The Last Ship Closing January 24th — Page 4

Yes. Mantello has composed some stunning visuals. The show moves beautifully, yet its story is told with those indelible tableaux, the frozen moments that capture the essence of the shipbuilding experience in particular. That's a masterful part of the achievement, the production's ability to capture the gritty milieu with accuracy employing an entirely theatrical stylization. The use of real power tool props, rain, and even all of the flowing ale take us into the world in near cinematic terms. And yet the actual production style is not naturalistic by any definition. We are invited into this world with a minimalism and shorthand, and though we are given almost surreal effects, we are palpably aware of the place and its limitations and boundaries, physical and figurative. When I picture the show, I see a series of snapshots, so beautifully lit they are like paintings.

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If you truly believe there was no "reason" for building the last ship, you kind of missed the entire point. You call it a metaphor, but metaphors are intangible. These were shipbuilders, and the shipyard was being sold to a company that would use the property to turn ships into scrap metal (another metaphor, of course). The men wanted to build one last ship, sail it down the river, and bury the old priest at sea. Where they went after that wouldn't matter because they finished a proud symbol of the work that they and their forefathers had all spent their lives doing. And they did it as an act of defiance to the death of British shipbuilding. I suppose a union would call it a "work action."

And I found The Last Ship to be the most heartfelt, involving, and emotionally moving show I have seen in a long, long time. Its failure says nothing about its quality, but more about today's audiences.

I saw the show on Saturday night and I was absolutely enchanted. I was leaning forward in my seat for most of the night and it was obvious the rest of the audience felt the same way I did. I ordered my ticket on Friday and managed to get row K in the center orchestra. I was two rows behind Trudy and right behind Tamara Tunie. Rachel Tucker even commented after the show about how enthusiastic the audience had been.

I just didn't think the U.S. isn't the right audience for this show, because we lack ship builder.

Whether or not we have a ship building industry in the US has 0% effect on whether people want to buy tickets to this show.

Just because the US isn't known for their shipbuilding doesn't mean much of anything. I was reminded of Phil Coulter's "Working Man" which is about the closing of a factory. Just last week I was talking to a coworker who used to live in Texas because he husband was employed by the GM plant but had to move when the plant closed. Or, one of the Hallmark Christmas movies I saw over the holiday season was about a town that died after the mine closed. The idea of the majority of a town's residents being employed by one company is not primarily a British thing. It happens all over the world. Towns were built around particular companies, industries, etc. And when things end it's tough for the residents to find work without moving.

I was also at the show last night. The theater was full, as far as I could tell, and the audience was very enthusiastic, not just for Sting but for all of the performers. I thought Fred Applegate as the Irish priest kind of stole everything, but he also had a number of the best songs.

Ah, yes! I loved him and he made me completely forget I'd seen him in other shows. He had the best lines and the best moments. I think he was my favorite person in the cast.

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SAw it one last time at the matinee. Glorious.

An imperfect show but still a mostly successful one by the end, thanks to the score, company, design and staging. I wish the second act built on the first, instead of simply re-introducing the situation (it really is a show about a situation, most of the story in the past and then the final ten minutes) and then using valuable stage time to steer us into a subplot, a death that doesn't really alter the arc of the central story, though they certainly work hard to suggest its emotional relevance. But it's a quibble, and a couple of the best numbers are in act two.

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Last night's performance was filmed for the NYPL Lincoln Center archives.
They announced it beforehand and the audience responded loudly.
What a beautifully crafted show - it should have had a longer run.

"But it's a quibble,"

One person's quibble is another person's major problem. One of many major problems.

The same pattern seems to be developing here with the foundering Ship as with last season's equally dismal clunker, Bridges: initial tepid/negative response on this board, followed by audience rejection, a closing notice, and then a groundswell of crying and teeth-gnashing by those who laud these duds as if they were the greatest things since Carousel.

Please, do yourselves --- and us --- a favor. Get a box of Kleenex (or several), wipe away your tears, and then, for heaven's sake, open your eyes. See things as they are, and stop trying to spin dross into gold. It can't be done, and moreover, no one is buying the spin.

Will the recording of this show be available to purchase (I hope)?

"Will the recording of this show be available to purchase (I hope)?"

Err, you mean the CD? That is available. Video? No.

Having After Eight come and sh!t on a thread where everyone is gathered to celebrate something is all part of the process, I'm afraid... he's allergic to joy.

He seems to not add one thing to the cycle he outlined, which is him nattering on about how bad the show is at the moments where people are most inclined to want to send a show off well.

He will do the same song and dance when Fun Home is back, too, although I'm not sure if he will blather on about it for its first preview, opening, or possibly throughout.... but, oh, when it closes... he will be there. He will be there on that glorious day, and remind you why, and urge you to see the world for all it truly is...

Updated On: 1/24/15 at 09:11 AM

Haterobics---I do have the CD recording. I was asking about the Lincoln Center recording which was recently made (for the archives)---will they make a DVD version available for sale?

"I was asking about the Lincoln Center recording which was recently made (for the archives)---will they make a DVD version available for sale?"

No, those are done purely for archival purposes. People can view them on site if they have some legitimate reason to, but I never did figure out what that reason might be.

There is a DVD of Sting performing the songs at the Public Theater available commercially, though.