The Country Girl 4/3/08...yikes — Page 3

Hey Adam Greer and Jordan! After my last post in which I said I hated to read the bad review twice because I have tickets to this, I even put a smiley face so you would know I was kidding...I was NOT seriously criticizing Adam for slamming the play twice, only expressing my dismay because I've paid my money already! Just for the record, I was only trying to raise the issue of early previews being a risk...Yikes!

April ~ Ok, thanks. I missed the smiley-face. Sorry!

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The lights came up at 10:20,so about 2 hours, 20 minutes.

"As Simon Cowell often says, it's an opinion. You don't have to listen to it. Keep your mouth shut and stop hurling accusations."

Shut up? Touchy,touchy, ShbrtAlley44, don't like the criticism of your opinion? Suck it up. Anything you post here is up for discussion, even though quite honestly, I wasn't directing my comments to you. That was your ego thinking it's all about you, I guess. I hadn't even bothered to read your posts and after reading them, they weren't worth the bother.

Was anyone there tonight?

Ironic - if Gallagher is NOT calling her "Mrs. Dodd" at least twice, he is making a mistake! As noted earlier, it is scripted that he refer to her twice by his own name.

Keen - are you sure? It wouldn't make sense in the play.

Unless I just didn't catch it, but I was specifically looking for it after hearing comments on Thursday's performance.

I'll have to find a copy of the play and read it now.

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I saw the play last evening. Yieks is right. Where did they rehearse this show? On two different planets?

Firstly, and I'm not sure if this is different than earlier previews, but Act 1 is 3 scenes and a short 45mins. Act 2 is 4 scenes and 65 minutes. We were out of the theatre at 10:05. There was an insert in the playbill with different scenes in different Acts, so I'm not sure if they were switching it up last night or not.

IMO, the way I saw it - the play doesnt work. ESPECIALLY this production of it. It's not a bad play, but its not one of Odetts best - and sadly to say, the direction and Freeman & McDormand are all working against each other. Well especially the 2 leads, I'm thinking Nichols took a vacation on the whole thing - its not his typical work at all.

I know we are still in prievews, so I can forgive the going up on lines and trying to find your place on stage (I guess) - but the 2 leads have zero chemistry and the play has nothing to pull you in except Peter Gallagher, who turns in a very good performance opposite 2 actors who are miscast in The Country Girl.

The references and comparrisons to COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA are inevitable. Same time period, drunk husband-scorned wife, inter-racial casting. But the way Sheba pulled you in, made you care, and took you on a ride, this production of THE COUNTRY GIRL does not. I'm not saying the play couldn't or shouldn't - I'm saying this production is a misfire and it's ashame. The set is as bland and unintersting as they come as well. Oh well...

When I saw it, the lights came up at 10:25, but we also had a ten or fifteen-minute holdup while they dealt with technical difficulties.

It's true that this revival makes it seem like the story is about Frank. I don't think Morgan Freeman was miscast (aside from taking all the attention from Georgie simply because he is Morgan Freeman, but he can't help that). He didn't come off to me as too strong for the role. He came off as someone who used to be strong but has fallen from grace. I think with another actor, I would have been questioning why all these people stuck by him and believed in him even after he *******spoiler!!!****** went back to drinking. *********end spoiler******** It's because they knew what he could be, and Freeman allowed the audience a glimpse of that as well, so that we could root for him.

Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I thought, while they still need work, the performances were wonderful.

Keen, since you've studied the play, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts when you see it.

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This show isn't Roundabout's.

eta: (although they did do it a while back)

Updated On: 4/8/08 at 10:54 AM

Oh, Why did I think it was Roundabout's? Well, that mistake negates the whole legitimacy of my diatribe. Sorry Roundabout, I do love you.........

The fact that they STILL don't know their lines is disturbing.

But, more importantly, here's my question. Why did they choose this play to appear in? I could think of a whole multitude of plays I would like to see Morgan Freeman appear in. Why this one? Why not something with a little more "oomph"?? Freeman's best scene in the entire play is at the beginning when he is "improvving" the angry father. Why not give him a play where he do more scenes like that? This choice of play puzzles me.

In the Times review from the Roundabout production (I'd looked it up to make sure my memory was correct) it mentions that even Odets considered it to be a "superficial" work.