Was Madonna any good in "Speed-the-Plow"?

A quick Google search pulls up about half a dozen reviews, featuring keywords “uninspired”, “wooden”, and “tired”. 

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "A quick Google search pulls up about half a dozen reviews, featuring keywords “uninspired”, “wooden”, and “tired”."

Yes, I'm aware that I could look up professional reviews. I was more interested in hearing what people on these boards thought, as I find that much more interesting than professional critics.

Jordan Catalano said: "This is one of those performances that largely (I say largely, not definitively for anyone who wants to argue I don’t speak for them personally) has become the stuff of legends, as far as her being awful. She was fine. Definitely not acting that was gonna win her any awards but I think much like “Bad Cinderella” right now, people reeeeally wanted to hate her and so a lot did. And I speak having been able to watch a video of her in it pretty recently. I’ve absolutely seen worse acting in my life and while it’ll never happen, I’d love for her to do another play, having missed her West End debut “Up For Grabs”."

Any chance you know where I might be able to see said video for... Research purposes...

Jordan Catalano said: "At the homes of private collectors who would never give it out so you have to go to them and watch lol"

Welp. Was worth a try haha

Madonna is serviceable in some roles. Playing herself works best. Her fresh style and confidence in Desperately Seeking Susan led folks to believe she had acting chops. Sadly, acting is not in her wheelhouse.

Vulnerability, the most vital tool in the arsenal of a great actor, is not a strength of Madonna's. And I say that as a fan. She calculates everything. The richest actors find moments in vulnerability that Madonna can't access. 

She also doesn't like to abdicate her power. She's so in her head and worried about how she is being filmed, what the director is thinking and what the final product is like. She has said that being in the present is very hard for her. Again, another requirement for an effective actor. She wants to give her input when it's not appropriate or warranted. She can't trust directors. 

That being said she was always and I mean always compelling in music videos. She knows how to nail those performances. I think it was why she was so successful in Evita. I loved her performance in Evita and I think Patti was cruel to say that Madonna killed the movie. 

Bettyboy72 said: "Madonna is serviceable in some roles. Playing herself works best. Her fresh style and confidence in Desperately Seeking Susan led folks to believe she had acting chops. Sadly, acting is not in her wheelhouse.

Vulnerability, the most vital tool in the arsenal of a great actor, is not a strength of Madonna's. And I say that as a fan. She calculates everything. The richest actors find moments in vulnerability that Madonna can't access.

She also doesn't like to abdicate her power. She's so in her head and worried about how she is being filmed, what the director is thinking and what the final product is like. She has said that being in the present is very hard for her. Again, another requirement for an effective actor. She wants to give her input when it's not appropriate or warranted. She can't trust directors.

That being said she was always and I mean always compelling in music videos. She knows how to nail those performances. I think it was why she was so successful in Evita. I loved her performance in Evita and I think Patti was cruel to say that Madonna killed the movie."

I remember reading an article about the making of Evita (the movie) a few years ago and it saying that Madonna initially demanded script approval. Alan Parker absolutely refused and she finally agreed to let the director direct since she wanted the role so badly. Maybe this is why Evita is one of the projects that she seems to be most proud of, even after all these years? I feel like in her mind, that was her being the most vulnerable she's ever going to be.

Updated On: 5/31/23 at 02:24 PM

I saw it. In a word, no. 

IMO the play was mediocre, but mercifully short.  I thought she was fine in not much of a role, I.e., anyone could have probably been fine in it, assuming they were reasonably cast in the first place.  She neither shamed herself or set herself apart.

Scott19 said: "@Jarethan is bang-on. The play was meh and short. Silver and Mantegna were good. And I thought Madonna was fine. The role didn't demand much of her. That's what she delivered.

The thing that I remember more than the play was the crazy stage door scene when we were trying to exit the theatre. Barricades everywhere. It took some effort to get out of the area."

Much like a lot of todays stage doors, unfortunately.

I agree that WE deserved more respect and that Madonna is good in the film version of Evita, but the air left the stage when Scene Two of Speed The Plow began and I think you can lay the blame squarely on her.  Karen is not as well written as Gould and Fox, but Elisabeth Moss had no trouble holding her own with her co-stars in the 2008 revival and apparently Felicity Huffmann didn't when she replaced Madonna, either.  I've also been in one SPT production of the play and seen another.  Madonna just didn't bring it.

Critics and stage fanatics often overdo it when it comes to critiquing a movie or non-theater celebrity performing on Broadway.  The star in question is almost never as bad as the public outcry would have you believe. I suppose Madonna's performance was closer to bland than lousy, which I described it as in my above post, but nothing about it made me suspect she might be good in a different play (which I did think about Julia Roberts when I saw Three Days of Rain). Someone who saw her in the four-performance run of Goose and Tomtom might feel differently.

 

Updated On: 6/5/23 at 07:05 AM

I remember seeing her in a preview performance and once the show started, the audience was dead silent waiting for her to appear on stage.  When she did finally show up, there were flashbulbs from cameras lighting up the audience and the show came briefly to a complete standstill for a few minutes.  I think that there was nothing more distracting or unprofessional to have that happen, thankfully, her co-stars acted as if nothing had happened at all...

All I can remember is a rhyme from that time-

I strain in vain to train Madonna's brain.

Guessing  not so much.