The River Previews- Page 4

[jo]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 5:49pm

Patrick Healy (NYTimes) interviews Hugh Jackman and Jez Butterworth. The previous TimesTalks session among the three was also very revealing --

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/theater/hugh-jackman-tests-his-limits-in-the-river.html?_r=1

[pushdabutton]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 7:51pm

I still can't decide if I should buy a ticket for The River or not. I'm getting the impression that opinions are split. Some like it, some don't.

I only have time to see two shows and can't decide which ones to see.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 7:53pm

If you want to see Jackman doing something like reading a phone book, see this

If I had a choice, I would see something else. Just my opinion

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 7:59pm

Written by someone who hasn't seen it.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 8:14pm

Roxy, everyone knows your opinion already because you won't stop posting about it. Honestly, what is your problem? Don't you have anything better to do than keep checking and posting on a thread that you don't care about?

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 8:31pm

"I only have time to see two shows and can't decide which ones to see."

It really depends what the other show is, but for the most part, I'd skip it.

[teresa2]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 10:50pm

The show has gotten better since last week. There were changes made and things added and cut. Tonight Hugh cut his thumb and was bleeding a lot. He had it wrapped in a bandage when he left.
If you are undecided you should try rush or SRO. I got a rush ticket for tonight.they are only 35.00.

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/5/14 at 10:59pm

I read the play a few months ago, and saw the matinee today. I am a fan of Pinter and Ionesco and generally will try to find some way of dealing with a play's "message" even if the message is unclear, as long as there is something intriguing presented.

I don't feel that Butterworth has good control of the effect he is trying to create. None of the characters seemed to be involved with each other. Had there been a sense of danger or suspense, or at least actual affection, this highly patterned work might have been gripping. But it seemed to me to be a lot of repetition without any progression. I was bored. The man in the seat next to me fell asleep at the one hour mark.

The acting is serviceable. Just not enough to keep me engaged or make me think about the play for even a nanosecond after it was over. The applause was tepid from an audience that gave Jackman rapturous entrance applause.

[musicman_bwayfan]

Posted: 11/6/14 at 3:44am

Has anyone tried to see Hugh going in? When he did Back on Broadway, on his way in he'd stop and give people who were there a decent amount of personalized attention for a few minutes each. A friend of mine is going to be visiting and would love to see for more than a moment after the show.

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/6/14 at 3:56am

I believe the general rule of theater etiquette is don't bother an actor going into the theater. He has to sign in on time under Equity rules, and he may already be getting mentally focused. On the other hand, although I don't know this for a fact, I am told Hugh Jackman is one of the sweetest most accommodating people around and would probably stop if he could.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 11/7/14 at 3:15pm

teresa2: how early did you get in line for the rush ticket?

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/7/14 at 3:32pm

"I believe the general rule of theater etiquette is don't bother an actor going into the theater. He has to sign in on time under Equity rules, and he may already be getting mentally focused."

Agreed, please don't annoy them by trying to get them to give you attention before the show. That is what a stage door is for.

[teresa2]

Posted: 11/7/14 at 3:44pm

I got there on Sat later than I planned. I arrived about 8:45 and I was #14 in line. I got two tix for the mat. I think there being two shows that day helped. The first person told me they got there at 5, but they said they really didn't need to as the next person didn't come till 6. I was a little concerned about how it would be as on the first day of the advance rush people camped out. I wasn't planning to do that. A friend of mine got a rush ticket Wed night at 6:00 pm for that evening. Hope that helps.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 11/7/14 at 4:33pm

^ It really does...thank you!

[teresa2]

Posted: 11/7/14 at 10:35pm

Your welcome. I think if you are planning to try tomorrow you should be okay either for rush or SRO.
Good Luck!!

[musicman_bwayfan]

Posted: 11/8/14 at 4:28pm

A friend of mine has 1 extra full price ticket for tonight, November 8th at 8pm.

The other person going with him is suddenly no longer available this evening.

Please contact him at [e-mail] for details.

[Tom-497]

Posted: 11/8/14 at 8:03pm

I thought this afternoon's performance was very good, and the audience response appeared positive overall. The show got a fairly enthusiastic standing ovation, and I was happy to be part of it (usually I just stand so I can see the actors take their bows).

I'm sure there were a decent number of people who found the show boring, but on the way out the comments that I heard (all from different, unrelated people) were "excellent," "haunting," and "a lot better than that police thing he did" -- A Steady Rain, I'm guessing, and I'd certainly agree.

All the actors were good, especially Jackman, but I think there's still room for improvement across the board. In particular, when Jumbo attempted to appear nervous, awkward, mortified, and brittle (which was fairly often), she came across too much like a self-dramatizing, superficial teenager, rather than a mature adult who'd been thrown off balance by the fear that her (and her lover's) emotions might be getting too strong too quickly.

As others have noted, the play's last line has been totally rewritten from the version in the text, and the rewrite is a significant improvement, I think. In the text, the final line somehow manages to be simultaneously heavy-handed, obvious, obscure, and confusing -- quite a feat.

The new final line, without by any means tying up everything in a neat bow, at least allows the viewer to more reasonably guess at what is and what has been taking place on stage.

Also, the severe, live no-cell-phones-at-all announcement by an understudy at the start of the show worked well -- I didn't hear a single ring or buzz.

[jo]

Posted: 11/8/14 at 8:46pm

Maybe that cellphone interruption incident during "that police thing" which went viral was still fresh on people's minds

Thanks for the mid-previews review.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/8/14 at 9:05pm

Wow, they have an understudy step out to make that announcement?
Also, which understudy appeared at the end at your performance?

When I saw the show at the start of the week, it was only the lengthy note in the Playbill and ushers reminding you about the phone policy and no late entry.

[Tom-497]

Posted: 11/8/14 at 9:22pm

SPOILER


The understudy at the end was Jessica Love, I believe (blonde, fair). The other understudy, Kerry Warren, made the fairly lengthy and none-too-friendly cell phone announcement (which received considerable applause).

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/8/14 at 9:43pm

Not friendly? Oh dear.
Well, at least they are using both covers for something. I am assuming that the two women alternate those duties.

[greatwhiteway72]

Posted: 11/8/14 at 10:36pm

Can anyone who has seen the show specify what exactly these two understudies do/say? Now i'm curious...

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/8/14 at 10:52pm

SPOILER

one understudy appears briefly in the final scene of the play, playing a third woman that Hugh's character takes to the cabin. It is uncredited in the Playbill and listedonly on the understudy board in the lobby, but not in your direct field of view if you go directly into the theatre.

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 11/8/14 at 11:13pm

So I got a pair of $35 rush tickets this past Monday (I arrived at 9am) for today's matinee. I figured the seats would be less than ideal, but we were in front row "riverbank" seats! I don't know if all the $35 rush tickets are riverbank seats - probably not - but we got lucky. I enjoyed the play, but I knew going in that it was Jez Butterworth, so...yeah.

*spoilers* It was funny, in the line for the ladies' restroom after the show, I overheard lots of conversations about what the play was about: "I think he killed all those women! He was a serial killer!"

[MX888]

Posted: 11/9/14 at 12:50am

$35 riverbank seats! so lucky!

Despite the constant reminders to turn off all cell phones, one did go off during the show on 11/3. It sounded like it came from one of the riverbank rows too - in the middle, right where Jackman was standing and giving a monologue. You could tell he was perturbed by it but he never broke character.