#1
Posted: 8/28/24 at 1:46pm
Has anyone seen Kara Young in this yet? I'm reading good things on Show-score.
#3
Posted: 8/28/24 at 4:19pm
I’ve seen it twice now.
It’s definitely a black-centered romantic comedy and it hits all the traditional aspects of one (the meet-cute, the flashbacks, the other lover, etc). It’s by no means the next greatest thing in theatre and I think Douglas Lyons could’ve spent a little more time cooking on this one and ditched some of the more common tropes, but it’s not a bad night by any stretch and is actually quite funny.
The performers annd direction elevate the material, and seeing Kara Young and Biko Eisen-Martin (her real life partner) playing opposite each other is a real treat. However, Michael Rishawn can really steal a scene…though I won’t spoil anything.
It’s another good entry into the Zhalion Livingston summer of a Kara Young year.
Awesomely enough, they have some Monday nights and 4:00pm Friday/Saturday matinees available. Both times, I saw Jeffrey Richards and associates in the audience, so maybe they are cooking up a potential transfer.
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#4
Posted: 8/28/24 at 4:44pm
Yes, it has commercial producers attached. Why they're attached is a mystery since they'd obviously have to recast with three actual stars to have even the slightest chance of commercial success...not everything needs to move to Broadway, and enhancement is becoming too much of a driving force within nonprofit theatre because it's just a way for commercial producers to call the shots while paying people on a nonprofit contract.
#5
Posted: 8/28/24 at 4:57pm
MCC has also been clearly very hungry for another Broadway transfer, which they haven't had since Hand to God (which MCC didn't develop). But, frankly, their artistic vision since then has been... spotty at best.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
Updated On: 8/28/24 at 04:57 PM
#6
Posted: 8/28/24 at 5:18pm
Kad said: "MCC has also been clearly very hungry for another Broadway transfer, which they haven't had since Hand to God (which MCC didn't develop). But, frankly, their artistic vision since then has been... spotty at best."
Yeah, their musical output (all brought to them by outside producers and with good teams on paper) has been mid-to-awful since moving to their new home.
- Alice By Heart
- The Wrong Man
- Only Gold
- The Connector
- The Lonely Few
(can't speak to Space Dogs and Walk On Through because I didn't see them)
#7
Posted: 8/28/24 at 5:35pm
Their musical output at the Lortel was not much better, though they did much fewer.
Frankly, though, I think MCC has kind of become artistically listless, with no clear overarching vision, no themes to its programming each season, and no real sense of mission other than putting stuff up and getting good teams and casts (which a company can do when their ADs are running what is arguably the most prominent casting offices in the industry). But it's missing something more to it that other similarly-sized nonprofits seem to often have.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
Updated On: 8/28/24 at 05:35 PM
#8
Posted: 8/28/24 at 10:32pm
Saw it the other day and while it's sweet, funny and very intimate due to being in a small theater, I can't imagine it being on a Broadway stage in the shape it's in. The play is about 80 minutes long and I think it only scratches the surface of the drama and the characters. But there's a potential. I think it needs more depth. It a crowd pleaser, cute but pretty clichéd.
#9
Posted: 8/28/24 at 11:03pm
Thanks for reporting back. In what ways was it cliche? I'm considering going.
#10
Posted: 8/28/24 at 11:42pm
Kad said: "Frankly, though, I think MCC has kind of become artistically listless, with no clear overarching vision, no themes to its programming each season, and no real sense of mission other than putting stuff up and getting good teams and casts (which a company can do when their ADs are running what is arguably the most prominent casting offices in the industry). But it's missing something more to it that other similarly-sized nonprofits seem to often have."
MCC seems to have lost its way in two ways:
- trying to diversify and expand in a way that is unnatural to its current leadership
- focusing too heavily on musicals, for a company that mostly did plays prior to having its own space. They do not have a seasoned musical-savvy literary team running the new-musical-development operation (& Bernie and Will obviously cannot spend more than about 1/3 of their time on MCC business), and perhaps they are being too loyal to producers/creatives they've known forever and come to them with a half-baked new musical.
Playwrights Horizons and 2nd Stage are mopping the floor with the other nonprofits right now.
#11
Posted: 8/29/24 at 12:10pm
2nd extension announced: https://playbill.com/article/kara-young-led-table-17-extends-again-off-broadway-prior-to-opening
#12
Posted: 8/29/24 at 10:29pm
Saw this tonight and I liked it, but I also felt that the creators maybe thought that they had something more profound than just a romcom. I think the frothy fun moments were where it really shined (Michael Rishawn really does steal basically every scene he's in), and it's fun seeing how the different flashbacks played out. But the ending fell a little flat for me and just seemed like Douglas Lyons didn't quite know how to wrap everything up.
There are a few fun audience interaction moments that I think could be especially elevated with a responsive crowd (and there's a note from Lyons in the program saying to do just that), and a lot of the show is quite funny too. But the characters and conflicts they have all seem fairly simple and well-worn, though the three actors do still make it worth watching. I just felt overall that I was missing either a little extra oomph or something, and I don't really know what.
#13
Posted: 8/30/24 at 10:23am
Can anyone speak to the seating? Particularly the table seats—how close together they are, how the sightlines are? Is it best to see this from the traditional seating?
#14
Posted: 8/30/24 at 10:31am
Sauja said: "Can anyone speak to the seating? Particularly the table seats—how close together they are, how the sightlines are? Is it best to see this from the traditional seating?"
The tables are adequately spaced out since the actors pass through the aisles. I believe it’s also only 2-3 to a table. I’m very tall and didn’t feel cramped at all.
Honestly, it comes down to your preference of experience - traditional view or an immersive, somewhat participatory experience
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#15
Posted: 8/30/24 at 11:29am
fwiw I think traditional seating is probably a little better overall. The tables were a little bit of an immersive vibe as the cast will come through and sometimes interact with a couple people on the way to their stage, and some scenes are played out in the midst of the tables, but the stage height was the same height as the tables (so not super high but IMO still higher than necessary), and I felt some of the blocking wasn't the most conducive to the environmental feel because a lot of the scenes take place with just the two of them sitting at the table without moving around too much so if you can't see during one part then you'd just be blocked for the rest of that scene.
For reference, the regular seating area is also fairly elevated (I think the first row had their knees about in line with the top of my head) so you wouldn't have any trouble seeing over the tables and would just get a more expansive view.
#17
Posted: 9/3/24 at 7:27am
Sauja said: "Can anyone speak to the seating? Particularly the table seats—how close together they are, how the sightlines are? Is it best to see this from the traditional seating?"
I sat at a table dead center and while it was great to be so close, my neck hurt from looking up at the significantly elevated stage. And I felt bad for the people at the side tables, who were looking at one or another of the actors’ backs for much of the play. I would definitely choose the traditional seating, which is itself pretty close, if I went again.
#18
Posted: 9/3/24 at 11:16am
I think MCC disgraced itself when it cut ties with its long term playwright in residence Neil LaBute in 2018. LaBute’s brand of perversity had become too much of a liability for the leadership. I’ve never been a fan of LaBute’s provocations but when those provocations become less darling and much more risky is exactly when a theater needs to stand by its writers. MCC failed a major test of integrity.
Updated On: 9/3/24 at 11:16 AM
#19
Posted: 9/3/24 at 1:01pm
sinister teashop said: "I think MCC disgraced itself when it cut ties with its long term playwright in residence Neil LaBute in 2018. LaBute’s brand of perversity had become too much of a liability for the leadership. I’ve never been a fan of LaBute’s provocations but when those provocations become less darling and much more risky is exactly when a theater needs to stand by its writers. MCC failed amajor test of integrity."
That --- and also LaBute's plays were starting to suck.
If only some of the other NFP's would cut loose some of the playwrights who are "in residence" , so every subpar script they turn in gets fast tracked to a full production -- ready or not. Not naming any names -- but we all know who they are.
#20
Posted: 9/3/24 at 1:14pm
JSquared2 said: "sinister teashop said: "I think MCC disgraced itself when it cut ties with its long term playwright in residence Neil LaBute in 2018. LaBute’s brand of perversity had become too much of a liability for the leadership. I’ve never been a fan of LaBute’s provocations but when those provocations become less darling and much more risky is exactly when a theater needs to stand by its writers. MCC failed amajor test of integrity."
That --- and also LaBute's plays were starting to suck."
How were they starting to suck, I'm curious.
#21
Posted: 9/7/24 at 12:37am
sinister teashop said: "JSquared2 said: "sinister teashop said: "I think MCC disgraced itself when it cut ties with its long term playwright in residence Neil LaBute in 2018. LaBute’s brand of perversity had become too much of a liability for the leadership. I’ve never been a fan of LaBute’s provocations but when those provocations become less darling and much more risky is exactly when a theater needs to stand by its writers. MCC failed amajor test of integrity."
That --- and also LaBute's plays were starting to suck."
How were they starting to suck, I'm curious."
I don't know but the one about the half siblings that hookup was pretty awful
#22
Posted: 9/7/24 at 12:37am
Are they not selling the mezz section for this production, that seems odd
#23
Posted: 9/7/24 at 6:26am
BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Are they not selling the mezz section for this production, that seems odd"
The Frankel Theatre doesn’t have the mezz. The Newman Mills does.
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#24
Posted: 9/7/24 at 6:30am
NYT Critic’s Pick, albeit with a slightly backhanded final paragraph.
“Table 17” does not have huge artistic ambitions, but what it offers is something we’ve been missing: a gentle, hopeful good time out in the world, in the company of other humans. This is theater as comfort food, and it satisfies a genuine craving.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/06/theater/table-17-review-kara-young.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CTable%252017%E2%80%9D%2520does%2520not%2520have,it%2520satisfies%2520a%2520genuine%2520craving.
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Updated On: 9/7/24 at 06:30 AM
#25
Posted: 9/7/24 at 3:48pm
"Smartly written and powered by a trio of top-notch actors, it’s the first laugh-out-loud comedy of the fall season." - Theatermania
These reviews seem pretty positive.
https://www.theatermania.com/news/off-broadway-review-table-17-presents-the-anatomy-of-a-breakup_1749210/
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