THE PARISIAN WOMAN Previews

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 11/7/17 at 9:39am

Previews for Beau Willimon's new play The Parisian Woman begin in just a few days (Thursday, November 9, 2017) at the Hudson Theatre. Uma Thurman makes her Broadway debut alongside Blair Brown, Josh Lucas, and Phillipa Soo. With direction by Pam MacKinnon, The Parisian Woman is set to open officially on November 30 for a limited run currently through March 25, 2018.

Who's going?!

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 2:16pm

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/theater/uma-thurman-the-parisian-woman.html

Apparently, Uma Thurman is on stage for the entire show. I think she's amazingly talented, but this show just sounds miserable (and really is the antithesis of what I go to the theatre for). Curious if we'll hear some final dress reports tonight. 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 2:24pm

Shame, BC, considering the love of your life Phillipa is involved...hahaha

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 2:29pm

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "Shame, BC, considering the love of your life Phillipa is involved...hahaha"

Don't get me started. Literally me when I read the press release that she was joining this:

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 2:42pm

Why does this show sound miserable to you. To me it sounds intriguing and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Maybe it sounds interesting to me because it's got a political theme and politics interests me. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

[LesWickedly]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 2:44pm

Because BroadwayConcierge is a Trump Supporter

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 2:55pm

LesWickedly said: "Because BroadwayConcierge is a Trump Supporter"

Well there's that. 

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 2:59pm

 

Because he needs his theater to be a safe space where he won't be reminded that his actions are having terrible consequences all over this country and the world every day.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 3:04pm

themysteriousgrowl said: "

Because he needs his theater to be a safe space where he won't be reminded that his actions are having terrible consequences all over this country and the world every day."

That too  

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 3:25pm

I assure you that my disinterest in this show has nothing to do with my party politics. We literally just lived through the misery of the 2016 election. You actually want to endure any part of it again? I'm not chastising any show that has political themes or undertones, but of all of human history and all of American history, the chunk of time you want to pay money to go revisit in the theatre is... the 2016 election? Really?

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 3:43pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "I assure you that my disinterest in this show has nothing to do with my party politics. We literally just lived through the misery of the 2016 election. You actually want to endure any part of it again? I'm not chastising any show that has political themes or undertones, but of all of human history and all of American history, the chunk of time you want to pay money to go revisit in the theatre is... the 2016 election? Really?"

But the thing is, we are never really "through" with the misery of the 2016 election. The problems it exposed are still what we are facing and need to deal with today. The social divide was not created by the election; it's been there all the time, but people had been refusing to see it as what it is until the election. Personally, I think it's important that theater reminds its audience that we're never truly past the mess and issues that are in the election itself and brought to light by it, and it's more important than ever to start the urgent conversations if people want this country to be a united one.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 3:55pm

I fully respect that, Dancingthrulife2. To each his own! I just personally don't feel any need whatsoever to exercise my civic mind or engage in sociopolitical commentary in the theatre. In fact, I go to the theatre to escape today's pervasive infighting. But I know that for many on here, that's (somehow) egregiously immoral and wrong. I'll never apologize for it, though. We're all allowed to take what we want out from the theatre: that's what makes it such a wonderful thing. However, this kind of a show is just not one I would ever pay to see with my hard-earned money, and I'm entitled to the opinion that it will indeed be miserable to sit through. But I hope it's impactful for those who would (and will!) go to see it. 

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 4:18pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "I fully respect that, Dancingthrulife2. To each his own! I just personally don't feel any need whatsoever to exercise my civic mind or engage in sociopolitical commentary in the theatre. In fact, I go to the theatre to escape today's pervasive infighting. But I know that for many on here, that's (somehow) egregiously immoral and wrong. I'll never apologize for it, though. We're all allowed to take what we want out from the theatre: that's what makes it such a wonderful thing. However, this kind of a show is just not one I would ever pay to see with my hard-earned money, and I'm entitled to the opinion that it will indeed be miserable to sit through.But I hope it's impactful for those who would (and will!) go to see it."

So I guess you really hated (or at least found miserable) some recent Broadway offerings such as "Disgraced", "Jitney", "Too Heavy for Your Pocket" and (just to include a musical), "The Scottsboro Boys.".

I guess for you there's always Disney productions.

 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 5:30pm

BroadwayConcierge, I think I relate to what you're feeling, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that I don't want to exercise my civic mind in the theatre. My issue is that it feels like there are a lot of productions these days (I'm thinking mainly of Eustis' Julius Caesar this summer, but there are others) that have kind of a "look how relevant we are" attitude, but don't really have anything of value to add. And along those lines, I would worry that The Parisian Woman will preach to the choir, and not really give us anything to think about because we  already know about the corruption and turmoil in DC.

If a play is really going to shed light on the issues of our time in a way that's meaningful and not redundant to the mostly liberal Broadway audiences, I think that's great ("Sweat" did a great job of that, and in a way, I think Michael Moore did too, given that large portion of his show was dedicated to inspiring liberals to be more engaged and active than they are). But if this play is just capitalizing on current events purely for the sake of drama, then I'm with BroadwayConcierge. There's enough drama with current events in the real world, and I don't want to see it onstage unless something is to be gained by it. 

But we can't judge yet for this play. We'll have to wait and see. 

Updated On: 11/8/17 at 05:30 PM

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 11/8/17 at 6:24pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "I fully respect that, Dancingthrulife2. To each his own! I just personally don't feel any need whatsoever to exercise my civic mind or engage in sociopolitical commentary in the theatre. In fact, I go to the theatre to escape today's pervasive infighting. But I know that for many on here, that's (somehow) egregiously immoral and wrong. I'll never apologize for it, though. We're all allowed to take what we want out from the theatre: that's what makes it such a wonderful thing. However, this kind of a show is just not one I would ever pay to see with my hard-earned money, and I'm entitled to the opinion that it will indeed be miserable to sit through.But I hope it's impactful for those who would (and will!) go to see it."

I don't know, maybe I'm just different from some of the folks here, but if a show opens and it doesn't sound interesting to me, I simply decide to skip it without being bothered by it or feeling the need to complain about it or label it as miserable without having seen it. But hey, if that's your deal, knock yourself out.

[cb2addict2]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 8:47am

went to the dress last night. Needs a  l o t  of work before opening. I don't care to go into details, but I found almost zero chemistry amongst cast and some of the weirdest transitions I've ever seen. Poor projections and incidental music. The main set for the home scenes is beautiful, but it takes an awkwardly very long time for it to transform into all the other locations we see in the play. Curious to see what people have to say who care to dive in deeper on their thoughts here.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 11:00pm

I was there tonight for the first preview. The play is...ok. Even at 90 minutes there's a lot of padding. I believe there were five scenes and I could have done without the first and fifth. Blair Brown is the best part of the evening and she basically steals the show.

Uma Thurman plays a very cold, detached character who isn't easily affected by emotion, despite also being a very sexual character. Catherine Deneuve built a career on playing characters like this, but they work much better on film than from the stage. The close up of Deneuve's bored Belle du Jour housewife getting fvcked by strangers would be so effective when viewed from the balcony of the Hudson. This isn't to say that Thurman doesn't have any presence- she's just never going to be given the opportunity to show off much range playing a character like this. 

The play takes place in present day- meaning literally today. There up to the minute Trump references and jokes throughout. And look, I despise Trump as much as the next guy. He's the worst and hating on him is now a part of our daily routines, but jokes about him in theater/tv/film are easy and come cheap. All a character has to do is mention fake news, locker room talk or General Kelly keeping everyone in line at the White House and you can bet we will all clap along like trained seals and chortle. Rip the man to shreds all you want, but at least do it with a little wit and originality. 

One of my friends pointed out that the play could have worked under any named president, and I guess when Thurman first read the script two years ago it wasn't taking place under the Trump administration. The plot is simple: Thurman's husband is a tax attorney who wants to be appointed as a judge. He's on the short list, but isn't guaranteed the appointment, so Thurman goes about doing whatever she has to in order to make him get it. 

I'll reserve some judgment on the male actors who still might be finding their characters, but let's just say that they are being out-acted by the three females. As I mentioned, Blair Brown is fantastic and very funny. She could easily get raves while the rest of the production receives a shrug. 

[LesWickedly]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 11:09pm

How was Phillipa? Based on you leaving her out, I’m guessing she was fine but nothing special?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 11:18pm

Seems like a play written by a man. So the wife goes about doing what she can to get her husband to a better job? I know there's more to it than that, but I don't see why Thurman would be drawn to this.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 11:19pm

Soo was fine. Her role was neither large nor showy. The second scene started with Thurman and Brown; Soo joined about halfway through and the three of them were entertaining. It was when the play finally kicked into gear. Soo doesn't appear again until the fifth and final scene. I found this scene to be extraneous and boring, so through no real fault of her own she was less effective there.

[After Eight]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 11:27pm

Lame, flat, smug, and malodorous, with all the snap and bite of a waterlogged Saltine cracker.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 11:30pm

RippedMan said: "Seems like a play written by a man. So the wife goes about doing what she can to get her husband to a better job? I know there's more to it than that, but I don't see why Thurman would be drawn to this."

Yeah, writing it out like that makes it sound worse, from a feminist perspective, than it is. It's more like the husband's appoitment is in question so she goes about securing it, not so much for his sake, but out of boredom and love of manipulation. She's a cunning sort and enjoys the machinations, even if she pretends not to. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 11:35pm

Sounds like a more interesting pilot for a show than an actual stand alone 90min play. Not sure I'll bother seeing this, but maybe. I did enjoy House of Cards. 

[Dolly80]

Posted: 11/10/17 at 1:36am

BroadwayConcierge said: "https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/08/theater/uma-thurman-the-parisian-woman.html

Apparently, Uma Thurman is on stage for the entire show. I think she's amazingly talented, but this show just sounds miserable (and really isthe antithesis of what I go to the theatre for). Curious if we'll hear some final dress reports tonight."

 

you support Trump? Eurgh. Your opinion is not valid in that case. 

 

[@z5]

Posted: 11/10/17 at 7:32am

Won the front row lottery for this last night. I? thought the show was really good overall. It was a bit predictable, but still was enjoyable.