Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

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Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/20/06 at 9:44am

Is anyone going? I can't wait to hear how it is.

"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/20/06 at 9:53am

Someone needs to post a review or at least his/her impressions. This is one of my favorite plays and Alma is one of my favorite creations!

ETA: I'm an idiot and was thinking of Summer and Smoke. Wasn't that going to opening somewhere, too? Well, I'd still love to know any thoughts on this disturbing play.

You promised me poems. ~Tricky

Updated On: 10/20/06 at 09:53 AM

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/20/06 at 10:41am

Summer and Smoke just opened in London. The one review I saw was a rave.

Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/20/06 at 9:38pm

The Connecticut production with Plummer and Kudisch ended its run already, correct?

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:18pm

Yes it did.

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:21pm

According to a review of the first preview posted at ATC, the production has several problems, including the casting.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:39pm

Yeah, I read that a bit ago. Hopefully a lot of the issues the poster brought up will be fixed by the time it opens.

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/21/06 at 8:55pm

I am seeing it tomorrow. I am unfarmiliar with the play, but I am excited to see Blythe Danner. It is part of my Roundabout subscription and I trust them. I will post my thoughts after the matinee

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/22/06 at 11:23am

The person who posted about the preview on the 21st seemed to really be taken with Gugino's performance.

#10

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/22/06 at 5:05pm

I just got back from the show and was blown away, but as always there is room for improvement. I saw the movie a couple years ago and forgot most of it so I came in not knowing what to expect. Blythe Danner is one of my favorite actresses so I was very excited to see the show. We were not allowed into the theater until around 1:45 because the cast was rehearsing and I walked into the theater knowing that it was an early preview. It was evident that it was such an early preview because Ms. Danner was stumbling with her lines and even needed someone to tell her one of them, but this did not detract from the show. Ms. Danner had such a commanding stage presence and moved across the stage gracefully. She made the show for me. I was pleasantly surprised by Carla Gugino's performance though. I had seen her in the "After the Fall" revival and had loved her ever since. These two actresses are terrific and are reason enough to see the show.

#11

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/22/06 at 5:52pm

I am so excited! I cannot wait to get tickets for it!

...What happened next, was stranger still, a woman breathless and afraid, appeared out of the night, completely dressed in white. She had a secret she would tell, of one who had mistreated her. Her face and frightened gaze, my mind cannot erase...But then she ran from view. She looked so much like you...

#12

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/22/06 at 7:24pm

I recall a television version a few years ago that starred Rob Loewe. Who played his mother? Liz Ashley?

"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)

#13

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/22/06 at 7:29pm

Do you mean the role of Catherine's aunt? Maggie Smith played Violet in that version.

#14

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/22/06 at 7:30pm

Thank you.

"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)

#15

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/23/06 at 12:39am

No problem.

#16

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/23/06 at 11:20am

How was Gale Harold?

#17

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/23/06 at 1:09pm

Seeing it this Friday (part of Roundabout subscription)....

Ken

#18

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/23/06 at 1:23pm

Yes, how was Gale?

#19

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/23/06 at 1:41pm

It was revived in the 90s at Circle in the Square, yes, with Ashley. The production was mostly about ... Elizabeth Ashley. I bet Tennesse would've cackled, but it had its traffic accident moments.

The reservations expressed about Danner didn't surprise me. I like her in the right role, but she can be too small, too wan a presence (Her Blanche was dreary and unmemorable, not helped by the Stanley of Aiden Quinn.)

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling

#20

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/23/06 at 3:50pm

Carla Gugino's performance is brilliant. She is a tremendous actress, full of both vulnerability and steely reserve. She's completely phenomenal and worth the price of admission.

Harold was flat, dull and seemed like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world than on stage. Paul Rudd would be awesome in his role.

"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

#21

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/23/06 at 3:52pm

Does Carla do a heavy southern accent?

#22

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/23/06 at 3:55pm

She has a light drawl, the kind that a "refined" lady of the time would have. I attended with a Southern friend who said that her accent was very good and believable.

Danner's accent sounds British. Harold doesn't even try.

#23

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/23/06 at 6:31pm

I thought both of the actresses were tremendous. Gale Harold had an interiview claiming he didn't have a grasp on the role, but at least he recognizes it. Danner doesn't have much of an accent but her voice is beautiful (like Kathleen Turner). One of the rudest things happened to Danner. At a very emotional part of the show an audience member shouted "Speak up!" and "I can't hear you". Just see this show. The actresses are simply astounding.

#24

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/26/06 at 10:44am

Just in case anyone who wants to hasn't seen it before, the movie is going to be on Turner Classic Movies On Friday at 2:15 A.M. Eastern.

#25

re: Suddenly Last Summer Tonight

Posted: 10/26/06 at 10:55am

I saw it on Sunday and thought Carla was absolutely fantastic. She stole the show in my opinion, Blythe Danner was very good but seemed to have a bit of trouble getting into it ( I do realize that the performance I saw was the fourth preview so there is much room for improvement), and I really enjoyed Gale Harold's performance. I really enjoyed this play and can't wait to get back and see another performance once it's longer into the run.

"But I relish every brillant inspired moment. This is who I'm determined to be- an actor/singer/dancer-no, I take that back, this is who I am. These people are my tribe, my destiny. I know it. -How I Paid for College; A story of sex, theft, friendship and musical theater.

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