When will there be a Revival of THE NORMAL HEART?

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 9:37am

I saw The Normal Heart for the first time my freshman year in college and it was AMAZING it was a great show. I think this is a GREAT show in need of a revival what do y'all think?

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 9:50am

There was just one about two years ago with Joanna Gleason and Raul Esparza off-broadway.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:11am

ANd it was stunning...

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:19am

Didn't Larry Kramer pull the rights on the show after that?

[Becky]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:34am

Didn't Larry Kramer pull the rights on the show after that?

It's being staged here in Dallas at the end of July.

[Corine2]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:36am

It was the most moving play I have ever seen.
Nothing moved me like the Normal Heart.
Nothing.
Raul Esparza gave the performance of a lifetime. I loved his performance. He was so passionate as Ned Weeks (Larry Kramer). That was my favorite role for Esparza.
His acting was PERFECTION. I cried for weeks.
I was not crazy about him in Chitty. He seemed bored to tears.
He has to be passionate about his work.

I hope they bring it back. I doubt they will. For some reason it did not sell. Such a shame, as it was the greatest play I have ever seen.
Updated On: 7/1/06 at 11:36 AM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:48am

Raul Esparza gave the performance of a lifetime. I loved his performance. He was so passionate as Larry Kramer. That was my favorite role for Esparza.
His acting was PERFECTION. I cried for weeks.

Core, do you mean you LITERALLY cried for WEEKS? If so, that just supports my case that your so called passion for the theatre is an unhealthy one.
Or perhaps you meant you cried for Weeks, as in Ned Weeks, the character that Esparza played. There is no character named Larry Kramer in The Normal Heart.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:51am

Probably not for a very, very long time. There was a lot going on in addition the problems with ticket sales -- but there, it wasn't even that they weren't selling. It was that they were selling virtually none at full price. People were seeing the play, but they were getting all sorts of discounts on tickets, which in the end, was a huge detriment, in addition to a lot of other financial bullsh*t. The whole thing still really pisses me off, because that revival deserved way better than it got in the end.

(Something also happened fairly recently with the film rights, but I can't remember the specifics.)

I'll never forget it. It is, and will probably long remain, the single most intense theatrical experience I have ever had.

P.S. Raúl's even better as Bobby.

Yeah. I said it. (And you all know how highly I thought of his performance as Ned.)

Updated On: 7/1/06 at 11:51 AM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:58am

I thought there were some flaws in the production (mainly in the direction, but I believe the director was brought in at the last minute), but the performances (for the most part) were top notch...

And any show where you get to see all of Raul Esparza's boy bits ain't half bad!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 11:59am

Yeah. They switched directors either right before or during rehearsals.

heh, Bobby, why am I not surprised that you went there?

I can't believe this was more than two years ago already!

Updated On: 7/1/06 at 11:59 AM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 12:06pm

OH I went there. THough his nude scene was very unsexy due to the content...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 12:12pm

I thought it was so, so well done. Totally tasteful, especially given the subject. I think it's easy for those sorts of things to feel unnecessary, and as though they're in place only in the name of shock value. The whole scene was played out just as any other matter of course, without making a big deal of it.

And I'm not going to lie and say I didn't feel awkward meeting him after that; not in like... a giggly or immature "omg I saw you naked!!!" kind of way, but it was just kind of strange -- that in conjunction with the absolutely larger than life performance he gave definitely made me feel awkward.

... and now we're weird territory!

Updated On: 7/1/06 at 12:12 PM

[Corine2]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 12:13pm

Ned Weeks, is based on Kramer. I did not cry every single day.
But, it moved me. Whenever I thought about it, and all the people that died, I cried.
I am a caring person. I also lost a lot of friends to AIDS.
My parents were very involved years ago. My Mother gave almost all of her time to raise money for AIDS.
So, yes. It moved me.
Our family friend Ronald Rosselli was the man to really take me to the avant guard theater without my Mother's permission.
He took me to drag shows, cabaret and got me hooked at a very young age. He is deeply missed as is his partner Joseph.
They were the nicest people and Ronald was lost to AIDS.
I miss him very much. Updated On: 7/1/06 at 12:13 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 12:14pm

Well, let's just say his voice and acting aren't the only department he's blessed in...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 12:16pm

I think this is where I stop talking!

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 12:17pm

Lol!

REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLY Blessed!

[Scottie310]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 1:04pm

Updated On: 1/26/08 at 01:04 PM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 2:30pm

A Broadway transfer was all set, but never happened. Streisand still wants to make the film of it too. More people need to see this great show, so I hope it has a rebirth soon...

[Qfan]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 2:58pm

I recently did a scene from this show (The Ned/Ben confrontation scene at the end of act one, i was ben) at my college. Most people never heard of it and all loved the show.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 4:07pm

Some need to take their medication. Esparza was completely miscast in the role. The teddy-bear Raul is nobody's idea of rabble-rouser and militant activist.



Winthrop Paroo
River City, Iowa

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 6:41pm

Did you see him? He was hardly all teddy bear. He did a beautiful job of making Ned someone you didn't hate entirely, and bringing out another side of the character, but he could switch from cute and cuddly to a firey, angry passion on a dime; if you ask me, slightly more theatrically believable than someone who is ranting and raving all. the. time.

And I don't just say this because I'm a fan; his performance in this play *made* me a fan. I read an article once saying that he was so jarring because he looks so, so sweet, and that people feel in a sort of comfort zone with him as an actor, but that the juxtaposition and his ability to shatter the above worked so well, because he really kept people on their toes. The thing you have to remember is that... this play is so concentrated with drama; it's reality heightened and condensed, with such in-your-face intensity that... it could dip into melodrama, which is why I think he and the director made a great choice is showing Ned's softer side.

The only way in which he could possibly be miscast is age. He might be a couple of years too young.

Other than from Raúl himself, I've never seen better acting. If you think that means I require medication, then so be it. I know what I saw.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 10:13pm

Wrong.


Winthrop Paroo
River City, Iowa

Updated On: 7/1/06 at 10:13 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 10:18pm

Why don't you go in and run a check on the word opinion, k? Thanks.

You want yours, precious as it apparently must be? Entitle me and those who agree to ours. Don't you dare tell me I'm wrong.

I know what I saw, and I believe what I do to be truth with confidence. Could care less, if you're just going to tell me I'm wrong, as if you're just slapping a buzzer. I pay very, very little mind to opinionated debate with no back-up, because not only does it look overly arrogant, but wholly unitelligent, if all you can come up with is to tell me I'm wrong. I would tell you you're "wrong [insert period]," but I won't stoop so low.

Answer my question. Did you see him? Well see who's got the right to be so strongly opinionated on the matter -- who should be telling who s/he is wrong.

Updated On: 7/1/06 at 10:18 PM

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 10:32pm

If you've nothing to be defensive about, don't be defensive.

Oops, too late.


Withrop Paroo
River City, Iowa

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/1/06 at 10:34pm

Shocking, the way you skirt the actual issue. The fact that you'd rather berate me than discuss the matter of opinion -- that you've turned this into yet another "cryptic" jab at another poster in the name of your enormous self-righteous complex -- is truly laughable; quit chastising me and admit that you haven't seen it, and that you've nothing on which to call me. I defend my opinions because I can. Because they have grounds. Novel, huh?

I know you're stuck being all high and mighty, but really, if you have nothing to say about the play, admit it and leave me alone.

Updated On: 7/1/06 at 10:34 PM