Whatever happened to the play of 'Brokeback Mountain'?

It made its world premiere in London, starring Lucas Hedges as Ennis and Mike Faist as Jack, in 2023. Annie Proulx's gay love story about two cowboys was adapted for stage. Who saw it? Ditto for Charles Wuorinen's ''Brokeback'' opera, which debuted in Madrid in 2014. Did the play or opera ever play America?

Tomorrow (June 22) and Wednesday (June 25), Ang Lee's masterpiece of a movie, starring Heath Ledger and Jack Gyllenhaal, will be re-released in select theaters to mark its 20th anniversary. (Of course, Gyllenhaal has been on N.Y. stages since. What a shame Ledger never got to make his Broadway debut.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZvu-SczR1Y

The play was kind of a waste of time, so I’m not surprised it didn’t have a real life after London.

I didn't care for the opera either. A near-silent, clenched fist of a protagonist like Ennis may work better in movie close up than from a theater balcony seat.

It’s getting ready to have a run at Chicago Shakespeare and is coming to Broadway in the fall!

I'm seeing it in Chicago early next month. My curiosity is piqued despite Jordan's review and flipping through a very nice capture of the London production. The tickets were not terribly expensive, and the seats are good. If it sucks, we'll still have a nice day in Chicago.

It's also playing in Buenos Aires next week, starring two stars from Netflix's Envidiosa.

It the cast in Chicago going to Bway? It feels like they would want some bigger names...

So tonight was the first performance of Brokeback Mountain here in Chicago. Such a strange evening in many ways.

The set is beautiful albeit simple. Some awkward staging with a triangular stage fit into a circle formation. The girl in the front row on the farthest left pretty much had her head under the stage and a bed blocking the view up top.

I am so perplexed by the choice not to use microphones. The theater is CST is relatively tall and I was in the second row with generally good hearing. So much of the dialogue was basically inaudible, especially when the actors had their backs to me. The person singing with the 6 piece band had a mic and was loud and clear. It was a shame not to be able to hear the main leads when they were two feet from me.

The acting seemed decent enough (from what I could hear). I didn't realize Harrison was Zac Posen's partner until I looked that up after the show. I am not sure the person singing added a whole lot to the show. At times it felt like a stream of word babble, with just random words strung along to a score.

There were some definite audience cringe moments. When Ennis shouts "I'm not queer!" there was uproarious laughter from some. Kissing scenes generated some audience catcalls as if 10 year olds were watching it. There were other moments of laughter that really were not supposed to be funny.

Ushers warned repeatedly there were "R rated moments" and phones must be powered down to protect the intimacy. A couple of bare backsides for those interested. Ushers also said it was 90 minutes and we would be done at 8:30, but the show did start on time (7pm) and I stood up at about 8:43.

If this is transferring, it really will need some star power to generate any interest.

The set is beautiful albeit simple. Some awkward staging with a triangular stage fit into a circle formation. The girl in the front row on the farthest left pretty much had her head under the stage and a bed blocking the view up top.

I am so perplexed by the choice not to use microphones. The theater is CST is relatively tall and I was in the second row with generally good hearing. So much of the dialogue was basically inaudible, especially when the actors had their backs to me. The person singing with the 6 piece band had a mic and was loud and clear. It was a shame not to be able to hear the main leads when they were two feet from me.

The acting seemed decent enough (from what I could hear). I didn't realize Harrison was Zac Posen's partner until I looked that up after the show. I am not sure the person singing added a whole lot to the show. At times it felt like a stream of word babble, with just random words strung along to a score.

There were some definite audience cringe moments. When Ennis shouts "I'm not queer!" there was uproarious laughter from some. Kissing scenes generated some audience catcalls as if 10 year olds were watching it. There were other moments of laughter that really were not supposed to be funny.

Ushers warned repeatedly there were "R rated moments" and phones must be powered down to protect the intimacy. A couple of bare backsides for those interested. Ushers also said it was 90 minutes and we would be done at 8:30, but the show did start on time (7pm) and I stood up at about 8:43.

Jesus Christ.