The Best Man- Page 3

[751guy]

Posted: 3/26/12 at 11:55am

This is a beautiful production of a terrific play set in a specific time and place, but compared to today's political climate, it all seems rather tame and nostalgic.

JAMES EARL JONES & ANGELA LANSBURY give 'master classes' in technique. When I saw it a few weeks back, early in previews, at one point, Lansbury said a line, did a bit of business and the crowd cheered. She and James are as good as they get and if for no other reason, get thee to the Jacobs just to see them. Everyone else is very good although one role seemed miscast.

I was less enamored of ERIC McCORMACK. For me, he didn't have the gravitas this character required, a man running for President, and because the climactic final scene is with JOHN LARROQUETTE, who has little to play off, this scene never had the oomph it needed.

[rocknroll123]

Posted: 3/26/12 at 12:07pm

Do you guys think that 2nd row center is too close?

[theatrefreak0109]

Posted: 3/26/12 at 1:11pm

I sat front row and loved it!!!!!!!!!!!! being so close up you can really get to see the facial expressions of the actors which i love. second row should give you a great view.

[AngelorPhantom1359]

Posted: 3/26/12 at 1:33pm

That's so false! I sat in the mezzanine when I saw it and there was no script taped to the table. You think a brilliant actor like Angela Lansbury can't learn her lines? She might be 86, but she's been in plenty of shows to keep her mind sharp.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 3/26/12 at 1:46pm

Actually, Lansbury used an earpiece during Blithe Spirit. It's mentioned in this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/theater/29actors.html

[Patash]

Posted: 3/26/12 at 3:45pm

AngelorPhantom1359, I was in the front row, and it was clear that Ms. Lansbury's focus was directly at the coffee table during much of the scene, usually just before her lines while normally she would be focused on another character. Friends sitting second row mezzanine at the extreme stage left side informed me that there were indeed notes taped to the coffee table, supposedly hidden by other objects on the table, but easily visible to them.

I didn't make this up to discredit a great actress. If anything, I say it merely to point out once again that learning lines is the "least" of the jobs an actor does. She was brilliant despite needing the assist, just as she did in Blithe Spirit. Choose to deny if you wish.

And as for the line about sitting on the sofa being in the script, I stand corrected. I didn't think anything about it at the time, but once it was clear she was reading the coffee table, I thought perhaps that was an added bit. Sorry that I was wrong on that point.

Updated On: 3/26/12 at 03:45 PM

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 1:13am

looking forward to this but for clarity sake, James Earl Jones is in a scene with Angela Lansbury? I mean, just that alone, I'm there

[beaemma]

Posted: 3/28/12 at 6:54pm

No such luck. James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury have no scenes together. It's disappointing, but that's the play. Jones and Lansbury are doing great work, though. You're not likely to be disappointed in them in their separate scenes.

[Will42]

Posted: 3/31/12 at 2:09pm

Here's the first look at the show: https://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.php?colid=363352

The whole cast looks great (although Kerry Butler seems to be too over the top to my taste). It's also pretty obvious that Angela Lansbury ans James Earl Jones are at it again, stealing scenes like nobody's business.
Does anyone think they could both get nominated for a Tony Award in featured category? Larroquette looks like he's a strong Best Actor contender.

[PopAria]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 10:01am

Angela Lansbury is going to win the tony for best supporting actress. She's warmed up to this role so well.

John Larroquette, I won't be surprised if he wins either. He's put so much into his role from the beginning up until now. This has come a long way from 1st preview.

wow... Just edited the sentence above (auto correct fail!) Updated On: 4/1/12 at 10:01 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 12:17pm

I really don't think Angela will win for this. She has, in comparison to other supporting female roles in plays this season, a fairly light and small part. She's in two scenes, and only the focus of one of them. She's funny and charming, and it's great to see her onstage, but it's not award-worthy work by any means.

[madbrian]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 12:29pm

I don't see Lansbury winning for this. Nothing wrong with her work, it's just not that great a role. That said, Larroguette and Jones should be strong contenders. I was at the matinee yesterday, and the packed house loved it.

[Will42]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 12:44pm

I also don't see Lansbury winning for this, although the last time she was nominated for a Tony she lost to someone who also had only 2 scenes in the whole show.
Do you think she has a realistic shot at getting nomination though? If she doesn't it would for the first time since the revival of Mame (1982) that Lansbury failed to receive a Tony nomination for a B'way production.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 12:52pm

The difference is that Katie Finneran had a very much a scene-stealing role... and, in the case of that particular revival, she ended up stealing the whole show and earning the the only consistently great notices from critics. Lansbury's role isn't nearly as showy.

[Will42]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 1:00pm

I have to agree. I've seen both shows and while Lansbury was fantastic in A Little Night Music and would been a worthy winner and would easily won last year, Finneran was such a delight I couldn't possibly mind her winning over Lansbury.
So I'm guessing no nomination for Lansbury this year?

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 1:22pm

I think Lansbury will be nominated, if for no other reason than she's Angela Lansbury, but I don't think she'll win. I think Judith Light and Linda Emond (if she's featured, which she should be) are the front-runners at this point.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 5:21pm

She'll probably be nominated just because she is who she is. She definitely won't win though. I'm still pulling for Judith Light, who I thought was seriously incredible and gives the best performance in OTHER DESERT CITIES, which is saying something, considering how strong each of them are.

And for the record, the way Kerry Butler comes off in that clip is exactly how she is for the entire show. She's truly awful.

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 5:29pm

I enjoyed the show and agree about Larroquette and Jones. I thought Jones veered toward hamminess and caricature early on, but that ended pretty quickly and he was a powerhouse.

I had issues with Butler and Eric McCormack, both due to the fact that their old characters seem to bleed into their portrayals. Maybe in part it's unavoidable, but I saw way too much Will Truman in inflection and gesture and a lot of Kira, Audrey and Penny in Butler. Although in Butler's case, I suppose there's only so much you can do with that voice. It lacks gravity.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 5:40pm

Saw it yesterday & thought it was really first rate

Cast wise, Jones & Laraquette were great. Jones really brought his character to life. Thought Butler was a little to ditzy & Mc Cormack was to me the weakest link. Lansbury was superb . Bergen was Ok but did not light up the stage for me.

The set was freaking outstanding , As a matter of fact, the whole show was.

Sat in the first row as it was a birthday gift to Mrs R who wanted to see it due to the cast. We both thought the show was relevant today even thought it is over 50 years old. Glad I bought the tickets when I did. The monday after I got the tickets, my wife got booted from her job in a reorganization. The company is poorly run and my feeling it will eventually implode over what they are doing there. It is much like the Titanic in that it is an office with everyone heading for the lifeboats. SHe was let go for her age pure and simple.

We now see TDF or not at all for obvious reasons.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 9:17pm

Would Larroquette be considered Leading or Featured?

And no reviews thread for this show???

[theatreguy]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 9:25pm

Larroquette should be in the Lead category. His is the largest role.

[castlestreet]

Posted: 4/1/12 at 9:26pm

Laroquette will be considered leading- I think he could be looking at his second Tony win- saw this last month & loved it!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/2/12 at 10:44am

If nothing else, this thread reminds us that a real actor (or in this case, actress) can make a 50 year old line seem improvised on the spot and make a spectator believe that she's discarded weeks of blocking so that she can read her part off notes taped to the coffee-table.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/14/12 at 3:12pm

I saw THE BEST MAN recently and enjoyed it a good deal. First rate performances from the great James Earl Jones and John Larroquette and Eric McCormack brought the play to vivid and entertaining life. Great fun all around. The chance to see James Earl Jones rule majestically over the entire stage is not one to be passed up. He's just astonishing, and Larroquette and McCormack hold their own with him.

The one problem I had was with Jefferson May's disgraceful turn as Sheldon Marcus. Mays plays the role as a pathetically fragile twitching mental defective. He does everything but drool, and he's unwatchable. The reading becomes a drag on the play, as it didn't make a damn bit of sense that people as intelligent as those played by Jones and Larroquette would have put any stock in what that blithering idiot would say -- he's clearly so fragile that he'd crumble under even the gentlest questioning, which is of course very predictably exactly what he does.