pm

I wonder if the subject matter kept people away. To be honest, it took me a long time to make myself go. As a parent, I can't image how one survives something like the murder of a child. I'm not a particularly paranoid person, and I don't focus on the murder and mayhem stories on the nightly news, but every time there is a child abduction story...at least for a second that thought flashes through my consciousness. Oddly enough, the mother in the play addresses that very issue when at the very end of the play she says, "Nothing is unbearable". And it is a testament to the quality of both the play and the acting, that I believe her.

[Plum]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 9:12pm

Of course the subject matter kept people away. It's one thing to want to challenge yourself, but child kidnapping, rape, and murder- and the contemplation of whether these crimes can be forgiven- is pretty extreme. Some people just don't want to expose themselves to that kind of stuff, and that's okay. It's not the same as people avoiding Caroline.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 8/17/04 at 11:46pm

You're right about that Plum. There is no valid reason to "avoid" Caroline... The material in Frozen is very difficult to digest but it's important to witness.