The Portuguese Kid (Previews)

John Patrick Shanley's new play The Portuguese Kid begins previews tonight at City Center Stage I. Will anybody be there this evening or soon? I'm going in early October and I'm looking forward to it!

I have tickets for 9/30. The only John Patrick Shanley show I have seen is Outside Mullingar which I very much enjoyed so I am looking forward to this.

I'd say this is one of John Patrick Shanley's more successful efforts. Overwrought and over- the-top from the get go, forced a good part of the time, coarse and at times caricatural, the play nonetheless garners an ample supply of laughs, and the tale it tells has a satisfying arc.The audience seemed entertained by it, as, to a certain degree, was I. Sherie Rene Scott has the showiest role, and she makes the most of it. Jason Alexander is just as good in a less flashy part. Aimee Carrero and Pico Akexander were both exceptionally good.. Unfortunately, Mary Testa was saddled with a pugnacious and stubbornly unfunny character.

Four set changes in a 100 minute evening with no intermission.

I was there last night and tried to post earlier, but somehow my post got deleted!

I really liked this. It is essentially a 90 minute sitcom, but it made me laugh. The set up is schticky, but it works. I thought the first scene in the lawyer's office was most successful, and the last scene went on a bit too long (and turned into a bit of a shouting match). I agree, that Sherie was excellent. She is a great comedic actress, and this shows of her talents well. I will say that I Mary Testa was my favorite though. I thought she was hysterical for the most part.

Aimee Carerro was also wonderful and it was a delight to see her onstage as she is great on the TV show Young and Hungry. The set changes (which felt like commercial breaks) were pretty impressive. Some of the bigger sets I have scene in that space. Jason Alexander does have the least showy part but he still has some nice moments and a few things (the tissue box) reminded me of Seinfeld and really made me laugh. Pico Alexander was gorgeous (may have to see Home Again now!) and landed a few great jokes as well.

Overall they are still finding their timing (they rushed through some jokes, I thought there needed to be more time to give for the audience to react), but I'm sure another week or so in front of an audience and they will be great.

The material isn't mind blowing, but for a light and entertaining play this is one I enjoyed in large part thanks to a strong cast.

TELTPK for $59 tickets.

lczvera said: "It's a MTC production. So if you happen to be under 30 or can bring a friend who is under 30, use code 3U3 to get a $30 tix."

Thank you! Looks like there is only one seat left for my date and it's $112.50 plus fees. The code shows no seats for that lower promo code price, and I am over 30 with no friends under 30 traveling with me. Oh well, now to decide what to do.

Thanks AfterEight, dave1606, and Alfie6 for the early reports! Even more excited to see this now.

I saw this tonight, and enjoyed it quite a bit! I've never been exposed to Shanley's work before (not even Doubt or Moonstruck, though the latter is one of my mom's favorite films). Knowing it was a light comedy, I really wasn't expecting much, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised. Shanley's dialogue is impeccably written. He has such a sharp wit, and he really packs in the jokes. The whole cast has excellent timing, and they work together really well.

I've always found Sherie Rene Scott to be kind of annoying, but I'm really starting to turn around on her. She was a surprisingly good Gertrude in Hamlet this summer, and she delivers a really outstanding comedic performance in this.

The play has some heart to it too, particularly in the end. The plot has echoes of A Little Night Music. Ultimately, the subject matter and themes are fairly run of the mill, but they're hardly the point. It's the comedy and the cast that makes the show soar. I agree with Alfie that there were some moments that dipped in energy a bit. But part of it is just that they really hit the ground running from the very top of the show, packing in a lot of laughs from the get-go. So the less high-octane moments feel lower by comparison, though I think they're still good.

In any case, I would recommend this to people. It's not life-changing theatre, but it's a very fun evening, and even if you don't like Shanley's writing, I think it's worth it anyway for the cast.

I have to agree with bakerwilliams that this was overall a disappointment. There are some great moments in the show but I felt like they weren’t enough to make up for the times the show dragged, particularly the painful second scene. The cast was great across the board particularly Mary Testa and Aimee Carrero who I felt were both standouts. Overall it was just meh but at 30 dollars I can’t complain that much

I am curious to know how people felt about the constant “did you vote for trump jokes” in the show. Don’t get me wrong I am all for people making fun at that man but I couldn’t really figure out what point they served for the show. I thought the first mention was funny and the last mention in the final scene also worked but everything in between just didn’t make sense to me. It felt like it was just sprinkled in for no reason. Maybe someone can shed some light

Relevance81491 said: "... I will admit here and now that I voted for Trump (would do it again if my choices were the same)and found his stereotype of Trump supporters highly offensive (we all must bemisogynistic biggots)"

The portrayal of Trump supporters in this play was 120% accurate (just see the label you put in parenthesis). I thoroughly enjoyed this play. It was a charming and witty battle of the sexes.

Relevance81491 said: I will admit here and now that I voted for Trump (would do it again if my choices were the same)


You sir, are a fool

This play slashes Trump and his supporters? Really? Great! Can't wait to see it. Time for a comedy after the American tragedy to which we've been subjected since November.