The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#1
Posted: 3/31/11 at 5:50pmHaven't heard much about this...I'm coming to town. Do we think its worth seeing?
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#2
Posted: 3/31/11 at 5:53pmwith the cast in this, im expecting a crazy night of theater....
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/17/06
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#2
Posted: 3/31/11 at 6:50pmbut, thisismyshow, will there be a rush? I'm wondering if they're going to have to do anything better than the discount, since they haven't put it on TDF for the first week of perfs...
Joined: 12/31/69
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#3
Posted: 3/31/11 at 9:35pmThe cast seems good, and the play, if done right, is IMHO a masterpiece--I'd go just on those two facts alone. PBS filmed a great production of the play in 1987, with Christine Baranski, Swoozie Kurts, John Mahoney and a young Ben Stiller that has never been commercially released (but is well worth tracking down). There's one clip from it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj56am0sbd0
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#4
Posted: 3/31/11 at 11:13pm
A masterpiece, really? I think the first 30mins are brilliant and well done. But after that the play just seems to take a nosedive and is so boring. Then picks back up again in ACT II. But I've never seen the play live, just seen the recording you mentioned, and a friend's production.
I just hope they don't do it on the cheap.
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#5
Posted: 3/31/11 at 11:15pm
April
I was at the box office last week and the guy told me they'd most likely do some sort of rush he didn't know if it would be general or student but it def. WON'T be a lottery
I actually think rush is better on the theatre's part because then they don't have to pay someone to do lotto
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#6
Posted: 3/31/11 at 11:22pm
what do you mean....don't do it on the cheep?
how long is the play?
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#7
Posted: 4/1/11 at 12:40am
Boring? Are you serious? I think it's one of the most "spellbinding" plays ever written. Yes, masterpiece would be a word that fits.
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#8
Posted: 4/1/11 at 1:04amI see it in a few weeks and am looking forward to it.
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#9
Posted: 4/1/11 at 1:08amI know nothing about this show....but am very interested in it because of the cast. Is it a comedy? drama? How old is it? When was it first on Broadway?
Joined: 12/31/69
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#10
Posted: 4/1/11 at 1:08amWell it's a masterpiece to me, though youtube has some pretty awful seeming community productions, so I guess it depends. But I was infatuated with the play just by reading it as an early teen--a long time before I saw it--so that could play a part. Still, I stand by what I said. (I do think it has to be really well directed to keep the momentum of the opening).
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#11
Posted: 4/1/11 at 1:45am
A masterpiece, really? I think the first 30mins are brilliant and well done. But after that the play just seems to take a nosedive and is so boring.
Yes, really.
I think it one of the great American plays. After the first 30 minutes it only get better and richer. I hope this production is a success. It will be hard to beat the memory of the Zak's revival.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#12
Posted: 4/1/11 at 2:42pm
jbm - it's definitely a comedy, with dark overtones. The original Off-Broadway production was around 1968, with Harold Gould, Katherine Helmond, Anne Meara (Ben Stiller's mom), William Atherton, and Frank Converse.
In the 1987 revival, Ben Stiller played the son, a soldier who goes AWOL in order to try and assasinate the Pope, who's visiting New York. In the current revival, Stiller playes the father.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/17/06
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#13
Posted: 4/1/11 at 8:29pmIt went up on TDF today and I grabbed a ticket for next week...psyched!
Understudy Joined: 4/15/10
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#14
Posted: 4/1/11 at 9:41pm
I'll jump on the masterpiece bandwagon.
When I saw Blue Leaves in 1987 I didn't know what to expect being completely unfamiliar with the play. Once I had seen it, I couldn't forget it and went back two more times. The cast; especially Mahoney and Kurth were incredible.
I'm looking forward to seeing it again.
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#15
Posted: 4/2/11 at 4:03amJust impulsively snagged a TDF ticket for this!! I'm going in not knowing anything about it, so I'm very glad to hear the raves for the source material!
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#16
Posted: 4/2/11 at 9:21amYep, I got a TDF ticket too for the first preview, so I'll report back Monday night!
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#17
Posted: 4/2/11 at 9:26amDamn! I just checked TDF and it's not up anymore. Not to be "that guy," but...has a rush policy been announced?
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/17/06
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#18
Posted: 4/2/11 at 10:18amNo, a rush policy hasn't been announced, and when I asked at the box office a couple of weeks ago, they had no plans for it, but you never know. I would think it'll pop back up on TDF, at least for the Monday night preview perfs, since that's such a slow theater night in NYC.
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#19
Posted: 4/2/11 at 10:57amI'm sure it will end up back on TDF. For a show that features one of the most successful film actors working and a modern TV icon, it really doesn't appear to be selling that well.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/17/06
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#20
Posted: 4/2/11 at 11:35amWelcome to theater in the 2011 economy, right? I am trying to learn to be patient, because there rarely seems to be the need to even use discount codes lately, almost everything is on TDF or has a rush...
Broadway Star Joined: 9/13/09
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#21
Posted: 4/2/11 at 12:37pmMe too April, I jumped the gun on a few shows that I did not think would show up on TDF and was surprised they did. I had already gotten a ticket for THOBL but after reading some of these posts I jumped on getting one on TDF to see it sooner. Hopefully it does not disappoint.
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#22
Posted: 4/2/11 at 1:02pm
Add me to the list of those who consider the play to be a masterpiece, second only to SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION as one of Guare's best.
And, as wonderful as Christine Baranski was as Bunny (and she was wonderful), it's a shame that Stockard Channing's performance wasn't preserved. She was even better - far more nuanced, howlingly funny and yet just as vulnerable as Swoosie Kurtz's Bananas. To have seen the two of them on stage together is still one of the highlights of my theater-going life. Two brilliant performance from two of the premier actresses of our time.
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#23
Posted: 4/2/11 at 1:49pmI've heard such a wide range of opinions about Channing's Bunny that I'm really disappointed I never got to see it.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/17/06
The House of Blue Leaves — whats the buzz?#24
Posted: 4/2/11 at 10:36pm
I hear you, Luv2Go! I was so sure Bengal Tiger would be a tough ticket that I actually paid face value--only to find that there weren't even enough people to have a lottery at the performance I attended! Thank God I held back on Blue Leaves and Jerusalem, mostly because I'd already spent too much $. I have also started volunteer ushering, I kid you not 
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