THE SNOW GEESE Reviews

I just got a ticket for tonight....running time please?

I loved it. it didn't drag for a minute. held on to every word. all the topics in the play were of special interest to me anyway. acting wonderful. I had a special stage door experience. when I mentioned to Victoria Clark that I hadn't figured out the meaning of the snow geese she asked what I thought, which led to a whole discussion about the play and its meaning. wonderful to have a talk with this genius actor. unbelievable.

good question. ms. Clark didn't actually offer any answers in the discussion. i'm not clever enough to figure it out. I may need to sit down, write what was happening each time the snow geese were referred to and find a pattern. i'm probably going to feel silly that I didn't get it right away although the actress who plays the maid said that if I figure it out I should email her. funny.

Newsday is mixed to negative:

"How sad, then, that the play is such a muddle. It's an interesting neo-Chekhovian muddle, mind you, and I'm not a bit sorry to have shared the time..."

"Daniel Sullivan's darkly luscious production"

"Parker...makes a fascinating, poignant wraith -- a lost soul in silky black mourning gowns (by Jane Greenwood), just beginning to realize how much is lost. But her voice is sometimes hard to hear, especially in the wordy exposition when everyone in the family is babbling at the same time about many important plot points. Victoria Clark is exquisitely down to earth as the pious sister, while Danny Burstein has touching fury as the German-born doctor enduring wartime xenophobia."


http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/theater/the-snow-geese-review-family-muddle-1.6308625

Updated On: 10/24/13 at 09:32 PM

New York Times is in and it's a doozie... negative:

"“The Snow Geese,” a fable of a family that isn’t as rich as it thinks it is, is unlikely to stir any emotion other than bewilderment as to how this lifeless play wound up on Broadway... Mr. White’s play remains a muddle of pastiche parts that never cohere into an original and organic whole"

"And the cast members... include the excellent Broadway veterans Victoria Clark and Danny Burstein and several attractive young newcomers... Ms. Parker, whose preternaturally youthful face seems frozen in mild astonishment, as if she were surprised to find herself here.... As reliably delectable as Ms. Parker usually is, she is strangely stiff and uncomfortable here."

"Ms. Parker and Ms. Clark have a lovely, if fleeting, scene of sisterly solicitude in the second act"


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/25/theater/reviews/the-snow-geese-stars-mary-louise-parker.html?_r=0&pagewanted=1

Here's a positive review from USA Today, 3.5 out of 4 stars:

"Snow Geese spins its wheels for a bit... But after a slow start, White's play... evolves, under Daniel Sullivan's meticulous direction, into a lovely, moving account of a clan's struggle to adapt to trying circumstances and a changing world."

"But Snow Geese does not follow a predictable, tragic course. The characters and the story develop poignantly and credibly; problems aren't magically solved, but perspective is gained and the potential for growth implied."

"Parker brings to Elizabeth a dazed weariness and a quirky, girlish quality that emphasize her capacity for denial.... The marvelous Danny Burstein and Victoria Clark fully convey their loss and their dignity."




http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/theater/2013/10/24/broadway-review-the-snow-geese/3090525/

Updated On: 10/24/13 at 10:22 PM

Vulture is mixed to negative:

"The Snow Geese lacks two qualities whose absence can’t be finessed."

"The actors do what they can, but here, too, there is a mismatch. On one team you have Mary-Louise Parker as Elizabeth, looking lovely in her widow’s weeds. Parker can be extraordinarily compelling when playing contemporary characters; her thinking process, with all its starts and stops and pauses and reversals, is unusually legible and honest.... Characters who are less modern pose a problem for her though, because they are usually written to think with the lines, not between them. Parker just doesn’t gravitate that way, and because her pull is so powerful the audience gets dragged into her style instead of the play"

"On the other team are Victoria Clark and Danny Burstein, as Clarissa and Max; they are firmly in period, without stutters or lacunae, and bring the material a dignity and confidence it sorely needs."

"The action, under Daniel Sullivan’s efficient direction, moves smoothly on a gorgeous (yes, Chekhovian) set by John Lee Beatty. The other technical aspects are all lovely, and the incidental music, by Dan Moses Schreier, exceptionally so. Give credit, too, to Rocco DiSanti’s haunting projections of those constantly startled snow geese"


http://www.vulture.com/2013/10/theater-review-the-snow-geese.html

I hated it. Left at intermission, as did a great deal others.

How bizarre all of the last reviews to trickle in are the only favorable ones.

I'm disappointed to see this was received so negatively, but it was expected based on the reactions to the previews.

Does MTC ever close their limited engagements early? I'm not sure what the box office numbers are, but I can't imagine these reviews will help? Will it survive the month+ it has remaining in the run?

There's virtually no way it won't run through its limited engagement, since MTC is a subscription-based theater company.

That makes sense, thanks! Want to make sure I get there prior to it ending the run.

With a big name star and a big name director, I'd be extremely surprised if they cut the last 2 weeks if only to avoid the embarrassment of confirming it as a flop. I would think that there are enough MLP fans who will come just to see her that they can squeek out 2 more weeks especially given it's such a small theater to begin with.

I certainly have no actual insight as to whether or not this show has a chance of closing early, but it doesn't appear that Parker's "fan base" has been coming out in droves. The night I saw it, the mezzanine was less than half full, and these reviews are likely to dissuade many who are still on the fence.

I, too, was hoping this would be a return to form for Parker, and I was expecting a lot from White, having loved The Other Place. Unfortunately, it felt like the work of an ambitious but unruly grad student, with Parker at sea in an unforgiving role. Burstein and especially Clark are doing great work, but I expect it will be all but forgotten when it comes to awards season. As PianoMann suggests, maybe a nomination for sets or costumes, but that's it.

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