The House of Blue Leaves- 1st preview

[jbm2]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 1:45pm

Anyone going? Cant wait to hear people reviews..
Updated On: 4/4/11 at 01:45 PM

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 2:17pm

I'll be there tonight...knowing almost nothing about the show, so I'll report back!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 2:22pm

Please report back and let us know.

House of Blue Leaves is one of my favorite plays. I'm hesitant to see this production because I have such great memories of the Mahoney/Kurtz/Baranski production.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 2:36pm

I see it the Monday after next.

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 3:44pm

For those who missed it on TDF last week it just popped back up Tues, Wed & Thurs nights this week

[Huss417]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 3:48pm

"House of Blue Leaves is one of my favorite plays. I'm hesitant to see this production because I have such great memories of the Mahoney/Kurtz/Baranski production."

I agree with you Gothampc. I actually am going to pull out my copy and watch it again. One of the first shows I converted from video to dvd.

I love Edie Falco so once I heard the word of mouth I might have to check it out.

[jbm2]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 10:59pm

anyone back from seeing this?
curious to hear how people like it.

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 11:48pm

I just got back! First off, I saw one of the annoying "anyone got a ticket" people! Balding, chubby man with glasses, looks semi-homeless. (Sorry, had to mention him after reading the thread on here!)

On to the show - Edie Falco should play all the parts. She was stunning - pathetic, funny, real. The rest of the cast, with the exception of the movie star and the nuns, was mediocre at best, with Jennifer Jason Leigh turning in a painfully bland and unfunny performance.

The woman sitting next to me opined, "She has no crackle, no spark" and the awesome queen sitting in front of us turned around and said, "She's not ****ing funny!" I found myself checking out the painting on the walls of the theater when Leigh was talking - she was really that poor. I think she'd have fared better if the roles had been switched, and she'd been the schizophrenic housewife. As it was, line after funny line sailed by in silence, one lead balloon after another.

Stiller was mainly angry and unlikeable - he should also be pathetic, and inspire sympathy in the audience, but he was pretty one-note angry. You need to feel the character's desperation, and Stiller doesn't have that yet.

Mainly, aside from Falco, the production is lifeless. A shame, as it's one of my favorite plays!

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 4/4/11 at 11:57pm

I agree with pennydreadful. Falco was wonderful, but Leigh was just annoying and unfunny. I also had some trouble hearing her. I liked the play well enough, but think that I would have warmed to it more with solid performances all around. I did find the final moment stunning and was glad to have been surprised by the ending.

[April Saul]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:01am

Aaaarrgghh! I had such high hopes for this one. So what was the running time and where were the TDF seats, if that's what you bought? Thanks much...

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:03am

Eek - not good- this script is so challenging to pull off- productions of it are usually either brilliant or fall completely flat. Sounds like this production at the very least needs some more time.

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:04am

Tonight was sold out (or heavily papered), so my TDF ticket was in the last row of the mezzanine. It could have been worse - there was a teeny balcony above us, with people peering over the lights! I was pretty far away from the action, but the sight lines were good. Everyone around me was a TDF ticket, as well.

Crap, I can't remember the running time - 2 hours and 15 minutes, maybe? Not that long, and it has an intermission.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:06am

yikes...i was hoping this production would at least be decent. seeing it tomorrow night (and apparently i'll be peering over the lights). oh well!

[April Saul]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:10am

hey Trace, I'll see you up there in the faraway seats

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:32am

It's worth seeing, just for Edie Falco. I'm sure it will tighten up as previews continue, and I hope Stiller finds his mojo - I know he can do it!

Hopefully Leigh will get laryngitis and an understudy will replace her. That sounded mean - I don't actually want bad things to happen to her, I just don't want her to be onstage in this. She's got a major part, and drags the whole thing down.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:39am

Bunny is a pretty ****ing fabulous- and hilarious- role. It's a shame to hear that it's neither in this production.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:42am

I've felt like Jennifer Jason Leigh was horribly miscast from the day her involvement in this production was announced. A zany comedic role like Bunny could not be further from what she does well, even though there are definitely dark subtleties there that need to be explored. Someone like Allison Janney or Jennifer Coolidge would have been a lot more appropriate (and certainly a lot more fun.)

While I have no doubt that Edie Falco will make for an absolutely stunning Bananas, I actually would have been interested to see what she would have done with Bunny. It's a little more out of the box for her, but I think maybe that's why I find the idea so intriguing. There's literally nothing she can't do.

Anyone care to list the understudies?

Updated On: 4/5/11 at 12:42 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 1:05am

Jennifer Coolidge would be a riot as Bunny.

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 1:12am

Going into this, I'd assumed Falco was Bunny and Leigh was Bananas. When Leigh came through the door and starting spouting Bunny's lines, I was floored!

Coolidge would have been *amazing* as Bunny. I can just imagine what she'd have done with, "Orion - the Irish constellation"!

After seeing this tonight, and Jerusalem yesterday, I am now dying to see a play starring Edie Falco AND Mark Rylance. I would 'splode! Updated On: 4/5/11 at 01:12 AM

[thismyshow]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 2:05am

how was alison pill (as a big scott pilgrim fan im excited to see her in this.)

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 3:11am

A grand total of 2 people have commented on the first preview and posters as experienced and sophisticated as MichaelBennett already believe that the production "at the very least" needs some more time. I love boards like this but I find they're becoming increasingly toxic as first audience members (in this case 2 of them) set the tone for a production's reputation.

My favorite productions and performances are rarely unanimously praised. Joseph Papp said "If no one walks out, you aren't doing your job right." In this climate, it seems the opposite is becoming true. If not everyone thinks it's wonderful, immediately there are aarghs, and eeks and ah wells.

As for Jennifer Jason Leigh, I found her adorably funny in The Big Picture and Miami Blues. I was in the minority in appreciating her performances in Cabaret and Proof and agree that she doesn't seem perfectly cast in this but that's part of why I'm excited to see it. Cromer likes to go against expectation in his shows and that's what, for me, is the draw with revivals like Our Town and Blue Leaves.

After the chorus of disapproval here, I'm still hoping against hope for a good time.

[April Saul]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 9:04am

Personally, I don't find these boards toxic...nor do I think the posters on this thread are being particularly unkind, just honest in their reactions. I tend to take everything I read here with the proverbial grain of salt, but I think the exchange of opinions in general is terrific.

[donte7162004]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 9:15am

I just bought tickets yesterday and they're in the "teeny" balcony.....now I'm kinda nervous and I have this vision that we'll be sitting on a 2 x 4 suspended from the ceiling next to the hot lights....please someone tell me that these seats aren't that bad!!!

I have wonderful memories of this show from when it was on PBS years ago...so I'm hoping this version is just as good. Swoosie Kurtz is a big act to follow.....but I have high hopes for Edie Falco.

Updated On: 4/7/11 at 09:15 AM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 9:18am

Someone on ATC who had a TDF ticket was seated in Row B of the mezz on the extreme side.

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 9:39am

Chris, you will totally have a good time. Edie Falco, and nuns coming in off the roof - I didn't like most of the performances and was up in the nosebleed section, but I still had a good time! It's a great play.

Donte, you are high up, but not on a 2 X 4!

I was there on opening night of previews, so the house was sold out. I bet future nights won't necessarily be sold out, especially during the week, so TDF tickets will probably be better than mine was. Orchestra or front mezz.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this play progresses through previews.