THE PIVEN MONOLOGUES to Be Presented at Joe's Pub in September

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 1:54pm

An evening exploring the controversy surrounding Jeremy Piven's surprise departure from the recent Broadway revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow will be presented at Joe's Pub next month.

The Piven Monologues will play the intimate Manhattan venue Sept. 14. Show time is 7:30 PM.
THE PIVEN MONOLOGUES to Be Presented at Joe's Pub in September

Updated On: 8/5/09 at 01:54 PM

[fgreene1938]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 2:10pm

That makes it sound like it's going to be a serious evening, but the whole Jeremy Piven thing is so rife with opportunities for extreme humor. I hope that's how it'll be (even Mamet went there with his comment about Piven's future as "a thermometer").

[Anakela]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 10:07pm

Was anyone else there tonight? Pretty quick show (approx 30 min runtime), but *so hilarious.* I thought there would have been more of the quotes/articles from the legit press used, instead it seemed to mostly be a reading of quotes from message boards and blogs and such (I swear the "that makes it sound like a serious evening..." post above was used.)

They're doing another night of it on October 2nd, for anyone who might have been curious and missed tonight's.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 10:30pm

Hilarious, but I thought it lost momentum kind of quickly. I feel like that stuff is all REALLY funny, but it's only funny for so long. At the same time, though, there's so much more within the Internet controversy that they could touch on.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 12:05am

Emcee, I didn't see you there!!!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 1:44am

I didn't know you were going!

Also, when I got home, I realized that the Patrick Swayze jokes just got a little awkward. I wonder if the performers knew when the show was going on, or if they didn't find out until after.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 5:53am

What Patrick Swayze jokes did they make?

I had a feeling they didn't know what was going on till after. I didn't even know about it until a few hours after it was posted online.

[Anakela]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 7:59am

It wasn't so much jokes, but there was a section of ok so Swayze can do his tv show while fighting cancer, and Mariska Hargitay can do her show with a collapsed lung, but Piven can't do his show because he's too sick, Internet postings.

I thought the Autism mom segment dragged on too long myself. And I'd be interested to see if the October version, which it was announced would be the longer version, touches any on the arbitrator decision stuff, which last night really didn't.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 10:18am

Ha ha

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 10:27am

Yeah, they weren't making fun of Swayze, I didn't mean jokes like that. But if they had known by then, it was still a little awkward!

And the letter? Oh good God. They can do the play but they can't say mean things about Jeremy? They're so full of sh*t. It's not like the negative statements are presented as fact or even as the opinion of the playwright, first of all. And I wouldn't even say it presents a particular viewpoint to the audience; people last night seemed to interpret it based on the feelings they went in with. I overheard somebody say that it had made her kind of "sad," because he was "really very, very sick!" And secondly, it isn't new text, it's not like they've written new mean things about him: the stuff is out there, it's been out there for months, and because of the nature of many websites, it's going to stay out there. They're just having people read it aloud.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 10:29am

Maybe it's time for people to let it go, though. It's not like he let a 15 year old girl blow him.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 10:46am

Wow. Interesting that they were told to stop performances. That gets into a whole "freedom of speech" debate since it was just statements compiled from various online sources, correct?

And I think the funniest bit was the woman who miscarried onstage but still went on with the show. That was enough to keep me laughing all night.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 10:47am

I think it is, too. Yes, it's funny, but it's been over a year and there's nothing wrong with still joking about it, but past that, it's over. And at the same time, I feel like as long as he keeps opening up his mouth to whine about how terribly ill he was in every interview he does, it's not going to be over, because he's going to keep irritating people into talking about it. It sort of seems like every time it seems to go away, he makes more comments and people (myself included, so I'm not casting blame) feel compelled to keep discussing it.

[broadwaybaby086]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 3:26pm

Apparently Piven has issued a cease and desist order to Joe's Pub to prevent them from allowing the show to be performed again. Oy.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/THE_PIVEN_MONOLOGUES_Receive_Cease_and_Desist_Letter_from_Pivens_Lawyers_20090915

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 4:35pm

That gets into a whole "freedom of speech" debate

It's not about "freedom of speech." Freedom of speech can only be infringed up by the GOVERNMENT. Individuals cannot curtail others' freedom of speech, and if they do, it's not at all illegal.

The cease-and-desist is about libel and defamation of character. Those are illegal.

Educate yourself!

Jeez...I need some sushi.

[jennafan]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 6:27pm

I love how broadwaybaby086 came on and posted the link without even noticing that people were already talking about the cease and desist letter because someone already linked to it.

That's what happens when you don't read the posts above yours!

[broadwaybaby086]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 8:06pm

Wow, Jenna. Chill out- my apologies for actually working at my job and not taking the time to read everything when I got the text from a friend. Scanned, didn't see a link, posted. Not the end of the world, thanks.

[BumbleWumble]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 11:49pm

I saw this and thought it was funny, but it did lose steam. The "VioletClub" section was kinda boring and was out of place from all of the others, but in all it was very entertaining. the actors were great, and it was short. Were Piven's lawyers there to issue to cease and desist??? And I agree Jordan, the guy who did the miscarriage bit was hilarious!

[jennafan]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 11:56pm

broadwaybaby086, oh then by all means, I am glad you make your mistake here and not on your job.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/16/09 at 2:16am

I think the only thing amusing about the "VioletClub" bit was the continual addressing of "VioletClub," which was so well-satirized by the actress. Granted, it was pretty damn amusing (and a good look at, I suppose, our own almost subconscious habits that, presented in real life just look plain stupid),, but dragged on way too long.

I'm now imagining Piven's lawyers going in under cover or something to see the show. Also amusing.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/16/09 at 7:56am

And after the show, I bet the undercover lawyers went out for some sushi.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 9/16/09 at 9:25am

If Piven's lawyers had actually seen the show they would realize that in addition to the scathing comments about Piven, there were also a decent amount of comments that also supported him.

My favorite parts were the amateur actor who had a miscarriage on stage and one of the longer solo readings that referenced the sad and pre-mature closing of Mamet's American Buffalo earlier in the season.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 9/16/09 at 10:02am

Thanks for pointing that out Jenna. Now do you actually have anything substantial to say related to the thread topic?

The article says that there were plans to repeat the show next month. Besides that, were there any other scheduled performances? I haven't seen the production, but it sounds like it would be better suited to just the one performance.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 9/16/09 at 10:21am

There is probably a lot more material they could have used that would be incorporated into the next performance (assuming it will happen). I'm sure online comments made about the C & D would be used as well (like this thread).

[Marquise]

Posted: 9/16/09 at 10:29am

The fact that someone took valuable time to concoct such nonsense surrounding the situation is almost as pathetic as the subject matter it's based on.