THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 1:22am

Today is Wednesday, April 17, marking the official opening night performance of the world premiere of Richard Greenberg's The Assembled Parties, the Manhattan-set family drama starring Judith Light and Jessica Hecht, a Manhattan Theatre Club production directed by artistic director Lynne Meadow. Previews began March 21. The cast includes Hecht, Light, Tony Award nominee Jeremy Shamos, Jonathan Walker, Mark Blum, Lauren Blumenfeld, Alex Dreier and Jake Silbermann.

According to MTC, "The Assembled Parties welcomes us to the world of the Bascovs, an Upper West Side Jewish family in 1980. In a sprawling Central Park West apartment, former movie star Julie Bascov (Tony Award nominee Jessica Hecht) and her sister-in-law Faye (Tony and Emmy Award winner Judith Light) bring their families together for their traditional holiday dinner. But tonight, things are not usual. A house guest (Tony nominee Jeremy Shamos) has joined the festivities for the first time and he unwittingly — or perhaps by design — insinuates himself into the family drama. Twenty years later, as 2001 approaches, the Bascovs' seemingly picture-perfect life may be about to crumble. A stunning new play infused with humor, [it's] an incisive portrait of a family grasping for stability at the dawn of a new millennium."

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 9:00pm

Positive review from the

Associated Press

[NewYorkTheater]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 9:01pm

All is forgiven, Richard Greenberg. The busiest playwright in New York this season bounces back from “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” with “The Assembled Parties,” an original new play that is funny, sad and lovely – and above all, superlatively acted, by an eight-member cast led by Judith Light and Jessica Hecht,,,
The Assembled Parties Review

[PianoMann]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 9:04pm

EDIT: Just posted the AP article at the same time, but here are some good pulls: "a terrific drama," "beautiful and touching," "luminous Hecht," and "super Judith Light."



Updated On: 4/17/13 at 09:04 PM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 9:06pm

Light's wig is atrocious. Ill say that.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 9:22pm

The Hollywood Reporter is positive calling the play "lovely," "hyper-articulate," saying that Greenberg's writing is "like Aaron Sorkin meets Neil Simon." Also praises Hecht and Light, saying that they own the play and are "rich in complex humanity."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/assembled-parties-theater-review-441557

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 9:23pm

Positive review from
Newsday

[PianoMann]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 9:38pm

Entertainment Weekly is positive giving it an A- and calling it "as close to bullet-proof as they come on the Great White Way these days."


http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20364394_20692325,00.html

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 9:42pm

Bettyboy, it pales in comparison to Hecht's act two wig....YIKES.

Other than that, I loved this play, and I'm so happy to see positive reviews coming in!

[PianoMann]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 10:04pm

Brantley is positive, stating the play is "charming... smart, sad, and so impossibly well-spoken." He notes Hecht's "powers of enchantment," and says it's impossible to image the play without her, while Light "again proves herself a first-class interpreter."




http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/theater/reviews/the-assembled-parties-at-the-samuel-j-friedman-theater.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 10:06pm

So happy for the positive reviews!!!!!

[PianoMann]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 10:41pm

I haven't had a chance to read all of the remaining reviews yet, but based on the blurbs selected by Broadway World's Review Roundup, Time Out NY, Vulture, and Bloomberg are also all positive. I think these reviews have secured a Tony nomination for Best Play, and perhaps for both Hecht and Light.

[Owen22]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 11:20pm

Its a beautiful play. And Jess Hecht is as amazing as Brantley says she is.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/17/13 at 11:35pm

At intermission, I was so bored with it that I saw no value in staying for the second act. However, I've seen much worse, so I decided to stay. I had zero interest in any of the unanswered questions from the first act, and I have to say, that after sitting through the second act, I am glad I stayed. It did make it worthwhile.

[Ed_scotch]

Posted: 5/1/13 at 10:11am

Great to hear everyone hear likes it. I saw a short film at the Boston International Film Festival with Jessica Hecht as the lead called Good Sister. Its a dark comedy about rivaling sisters… Incidentally its written and produced by Elizabeth Hemmerdinger which also produce the Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me documentary along with Alec Baldwin. Which is how I discovered the short film… Elaine is NOT in it.. but the connection led me there.

I'll get tickets to Assembled Parties then based on what every one here wrote…

Thanks - great to have this forum to read REAL reviews & opinions!

Ed
Good Sister Link

[shobizpro]

Posted: 5/1/13 at 11:57am

"Light's wig is atrocious. Ill say that."

Really? I kind of saw it as a design choice. Seemed to me to be exactly what a 1970's woman of "her age" would wear.

As wonderful as the women's performances were, I was bowled over by the set. I kept finding myself distracted by the intricacies of it, especially the way the hallway played in the rotation of the turntable. I'm glad it got a Tony nom.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/1/13 at 5:32pm

^ I'm usually a huge fan of Santo Loquasto's designs. But did anyone else find it a little awkward in Act I when Jeremy Shamos has to squeeze past a sliding bookcase unit clogging the hallway in order to enter the little boy's room? I also felt that the grandeur of the Act II set with its surrounding alcoves and recessed rooms was somewhat lacking in the Act I version of the set which was restricted to the footprint of the revolve alone.

Maybe being unsatisfied with the play as a whole left me more unsatisfied with the set than I would otherwise have been.

[shobizpro]

Posted: 5/1/13 at 9:40pm

Interesting now that you mention it. I kind of took it as an actor blocking/timing error when I saw it.

[DocuDame]

Posted: 5/2/13 at 2:39pm

OMG!! I absolutely loooove Jessica Hecht! I have been following her since she was on Friends and Sideways is one of my favorite movies of all time!! Please tell me where I can see this film Good Sister?!! I plan on going to see Assembled Parties asap.

[shobizpro]

Posted: 5/2/13 at 2:56pm

If its not on Hulu or Netflix yet, I'm sure it will be soon.

[Ed_scotch]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 11:03am

Only thing I can find is the trailer on the producers' website:

http://providence-productions.com/projects/

I heard it may screen at the Hamptons Film Festival, but I'm sure it should be available as Shobizpro said, Netflix, Hulu or iTunes ..

Ed

[Ed_scotch]

Posted: 5/8/13 at 11:03am

Only thing I can find is the trailer on the producers' website:

http://providence-productions.com/projects/

I heard it may screen at the Hamptons Film Festival, but I'm sure it should be available as Shobizpro said, Netflix, Hulu or iTunes ..

Ed

[DocuDame]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 2:18pm

Saw The Assembled Parties and really enjoyed it. Jessica is fabulous!! Also went to the website (link posted by Ed) and watched the Good Sister trailer....looks like a very different role for Jessica - seems funny. Hope it's on Netflix soon.

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 5/9/13 at 3:23pm

Is it only me or does anyone else feel that Jessica Hecht plays an awful mother?