THE CHERRY ORCHARD Previews — Page 3

I have two Access10 tickets for this evening's performance that I'm looking to sell at cost, so $20 for the pair. Please PM me if interested!



Update: The tickets have been claimed, thank you!

Updated On: 9/17/16 at 01:15 PM

The Big Baloney, our neighbor went and reported back it was horrible.A woman next to him fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. What a shame we missed it Thursday .

I have tickets for this in November and am unpleased at these reviews. We can only get to shows twice/year.

Well.



I like the sets. I liked the live music, too. But I really have to agree with what has already been said: what a mess.

That's basically exactly what I figured it would be like.

Did anyone see either the Diane Wiest production at Classic Stage company or the recent production that played BAM? Both look like they were very well received.

I saw this yesterday (Saturday matinee) and found it tedious and pointless. It seemed to go on forever. Not being familiar with the source material prior to the performance, I read the TDF synopsis and expected something more dramatic and tragic but got none of that. I found the color blind casting just another distraction, the costumes drab and save a few moments from Diane Lane that grabbed me there was nothing worthy of my time. NY audiences will give an ovation to nearly anything but not this time.

QueenAlice said: "Did anyone see either the Diane Wiest production at Classic Stage company or the recent production that played BAM? Both look like they were very well received.



"

The BAM production was not without flaws, but it had in Simon Russell Beale the greatest Lopahkin I've ever seen.

fb1123 said: "Not being familiar with the source material prior to the performance, I read the TDF synopsis and expected something more dramatic and tragic but got none of that."

To be fair, it sounds like that particular disappointment was likely a result of not being familiar with Chekhov's style. He's all about action in non-action, so to speak. It's not meant to be grand and dramatic. Still, it's true that when it's not done well, it can be very tedious.

Jordan Catalano said: "Well, I liked it. I feel like some people just expect more than they know they're going to get or want to hate something so they do.



Why would anyone want to hate something they went out to see and paid a lot of money for? It sounds like people "just expected" a good play and didn't get it.

The kindest thing I can say about this production is that it still wasn't as bad as last season's Old Times. I found The Cherry Orchard to be extremely uninspired, meandering, and unfortunately dull in every way, save perhaps the lighting design and the nice touch of incorporating live musicians.



I can't necessarily fault the incredible ensemble of actors that Roundabout has assembled, because I'm sure they're trying (in a myriad of different styles) to elevate what can only be described as a horribly amateurish adaptation of the text by Karam. Nothing in this adaptation landed, especially the lame attempts at humor and even worse attempts at genuine character development.

I don’t understand the appreciation for Harold Perrineau's performance at all; I felt like he was doing his best imitation of Chris Rock… and his angry, confrontational “dancing” when he finally admits to buying the orchard was cringeworthy. Diane Lane doesn’t necessarily fare much better, although I felt like she had so little to work with that it’s hard to critique her performance. I’m thankful for Chuck Cooper and Joel Grey for their genuinely entertaining and at times (somewhat) moving performances. Everyone else modulated from irritating to hardly registering at all.

And yes, the costumes are as bad as everyone has reported. I was also very disappointed with the set design. I like the idea of the tree stump, but I hated the minimalistic, impressionistic approach they took to everything else, especially the scene set in the orchard. They could have really wowed the audience with a beautiful reveal of the orchard when the curtain comes down and rises in the middle of Act 1, but all we got were more nursery-themed mobiles of trees.

"Disappointed" quite accurately sums up my reaction to the whole evening. So much potential on stage, and such an opportunity for Karam to display another facet of his playwriting talents, but it’s all an utter mess. It felt like he bought the Sparknotes page-by-page summary of the play, slapped his name on it, and walked away for the actors and director to handle.

As someone who has not "gotten" Karam's previous work, I didn't expect much of this but I will still try to see it, if the price is right. I love Chekhov but have trouble listening to any translation/adaptation of this other than Stoppard's.

I can't make it till later in October but thanks.