Thoughts on "The Little Dog Laughed?" — Page 4

I will have to echo Mischief's sentiments. I felt as times that I was watching a poorly wriiten made for basic cable TV movie. White did give a good performance and gave some life to the overdone material but when she left the stage the play lay deflated like a broken balloon on the stage.
There was absolutly no chemistry between the male leads at all. I left the theatre like most of the other audience members that night, with a giant "eh!" on my lips and my wallet $86 lighter.
The whole evening made me wish someone would produce P.S Your Cat is Dead again.

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Saw it today.

Galecki was back and fantastic. I thought the play was alright. It often pushed a little too hard to make a joke. There would be some large dialogue or monologue followed by a one liner that didn't quite cut it.

I enjoyed Act II a lot more than Act I. I though Tom Everett Scott did a fantastic job in Act I, once he got into the groove of it, though, but seemed a bit laid back in Act II.

Now, Julie White. Fantastic performance stunted by a lack of clarity when she would scream her lines. Her voice would take on this gargle-like sound that frustrated me. But her Act II performance was worth the (TDF) price of admission alone.

And I have to actually agree with DP. I felt her little monologues (while well delivered and hilarious) interrupted the momentum of the scenes between the two guys - scenes that were more interesting than some of her monologues.

During the nudity, some guy behind me screamed out quite loudly, "OH MY GOD!"

Favorite line: I'm giving you my word. That's like a whore giving up her cherry.

Here's to White winning the Tony!

"You're asking me for my WORD? That's like asking a whore for her CHERRY!"

Too bad the show was so poorly managed and publicized. Would it have been that hard to get at least 1 of them on Regis?

Updated On: 2/18/07 at 10:03 AM

Rath (or anyone else that was at the show today) - did they do anything special? How were the performances?

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I got tickets at the last minute for saturday's matinee performance off of tdf. i enjoyed the show. i thought white was hysterical.. majoring in tv & film and taking some pr classes.. i was dying throughout the whole thing. very sad to see it close. especially because i finally saw it the day before it closed. i would have liked to see it once more. but oh well. definetely enjoyed it though..

i loved the one line in the beginning when scott asked if galecki wanted a drink. and he said "no i dont drink".. i forgot the exact line that scott said about life being so beautiful, but it made me crack up.. can anyone help me with that line?

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I loved it. The entire thing. Both times I saw it. I'm very sad it closed.

I could have asked for:

1. A better play that actually had something to say.

2. Some vague bit of chemistry between the two male leads who are supposed to be falling in love with each other.

3. Something to have been done so that the energy of the play didn't sink so disastrously every time Julie White left the stage.

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Final performance report:

The performances were the best I've seen - Scott has improved greatly. I really enjoyed Zoe Lister-Jones, and don't understand why she was replaced for the Broadway run. Her take on Ellen is very different from Graynor's, but equally as good.

Of course there was a standing ovation and cheers, and it lasted forever - Julie was crying, and I could see her mouth "I have to make the speech," finally Galecki motioned for the audience to be quiet. She began to make the Actors Fund speech, but couldn't, covering her face with her hands, overwhelmed and unable to compose herself. Finally, through her tears and with much difficulty, she gave the speech, throwing in the line "it's great to be in a profession where they give a rat's ass about you," and ending the speech with "so when I'm in the Actors Fund Old Age home, I'll have this memory as a meal to dine on." It was a beautiful line. Throughout, she was crying, and Galecki never let go of her, physically supporting her.

Finally, the four of them embraced. It was extremely moving. I'm glad I was there.

I hope she wins the Tony. I hope she has the long and prestigious theatrical career that she deserves. She's truly one of a kind.

ETA: I brought a friend who had not seen the play before and she proclaimed it the greatest performance she's ever seen on a stage.

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Updated On: 2/19/07 at 12:43 AM

I was at Saturday evening's performance, and it was wonderful to be able to see the show one last time (my fifth) before it closed. Everyone was in and spot-on, although it sounded like Galecki was still fighting a cold. Julie White was brilliant, of course; I wouldn't expect any less from her. Tom Everett Scott is better every time I see him. It was such a pleasure to have Zoe Lister Jones back. She brought depth and humanity to Ellen that is lacking in the script, and which Graynor was never really able to tap into.

Julie was crying at curtain call. She blew a kiss out and mouthed "thank you" several times. I noticed Joanna Gleason and Chris Sarandon in the audience. It's really sad to see another new American play have such a short and unsuccessful Broadway run.

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If only I could have been there.

When shows close on Sunday's it's almost impossible for me to make it.

I did get to see it once more on Valentine's Day, which was a real treat. I'm going to miss this show.

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I agree about the nudity for sure - that definitely limited the audience. As did the complete lack of marketing.


But it's either her zingy one-liners or marathon, fast-paced monologues that get such a reaction from the audience -- perhaps because they are zingy monologues or marathon, fast-paced monologues?
It was her delivery of them. Extremely unique. What she could do with a line as simple as "That's how I said it!" was absolutely mind-blowing. And she kept that up with every single line she had. Not to mention her brilliant physicality and perfect facial expressions.

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Updated On: 2/21/07 at 08:25 AM

It must be a hard one to keep balanced, they did do a great job with the sound.

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