The sign in Sidney Brusteins window- Broadway- Page 5

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 12:13am

raddersons said: "I mean there is a lot of laughter and yelling and many emotional moments so I wouldn’t say it’s a “talky drama”… but it’s in no way a thriller. It can get a bit talky in the way that it’s very intellectual… but then the play also kind of digs into intellectualism too. I’ve heard people complain about run time, but I think knowing it’s 3 hours going in made it a lot smoother for me. While I may not have loved Act 2, it certainly wasn’t boring.


sorry this post is no help lmao"

Lol, I appreciate it. I get bored very fast with low-stake contemplative pieces.

Updated On: 4/26/23 at 12:13 AM

[yyys]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 7:14am

You'll hear bohemian a couple times in the play....

from wiki:

The play is a story about a man named Sidney, his pitfalls within his personal life, and struggles in Bohemian culture. The play premiered October 15, 1964 and received mixed reviews. It encompasses themes of race, suicide and homosexuality and also focuses on individual characters learning to cope with life.

Updated On: 4/26/23 at 07:14 AM

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 11:41am

One of my friends is already asking me what the stage door situation is (while I’m on vacation) since we’re supposed to go tomorrow.

(*sigh*) Any info?

[thesmash]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 11:42am

Rachel signed and took pictures with people. Oscar left straight to his car since it was his kids bday but I’m guessing most nights he’ll stop by for a bit

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 11:51am

Is Miriam Silverman really good?

The other two productions of the play made The actresses Tony nominees for the role.

If she gets a nom, then Mavis Parodus Bryson will join Honey from “Virgínia Woolf” and Brooke Ashton from “Noises Off” as most nominated Female Featured character in Tony history.

[raddersons]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 1:44pm

She got exit applause after her big monologue last night.

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 4/26/23 at 3:37pm

quizking101 said: "One of my friends is already asking me what the stage door situation is (while I’m on vacation) since we’re supposed to go tomorrow.

(*sigh*) Any info?"

Yes, because when seeing a show that should always be their first question...*sigh* 

[Ricey2]

Posted: 4/27/23 at 1:24am

Miriam Silverman KILLED the show in my opinion. She was my favorite part by far. 
 

Stagedoor was pretty uneventful tonight. Oscar signed half of the stage door, closest to his car. People were understanding other than this one guy yelling. The rest of the cast quickly left without signing. Rachel stopped, chatted, signed, and took pictures though. 
 

I didn’t bring a Sharpie and wasn’t close to where people were exiting tonight so I missed most of it. Stagedooring is always a bit odd. I might try again in a few weeks. I don’t blame any actor for not doing it. They deserve their privacy when they want it. 

[pathman2]

Posted: 4/27/23 at 5:14pm

Does anything visually happen when the character Gloria goes to the top level in the second act. I loved my front row rush ticket but couldn’t see the actress when she said her line up there. Thanks!

[jbm2]

Posted: 4/27/23 at 11:49pm

What’s the running time? 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/27/23 at 11:52pm

jbm2 said: "What’s the running time?"

Telecharge lists a 2 hour 45 minute runtime, including a 15-minute intermission. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 12:06am

I saw it today and I was floored by the performances but a little mixed on the play itself.

Act I is very well done, if a little talky at times, and really sets up the characters well as a marriage of two clearly different people who are slowly drifting apart and seem more intent on putting each other down than building each other up. Oscar Isaac plays the banjo multiple times during Act I - which I was impressed with since I didn't know he could (although I later remembered his breakthrough role was as a folk singer in "Inside Llewyn Davis". Brosnahan plays her cards very carefully in how she cracks and finally breaks by the end of Act I.

Act II is where things get a bit more murky and muddled, but also where Isaac REALLY gets to show off his range and impressive physicality (since Brosnahan is absent most of Act II). It eventually took the tragic ending for everything to gel a bit better, but ultimately, I did spend a good amount of the act thinking why they needed to drag this out?

Miriam Silverman was KILLER. Her whole posh "Jackie Kennedy/WASP" routine was absolutely hilarious and cringe at the same time, including one punch line she delivered that had me CACKLING. I definitely see her in the Featured Actress race (although my chips firmly remain on Crystal Lucas-Perry for AIN'T NO MO).

SD: It's only the third day and the first two show day, so future results may vary. Oscar and Rachel did not come out after the matinee (and most of the other cast made a quick wave and goodbye). After the evening show, both came out, signed and selfied, and Miriam Silverman also signed as well for those who requested (and seemed genuinely touched by the outpouring of support). As with the afternoon, most of the other cast waved, thanked, and skipped along.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 12:28am

Great review! The structure of the play is its biggest fault, but both lead performers elevate it. It’s my favorite revival of the year by far, but I recognize that isn’t the consensus amongst most.

Also, (not a read on your) can we stop including stage dooring as part of reviews? It’s clear it’s being demanded amongst a small subset of Broadway fans,  but in the long run does not matter. Enjoy the show, but what happens after doesn’t matter. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 12:52am

Maybe I missed something — tonight was the official opening, but are they not inviting critics to re-review? Or holding press until later on? Such an unusual situation. 

[UWS10023]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 1:15am

I had a front row balcony ticket for opening night which I went to pick up at the box office since Telecharge could not email it to me for some reason, and the fellow working there moved me down to the orchestra on the isle and told me it was my lucky day. I thought Oscar was very charismatic and showed himself to be a superb stage actor and Miriam was quite good. All in all the acting was solid accross the boards. The play itself was so so and Act 2 got a little languid for a stretch. The direction was not heavy handed which I appreciated. 

 

[ardiem]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 2:09am

I saw it two nights ago after having seen the BAM production earlier. The play's flaws definitely stuck out more to me this time around, but I still enjoyed and continued to find many of ifs themes to be very relevant.

This time around, I found De Niro's performance lacking - those moments where you're meant to think he's reacting to a chill in the room were jarringly unconvincing.

There's an interesting directorial choice from the BAM production that was omitted:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Late in the second act, three of the characters (I vaguely remember it being the three sisters?) pull out folding chairs and join the audience in watching Sidney on set.

I had a better view of the lighting rig and could better admire how beautifully the lighting design evokes different times of the day in a typical NYC apartment.

[The Other One]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 8:55am

Ardiem (had to capitalize because auto correct kept changing your name to radium), I am glad to hear that the moment you mention in your spoiler was done away with.  It stuck out like a sore thumb at BAM.  

At BAM I thought De Niro delivered his monologue well but wasn't fully comfortable otherwise.

I think the last-minute-grab-for-awards quality of the Broadway transfer may hurt it with the Tonys, but I would love to see Oscar nominated and am surprised he is not up for a Drama Desk Award.

[jbm2]

Posted: 4/28/23 at 9:01am

Run time? 

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 4/29/23 at 2:41pm

I liked that bit of business in the second act that (according to the spoiler embed) has been removed. I thought it framed the absurdist turn of the second act and made the other characters complicit in the fate of the furthest outsider in the play. Each to their own...

Updated On: 4/29/23 at 02:41 PM

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 4/29/23 at 10:35pm

i feel an immense pressure to appreciate this play because Lorraine Hansberry deserved a long career and national adulation, and she was robbed of both. And her sharp writing shines through here, and attention must be paid to her talent and insight. 

but some writing holds up for 60 years, and some doesnt. its hard to stay rapt with attention when these characters talk in a way thats so strange to my ear, and when the leading man is such a horrible prick. the homophobia and bigotry and misogyny is examined here, yes, but its also forgiven/accepted-- a testament to 1964, yes, but hard to reconcile now. (kudos to the production and Oscar Isaac for sticking with the original script).

i'm not sure i understand what happened at the end of Act 2 between Gloria the sister and David the upstairs neighbor? but mostly, i found myself largely bored--and the audience in general seemed restless. (the orchestra was full of people excited to see Big Celebrities but with none of the attention span required for this). 

Both leads were very good, but Brosnahan isn't given a ton to do, and disappears in Act 2. Isaac is great with an annoyingly talky character. As Act 1 ended, I thought of all the performances I had seen that grabbed me by the throat this year, and how nothing onstage tonight did, thinking specifically of TopdogUnderdog for some reason? 2 mins later I saw Corey Hawkins at the bar. 

I thought De Niro Jr. did a fine job (have i missed the nepo baby whining about him? Still just Platt and Beanie, huh? Interesting) but the stand out was without a doubt, as others have said, Miriam Silverman. I dont know why Hansberry gave all the energy and best lines to this WASP from the Upper East Side but Silverman runs away with it and deserves the Tony nomination that I assume will be coming her way.

i dont think there are bad seats for this--we were Row H, center-left--but i noticed that AGAIN we have a stage-raised-upon-the-stage situation, ala Parade. I'd imagine front orchestra is not the best.

 

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 12:42am

PipingHotPiccolo said: "I dont know why Hansberry gave all the energy and best lines to this WASP from the Upper East Side but Silverman runs away with it and deserves the Tony nomination that I assume will be coming her way."

To delight Broadway audiences who still feel more in sympathy with Mavis than the smug bohemians of Sidney's world. Hansberry knew what she was doing in creating Mavis. It won Alice Ghostley a Tony Award from the original cast. 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 1:14am

sinister teashop said: "PipingHotPiccolo said: "I dont know why Hansberry gave all the energy and best lines to this WASP from the Upper East Side but Silverman runs away with it and deserves the Tony nomination that I assume will be coming her way."

To delight Broadway audiences who still feel more in sympathy with Mavis than the smug bohemians of Sidney's world. Hansberry knew what she was doing in creating Mavis. It won Alice Ghostley a Tony Award from the original cast."

Huh? Hansberry was trying to appeal to the bigoted WASPs in the audience by lampooning a bigoted WASP? 

[raddersons]

Posted: 4/30/23 at 10:59am

PipingHotPiccolo said: "sinister teashop said: "PipingHotPiccolo said: "I dont know why Hansberry gave all the energy and best lines to this WASP from the Upper East Side but Silverman runs away with it and deserves the Tony nomination that I assume will be coming her way."

To delight Broadway audiences who still feel more in sympathy with Mavis than the smug bohemians of Sidney's world. Hansberry knew what she was doing in creating Mavis. It won Alice Ghostley a Tony Award from the original cast."

Huh? Hansberry was trying to appeal to the bigoted WASPs in the audience by lampooning a bigoted WASP?"

She is a bigoted WASP but behind her hard exterior is a woman that actually has many of the ideals as Sidney. She just chooses to ignore them to lead a certain life. It’s a smart lens for liberal New York audiences who also share those ideals, because when she snaps back to her hard exterior it’s a reminder that no matter what you think is right, if you don’t express those thoughts or act on them then you’re just as bad as her.

Updated On: 4/30/23 at 10:59 AM

[BwayinVan]

Posted: 5/1/23 at 10:41am

Looking at tickets for this and telecharge is showing row O seat 101 as partial view. Does anyone know why this orchestra seat would be partial view?

[yyys]

Posted: 5/1/23 at 10:53am

telecharge says:  "In certain scenes, actors are not in full view for the entirety of the scene."

 

BwayinVan said: "Looking at tickets for this and telecharge is showing row O seat 101 as partial view. Does anyone know why this orchestra seat would be partial view?"