#1
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:05am
I won't be able to see this production but I keep hearing about how stunning the final image is. Can someone explain what happens?
SPOILER request - THREE TALL WOMEN
#2
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:08am
I don't think it's the final image so much as the incredible transition from Act 1 to Act 2 (show is performed without an intermission) and the brilliance of the use of the set and physical production throughout. It really can't be described, and is meant to be experienced!
My best hope for you is that they will videotape this for PBS or something - it should definitely be recorded for posterity!
#3
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:10am
Agree with above after seeing it last night.
#4
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:13am
Here's how I would describe it:
In act 1, we see the main set, which is a very ornate, but ordinary room. Then, during the transition, the back wall of the room is removed, and replaced with clear glass. On the other side of the glass is an exact replica of the room, set up in a mirror image. So it almost appears as if the clear glass were a mirror. THEN on the other side of the replica room, is an ACTUAL mirror, reflecting both versions of the room. So it's like you're seeing 4 versions of the same room. The beauty of it (besides being a cool effect) is that it's actually very difficult at first for your brain to make sense of what you're seeing. It's hard to tell what is a reflection, and what isn't, which is trippy.
Then at the end, the mirror angles downward IIRC, so you see the replica room kind of from a higher angle through the reflection above the real rooms.
Updated On: 5/24/18 at 11:13 AM
#5
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:16am
The glass separating the real set from the mirrored set also results in some haunting and beautiful ghostly reflections of the cast as they move and sit in the second act- so, for instance, you're seeing Laurie Metcalf sit in a chair, and then a gauzy reflection of Laurie Metcalf sitting in a real chair in the mirrored set.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#6
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:17am
If you look at this picture you’ll get an idea of the set:
https://aviewfrommyseat.com/photo/83538/John+Golden+Theatre/section-Rear+Mezzanine/row-F/seat-110/
So the change in acts happens with the screen coming down again and the white lights becoming brighter, when the screen goes up its revealed that the back wall in the bedroom in the picture above is no longer there, instead there’s a glass wall and the set is literally replicated as a mirror image. Now the part that gets interesting is that behind the repeated set there’s actually a mirror. It’s very interesting visually, reminded me of Yerma actually.
So in the final scene the mirror in the back tilts forwards and it reflects the set from a different angle, you can get an idea based on this picture:
https://aviewfrommyseat.com/photo/83480/John+Golden+Theatre/section-Orch/row-E/seat-124/
Hope that gives you an idea of how it plays out.
Also, figured it’s kind of pointless to put it in spoiler tags when the title of the thread mentions spoilers.
Updated On: 5/24/18 at 11:17 AM
#7
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:19am
Tacking onto what Kad says, the final image of the three women holding hands and facing out at the audience results in a ghostly reflection of the three women holding hands at the foot of A’s bed, looking down at her. It’s really overwhelmingly beautiful.
#8
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:37am
I also have s spoiler request so stop reading if you don’t want to hear it. Saw it last night and it was incredible. Why is The Boy not credited until after the show ends?
#9
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:42am
I said it couldn't really be described, but you guys did a terrific job of doing just that! Nice...
But I really DO hope this will be recorded for posterity! Sublime production, top to bottom, in every way...
#10
Posted: 5/24/18 at 11:46am
stlrod said: "I also have s spoiler request so stop reading if you don’t want to hear it. Saw it last night and it was incredible. Why is The Boy not credited until after the show ends?"
Because they don’t want to ruin the surprise of his appearance. Blackbird did the same thing for a character and I kinda wish Harry Potter would have too. Harry Potter does have a little notice saying that reading the cast list can spoil some surprises.
#11
Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:19pm
stlrod said: "I also have s spoiler request so stop reading if you don’t want to hear it."
Shouldn't have clicked into the thread if they don't want TTW spoilers, no?
#12
Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:20pm
LxGstv said: "I kinda wish Harry Potter would have too. Harry Potter does have a little notice saying that reading the cast list can spoil some surprises."
So, it only affects people who disregard that notice and keep reading anyway?
#13
Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:21pm
Thanks everyone. Miriam Buether's set does look stunning. I wish I could see it live. Hopefully they record this production for broadcast.
#14
Posted: 5/24/18 at 12:26pm
I am in New York the first week of July so fingers are crossed that it will extend after Glenda Jackson wins the Tony (and it may pick up some other Tonys as well).
#15
Posted: 5/24/18 at 9:35pm
I don't think I've ever seen and/or been as emotionally transformed and moved, not only by these wonderful TALL women, but by this stunning set design. It is truly a wondrous idea of interpretation and phenomenal staging.
I Can Has Cheezburger With This?
#16
Posted: 5/24/18 at 10:00pm
Here's an interesting article where Joe Mantello discusses Miriam Buether's set and describes the way the set works.
Broadway’s Joe Mantello Talks ‘Three Tall Women’...
#17
Posted: 5/25/18 at 6:27am
Is there any significance to the other two women starting the second act on the other side of the glass?
#18
Posted: 5/25/18 at 7:15am
AntV said: "Is there any significance to the other two women starting the second act on the other side of the glass?"
My interpretation was that they were just checking up on A in the “real” world and they spend their time in limbo in the other bedroom. Mostly I think it’s just a simple way of letting the audience know the other side of the mirror is real and not just a reflection.
#19
Posted: 5/26/18 at 12:22pm
Regarding the Mantello article mentioned here, he speaks of the actress in the bed in the second part. He says most people tell him they hadn't noticed her. I was in the Mezzanine and also didn't realize that was a real person in the bed. I thought it was a mannequin as the original production had. Mantello says she moves her head and hand at certain points. Did others miss this or see this? Curious. I feel like I should see it again just for those moments. I didn't take the insert when leaving the theatre where I was told the actor playing the Boy is listed. Wondering if the actress playing the Woman in the Bed is also listed. Thx!
#20
Posted: 5/26/18 at 12:43pm
Three Tall Women is definitely the best thing about this season. I also thought the woman in the bed was a mannequin. I'm definitely going back to see this before it closes and catching all the nuances I probably missed the first time I saw it because I was so bowled over by Glenda Jackson and Laure Metcalf.
#21
Posted: 5/26/18 at 12:45pm
I saw it last night and I noticed her head and hand move and I thought I was crazy at first. I just assumed it was a mannequin, but then The Boy grabs her hand and it seemed real, so I figured it was a real woman. She’s not listed anywhere, which I don’t get. Why don’t they credit her as well after the show? Is she the standby for A? If so, then who’s in the bed if Glenda Jackson is out?
#22
Posted: 5/30/18 at 11:02pm
LxGstv said: "stlrod said: "I also have s spoiler request so stop reading if you don’t want to hear it. Saw it last night and it was incredible. Why is The Boy not credited until after the show ends?"
Because they don’t want to ruin the surprise of his appearance. Blackbird did the same thing for a characterand I kinda wish Harry Potter would have too. Harry Potter does have a little notice saying that reading the cast list can spoil some surprises."
Oh my god, THANK YOU. I saw the play tonight (marvelous, I’m still choked up) but I have been driving myself crazy trying to remember what other show I had seen where a character was a surprise and they gave out that additional bio sheet after the show. Blackbird!! I was trying to convince myself it was Waitress, with Lulu, but that didn’t seem right.
#23
Posted: 6/9/18 at 7:34pm
I have a spoilerish question too.
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
At the beginning of the show, one woman is the lawyer, one is the paid caregiver, and the other one is the matriarch. But after the transformation, they are all the same woman, the playwright's mother, at three different ages.
But are they all supposed to be his mother even at the beginning? Or do they transform?
#24
Posted: 6/9/18 at 9:01pm
macnyc said: "I have a spoilerish question too.
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
At the beginning of the show, one woman is the lawyer, one is the paid caregiver, and the other one isthe matriarch. But after the transformation, they are all the same woman, the playwright's mother, at three different ages.
But are they all supposed to be his mother even at the beginning? Or do they transform?
But are they all supposed to be his mother even at the beginning? Or do they transform?
"
macnyc:
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
I believe they are not the same woman in the beginning. Glenda Jackson is always the same character (the mother), but B and C aren't. They start as the lawyer and caretaker, who are separate characters, then become the young versions of A in the second part.
B and C play two characters, but A is always the same woman through the play.
#25
Posted: 6/9/18 at 9:13pm
macnyc said: "I have a spoilerish question too.
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
At the beginning of the show, one woman is the lawyer, one is the paid caregiver, and the other one isthe matriarch. But after the transformation, they are all the same woman, the playwright's mother, at three different ages.
But are they all supposed to be his mother even at the beginning? Or do they transform?
But are they all supposed to be his mother even at the beginning? Or do they transform?
"
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
I’m certainly no Albee expert, but the way I interpreted it... Act 1 is the real world where they’re the three different characters that we see. Then, when she has a stroke, we see (in Act 2) a sort of dream/purgatory world where she’s reflecting on her life. That’s why we can still see her son visiting her in bed, in the “real world” that’s still existing on the other side of the glass.
Updated On: 6/9/18 at 09:13 PM
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