The Big Knife First Preview — Page 2

Caught today'a matinee. I had deliberately not read any comments beforehand. Unfortunately, this KNIFE needs sharpening. I was disappointed in the production. The pacing, the blocking, everything seemed so blah-bland. I longed for some movement, some real characters behaving and speaking like real people instead of characters spouting the philosophy of Clifford Odets.

I'm a big Cannavale fan, but I think he is miscast. Marin Ireland looked like she wanted to be someplace else. Only Chip Zien and especially Richard Kind, as a self-centered studio mogul, gave the show pizzazz. Yes, this was only the second public performance, and perhaps after a few weeks things will gel. I hope.

Updated On: 3/23/13 at 07:11 PM

Saw the show this afternoon and sadly had the same reaction many of you did.

I actually think THE BIG KNIFE is a good play; it's a shame this production is such a lumbering bore. After the electric GOLDEN BOY, imagine what Sher could have done with this Odets piece?! Instead, Roundabout called up Doug Hughes again, who may as well have directed this over the phone or via email. It feels as though there is no urgency, no vision, no driving force behind this staging at all. The set is your typical Roundabout set, extravagant and overblown, with a massive staircase and all. I have to acknowledge the lighting design, something I very rarely pick on for lacking. But I'll be damned if the lights changed at all during the show. It was as if James Ingalls slapped an ugly, fluorescent light on the stage and just left it there until each act ended. And then there are the actors, all unquestionably talented, who each seem to be phoning it in. Sure, Richard Kind injects some energy into the show, but compared to everyone else, his performance seems like it belongs in another play entirely. This is another Roundabout bore, and a laborious 2 hours and 20 minutes in the theater. There was no standing ovation and minimal applause during the act breaks. I also noticed a few people fleeing during intermission.

Add BIG KNIFE to the long list of Roundabout shows that have been snoozers, from THE ROAD TO MECCA to PICNIC, from PRESENT LAUGHTER to MISS WARRENS PROFESSION, from A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS to MAN AND BOY. THE BIG KNIFE is, unfortunately, another Roundabout yawn that fits comfortably within the world of all of those aforementioned productions.

Updated On: 3/25/13 at 10:06 PM

I liked it. I think it's miscast but I liked it very much.

Updated On: 3/30/13 at 11:22 PM

I, too, like The Big Knife, although only from reading it; it is undeniably lesser Odets, but still has potential to entertain. I'll still see it, only because I've wanted to see a full production for a long time.

Like many actors, Cannavale is a one-trick pony; he's never going to convincingly play an intellectual, or a person who hails from anywhere other than Eastern New Jersey, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, or one of the lower-rent towns of Western Long Island. What he does, he does well; he just doesn't do much (unlike the role's originator, John Garfield, an actor with a lot of versatility).

I do look forward to seeing what Ireland, Kind, Reeder, Rogers, and Zien do.

I'll toss my hat into the ring of those who don't think much of Hughes' work, as well - he doesn't seem to let anything like movement get in the way of the lines when he directs a play. I think he would be ecstatic directing a play about a group of quadriplegics.

I get bored easily and I did not find this boring at all. That said, I was right up front and could hear every word of dialogue perfectly. If I was shoved in the back and couldn't hear, I can imagine this would have been less than enjoyable.

Cannavale and Ireland do their best, but they just don't seem right for the roles. Cannavale didn't really portray the character's conflict -- aside from his line about "I love living like a raja here" or whatever, you didn't get from his performance that he liked the life as much as he resented it.
I actually like this play better than Golden Boy -- not so talky, for one thing. Also not as melodramatic.
It (The Big Knife) is rather heavy-handed in how it gets its message across. Even more so than Golden Boy. Also, I think this play loses CONSIDERABLE now that we're nearly 50 years removed from the studio system. Imagine seeing it in the 1940s when we didn't know all we do know about what was going on behind the scenes.
As for Roundabout, and in particular the American Airlines Theatre, you guys are right: This is the Theatre of Boring Plays.
Man and Boy, Road to Mecca, Man for All Seasons, The Philanthropist -- omigod, snooozarama! The Big Knife is a peppy lark compared to those!

Uh...did you see him in Boardwalk Empire last season?!

In which he played an Italian gangster from New York...