Underrated Plays
Underrated Plays
#0Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 4:08pm
A while back, there was a thread about underrated musicals, so I decided to make one for plays. What's your choice for best and most underrated play?
The one that always immediately comes to mind for me is "Hollywood Arms". Despite mostly favorable reviews (including a front-page rave from the Times) and Michele Pawk's incredible Tony-winning performance, the show only ran two-and-a-half months. Even thinking about Ms. Pawk's performance brings back the memory of her tour de force turn as Louise, an aspiring actress who moves her daughter and mother (Linda Lavin) to a crummy Hollywood hotel so that she can pursue her dreams. It was written by Carol Burnett and her late daughter, Carrie Hamilton, as a sort of theatrical roman-a-clef. I saw it five times during its short run.
So, cast your vote.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#1re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 4:43pmI like The Man Who Came To Dinner and Rumors--- are they underrated?
#2re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 4:45pmYes, I would consider them both underrated. "Rumors" is hilarious.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#3re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 4:47pmMy school did Rumors last yr and we're doing "Man Who Came To Dinner" this year, Im the expressman who brings in the mummy case and the peguins
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#5re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 4:51pmyup... Can I say MEF... u made me wanna buy Amour and I LOVE IT!!!
WOSQ
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
#6re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 4:53pm
Rumors could be put in the 'underated' pile.
The Man Who Came to Dinner is a Broadway classic.
My choice for an underated play? Lorraine Hansberry's 'other' play, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window.
We ought to all have a bad play to champion and this is mine.
#7re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 4:55pm
Thanks, Clumsy. Glad you enjoy it! 
Yes, The Sign... is brilliant and better than Raisin.
magruder
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#8re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 4:59pm
I really loved La Bete, which could have received more support from Broadway critics. I thought it was an audacious debut for a playwright, with a dream of a production, and it was one of very few commercial productions of a play in the season it opened. I felt it deserved better.
#9re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 5:03pmI will go out on a limb and say that "The Old Neighborhood" is David Mamet's finest work. Patti LuPone's performance was a revelation.
magruder
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#10re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 5:11pmBut that third one act in The Old Neighborhood was so marred by Rebecca Pidgeon's terrible performance.
Ruth Sherwood
Leading Actor Joined: 10/4/04
#11re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 5:14pmI completely agree about Hollywood Arms! The performances were magnificent, as was the show. It deserved more than 2 1/2 months!
#12re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 5:18pmDo you think Ms. Pidgeon would ever get an acting job if she wasn't married to a man who can write her a part in everything?
magruder
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#14re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 5:23pmShe actually fares better in his films, but on stage, she's no match for his dialogue.
#15re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 5:30pmI played 'Alton Scales' in a production of Lorraine Hansberry's 'other' play, "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window" a number of years ago downtown at the Van Dam theatre. The cast also featured Joaquim de Almeida ('Max') who was just starting out. I think that it's a pretty good play and totally underrated. It only ran for five performances when it played on Broadway in 1972. There are some really good monologues from that play.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#16re: Underrated Plays
Posted: 3/25/05 at 5:41pm
Inherit the Wind was quite popular in it's day, but I'm amazed it seems to have fallen out of favor. With all the fuss about "Intelligent Design" I'd think it would be done all over- And what a wealth of incredible acting roles!
For those unfamiliar with the play, it is a lightly fictionalized version of the "Scopes 'Monkey' Trial" where a school teacher was arrested for teaching evolution to his class. Coming to his defense was Clarence Darrow. For the prosecution, two time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryant. It was the original 'media circus' and 'trial of the Century.'
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