Ripcord at MTC

Did a search and couldn't find a thread on this already, so here goes...

Saw ripcord at MTC tonight, and really loved it. Holland Taylor is giving an excellent performance, particularly in the more dramatic sections toward the end, but the true star of the evening is definitely MaryLouise Burke. She lights up the stage, and perfectly hits all of her dramatic and comedic moments. The rest of the cast was less consistent. Rachel Drach (whom I didn't even realize was in this until I got to the theatre!) didn't have much of an opportunity to show off her comedic chops, so her performance fell a bit flat.

The script was mostly very strong. There were a few moments that were a bit predictable or cliche, but in the hands of Taylor and Burke, The text rose above those flaws.

Overall, a very fulfilling night at the theatre. I definitely recommend this one.

Looking forward to seeing this in a couple of weeks.

Based on these comments, I bought tickets for Sunday night. Looking forward to it! Is it in the larger of the City Center stages or the smaller one?

This was on TDF, and now it's off.

do we think it will show up on there again?

I saw the show tonight and really enjoyed it. Some of the plot points may be a bit farfetched, but that was part of the fun. It was well acted, interesting, and was paced very well. The staging was inventive too. I loved the pairing of Holland Taylor and MaryLouis Burke, both strong actresses. It was great to watch them in action. A couple of surprises kept the audience guessing, and there was a funny scene that took place in the bathroom. Plus, deeper points about family relationships were explored. Highly recommended!

Saw the show last night thouroughly enjoyed it. The show, though not perfect, is worth seeing just for Holland Taylor and Marylouise Burke's great performances. The rest of the supporting characters had little to work with or were just plain and did not match the performance quality of the 2 leads, which was a little disappointing. The play combined a bunch of themes and at parts felt a little too jumbled and unfocused, but overall it was enjoyable and I do recommend it!

I think most reviewers do come sometime in the last week of previews, as that's usually around the time when the show is frozen. It opens on this coming Tuesday so if it is a little earlier than usual, it's probably not by a big margin.

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it as much as many of us did. I think your criticisms are valid, and I even agree with some of them. But I just found the show so enjoyable that I didn't mind the clichés and the weird bits that took place outside the senior center. I'm not familiar with Lindsay-Abaire's work, so I can't compare it to anything else he's written.

Updated On: 10/15/15 at 11:33 PM

I thoroughly enjoyed it especially the performances of the two amazing leading ladies. But as with many of Lindsay-Abaire’s plays, I felt the script needed some major tightening. I really didn't get the rather long series of the Halloween thing. Did we need all that just to set up the idea of her not getting scared? It accomplished little else and all seemed so pointless to me -- and quite amateurish.

But there is much to like in the show.

I enjoyed this very much. It's nice to see Abaire get back into a more absurd and silly genre after getting very dark and serious with Rabbit Hole and Good People (both of which I loved). I just wish this piece had more to it. Not necessarily anything deeper, just...more. Marylouise easily walks away with the entire show and I couldn't help but wonder how Mary Louise Wilson would have done in the other role as it was originally supposed to be. I normally love her but thought Dratch did just a serviceable job and I kept thinking Amy Sedaris would have knocked those tiny bits out of the park.

I may revisit this show in a few weeks to see what's changed or improved.

Yeah. She never even seemed to tap into the utter weirdness that her character gets into.

I have the same feelings as RippedMan on this one. I really don't get all the praise heaped upon this show. It came off as an overly long sitcom with good lead performers. There are some good elements but by no means do I think this should have ever been 2 hours. I've never actually seem a David Lindsay-Abaire show that I've truly loved.

It's been said before but I have to wonder if the play would have been better had there been stronger bit players. Rachel Dratch came off the best of the bunch for me which isn't to say much because all the other secondary characters were bad. I had seen Nate Miller previously in OF GOOD STOCK and didn't like him in either performance. At least here he is called out for being a bad actor with a joke later in the show that you can see from a mile away.

I know there were some technical difficulties which caused the previews being delayed and the night I saw the show the projector wasn't working. David Hyde Pierce made an announcement before the show so everyone was prepared. I don't think it really hindered my enjoyment of the skydiving scene but I don't know if there was something more in the haunted house scenes that I was missing.

I'm not saying it's not an enjoyable evening but I think there are better plays currently Off-Broadway that are funnier and have more heart.

Well upon reading this reviews thread, I'd say most people enjoyed themselves. Which isn't to say I didn't, but I just don't think it's a very good show. It's not as funny as it could be, not as madcap as it could be, not as zany as it could be, not as heartfelt as it should be. I wonder what was Lindsay-Abaire's inspiration? Was he commissioned to write a play for two older actresses? It didn't seem like a very heart-felt writing gig.

What is the running time?