THE UNOFFICIAL "FREE MAN OF COLOR" on Broadway Thread- Page 2

[trevytoe]

Posted: 10/27/10 at 9:20pm

I thought the first Act 1 was fine, but the second act never seemed to end. I think the main thing that needs to be done is chopping off a lot of the last 30 minutes or so. The end felt like a runaway train car in a way.

The sets were rather impressive with the house set from the first act being the most. I don't know that I have seen such a massive set before on a Broadway stage.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 10/27/10 at 11:51pm

I was there last night and loved it. I thought the whole thing was very smart. Guare managed to tackle a topic so well known to everyone who has gone through 10th grade in the U.S., but he managed to put a satirical spin on it to really make the audience think about it in a new way. I was really intrigued by the whole thing. I really loved how throughout the play he used yellow fever as a foil for slavery, comparing it to a disease that would be difficult to cure. I actually anticipate more comparisons to Scottsboro Boys than to Fela or Bloody Bloody. And I expect the critics' assessments to be warmer than the reviews on here so far.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/30/10 at 4:24pm

Any other news?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 9:39am

I was thinking the same thing about comparisons having just seen Scottsboro Boys (but not yet Free Man.)

After Eight: thanks for the vocab word. Had never heard of 'fatuousness' before. (this is a sincere comment)

[Broadway Doctor]

Posted: 11/3/10 at 1:54pm

The Broadway Doc dissects what A Free Man of Color does right and wrong.


A Free Man of Color, or Why Thomas Jefferson Sucks

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/7/10 at 12:53am

I saw it tonight. Rushed it.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. I liked it, but thought it was quite verbose. I agree that the play ended about 5 different times. I think it wandered and it lost me a few times. The accents were kind of tough and some of the actors didn't enunciate enough.

The sets were great. I guess Rockwell put all his focus on this show, and forgot about ELF. Although, does he always have to use forced perspective? The costumes were gorgeous though.

A great production and I think it had some really great points. Everything a good comedy should be: both a thoughtful drama and an edgy comedy.

[NuMystic]

Posted: 11/11/10 at 1:20am

I enjoyed it more than most (apart from bjh) but I'll eat my hat if more than 1 in 5 critics offers more than an outright pan to lukewarm review at best.

It has moments of brilliance but not nearly enough to carry the play. I'd say roughly an hour of the running time is truly worth the time spent.

It has already been significantly trimmed as my preview last night stood at 2:45 minutes incl. intermission, but it doesn't seem to have helped much because every single criticism made earlier applies to the performance I just attended.

Gorgeous costuming, the set design is mostly fantastic, Wright is wonderful, the first 10 minutes are excellent, then it's steadily downhill until we're left with a meandering, albeit attractive, pastiche entirely lacking in momentum.

The idea and setting is excellent, and there are the bones of a great work here, but nothing short of an entire gutting and reworking of the script could possibly bring it out.

The large cast is exciting when they're all on stage, but the entire thrust of the play would benefit from at least 1/3 of the characters being cut/combined since far too many are two dimensional caricatures that are not particularly entertaining or critical in driving the story.

Guare and Wolfe took aim at a worthy idea and assembled a top notch production, they just went far far too wide of the mark to realize it's potential.

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 11/11/10 at 8:54am

Nicely reviewed NuMystic, sadly I did not care for it. May be it just lost me, but at points it seemed like the dialog was just gibberish. Felt the same about the large casting too, it worked at times but overall it was a bit too much. I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but it just did not bring it for me.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/11/10 at 10:52am

FREE MAN OF COLOR has a lot of very fine and interesting ideas that simply never come together into a coherent and interesting whole, and gets to be infuriating long before it finally decides to end. A shame, such a fascinating slice of history, there's a wonderful play or film to be made about this story. Alas, nobody connected with it knows how to make it work.

Lots of meta-theatrical tricks and gimmicks, like deliberate anachronism (references to Mick Jagger -- I think Napoleon would have preferred Julie Andrews to Jagger, by the way) and I never gave a damn about anyone on that stage. When they finally got around the big shouting match between Cornet and Thomas Jefferson, I actually had time to notice that the flag used as a drop had 15 stripes, which it turns out is historically accurate but should give you an idea of how completely uninvolving a theatrical experience this is.

A for Ambition. F for execution. Don't bother.

[vodkastinger]

Posted: 11/13/10 at 10:42am

I saw the show last night, and think my response is much more positive than most others on this board.

About half of the play is absolutely brilliant, about a quarter is mediocre well-made play, and about a quarter is dreadfully boring for pages at a time. I will take half brilliant, that's more than you can realistically expect for new plays on Broadway.

Jeffrey's Wright performance is stunningly good, seriously incredible stuff. mos, Paul Dano, Veanne Cox and John McMartin give great featured performances.

The design is bloody gorgeous. Of my Tony tracking, this just shot to the top of all four design categories.

With its occasional faults in writing, Lincoln Center and George C. Wolfe should be commended for bravery. This production was a HUGE undertaking, and for me it paid off more than it disappointed.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/13/10 at 11:48am

Wright was on The Tavis Smiley show the other night talking about the show. No video up yet. If it does come up, I will share it.

[Sauja]

Posted: 11/16/10 at 11:16pm

I just got back from seeing this tonight. I wish I hadn't stayed for the second act. Hell, I wish I hadn't shown up. No actors can save a show as poorly constructed, overstuffed, and badly conceived as this--not even Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, Veanne Cox, and Mos (who, in my opinion, came closest).

The loveliest design can't compensate for dick jokes, recycled ideas, and rehashed arguments. Historical events are so poorly presented that you'll forget you already know what happens. The meta-theatrics are ham-handed and pointless. And don't get me started on the gender politics.

Conversation at intermissions mostly revolved around people wondering why they were staying. But stay, we did. Well...most of us. Flickering moments of hope that the whole play would come together were dashed by the four or five false endings. Guare becomes so bogged down in marginalia that he loses the forest for the trees presenting an exhausting (not exhaustive) argument boils down to, "Slavery is bad." Which...yeah.

Worst thing I've seen on Broadway since Brooklyn, the Musical. I didn't dislike this show. I loathed it.