Will any reviews or opinions matter in the case of Julia Roberts!??- Page 2

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 2:39pm

Thanks Margo! I can almost always rely on a quick, informed response to any question ever posted on this board. Sorry to thead jack but who will her competition be this season in your opinion Margo?

Cheers,

Christopher

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 2:47pm

Some names that pop into my head are:

Cherry Jones for FAITH HEALER (is she considered a lead?)
Cynthia Nixon for RABBIT HOLE
Judy Kaye for SOUVENIER

[leadfootlouie]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 2:48pm

They will not make the same mistake with Roberts that they did with Kidman and "Blue Room".

Broadway needs movie stars now and they can admit it without poping a Zanax.

She'll be nominated.

And she's a charmer, so you can expect quite a campaign coming from her camp.

If she could win an Oscar, how hard can it be to win a TONY!?

Posted: 3/29/06 at 2:51pm

If she could win an Oscar, how hard can it be to win a TONY!?

That comment is both ignorant and insulting to theatre actors everywhere.

[leadfootlouie]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 2:53pm

Oh - take a pill!
Updated On: 3/29/06 at 02:53 PM

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 2:55pm

Actually, I'll have to agree with FindYourGrail on that one.

Sorry.

[leadfootlouie]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 2:56pm

It was a joke!! Let's not be uptight!

[GreatWhiteWay]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 3:00pm

I didn't think it was funny, either.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 3:02pm

Anyway, back ON topic. I cannot wait to see this.

This is one of those opportunities where I'll brave the crowds to see if I can get a picture/autograph with her.

I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out who else would be her competition for the award besides Cherry, Cynthia and Judy.

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 3:15pm

i used to see her quite a bit in the mid '90's when she was dating pat manocchia. i can't say i was speechless, but i did like seeing her close up. i like her in most movies -- she is passionate and believable, beautiful in a non-intimidating way and vulnerable. ( i have hated her work in the oceans movies where she is just sour and angry and unappealing.) erin brockovich is just a series of tirades, but i believe her. i admire her sense to surround herself with good people and to never take the part of the glamour girl. of course, ellen burstyn is one of the all-time greats and a transcendent beauty -- but i understand that julia roberts had made those boys over a billion dollars by the time of ERIN BROCKOVICH and it was time she got some acknowledgement. i've heard some not so nice things about her over the years, but she comes to nyc with a tremendous amount of goodwill and i think she will get a nod if she isn't a total embarrassment -- which i doubt she will be.

Updated On: 3/29/06 at 03:15 PM

[KindnessofStrangers]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 5:39pm

Julia Roberts is the most equestrian actress on Broadway. Too bad they don't give Tonys for that.

[vivs678]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 8:16pm

KindnessofStrangers, what's the point of your badmouthing her?

You're not changing our opinions and we're obviously not changing yours. If you don't appreciate her as an actress, that's fine, but what are we accomplishing by arguing about her "star quality".

I'm a huge Julia fan, and I'll be there tomorrow night.

If you don't like her, don't see the show.

Not as if there are any tickets left anyway.

[thez914]

Posted: 3/29/06 at 10:27pm

"An online Los Angeles Times article said Roberts was taking the biggest gamble of her career: "(Three Days of Rain) could validate her rank as America's highest-paid actress and perhaps even earn her a Tony Award. Or it could drown her career in acid rain released by the toughest critics anywhere: those theater snobs."

I read this on BackStage.com and couldn't help but laugh.

[Gelfling]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 3:57am

I don't care for her... and I certainly hope she doesn't get a nomination because if she does, with the tickets sales they've been having, you can kiss Broadway actors goodbye... from then on, Broadway will be a suburb of Hollywood! I know the Tonys needs an audience boost but having her present a Tony will be enough and if they start giving out Tony noms based on popularity, we're doomed and they'll be called Oscars:NY soon!

I don't hate her or anything by the way... I have a couple of her movies on DVD... older ones... BEFORE she was a superstar and fell into the acting routine.

I think the attraction comes mostly from her 'girl next door' attitude and looks. She's the kinda girl every guy think they still have a chance with because she's not so 'Hollywood' or doesn't appear to be and every girl think she could be their best friend so she has that HUGE star appeal in an All American girl kinda way...

She's certainly not the worst actress ever but most probably one of the most overrated. And the sold out run only shows how popumar she is... most people just want to SEE her in person. it's kinda freaky if you think about it... she's a person... not a religious icon.

just my two cents of course, feel free to give me the change!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 4:11am

Some possible competition (since it was mentioned):

Sarah Jones, BRIDGE AND TUNNEL
Julianna Margulies, FESTEN
Lisa Kron, WELL
Cherry Jones, FAITH HEALER
Amanda Peet, BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
Jill Clayburgh, A NAKED GIRL ON THE APPIAN WAY
Deborah Rush, ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR
Frances Sternhagen, SEASCAPE

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 4:25am

I happen to really like Julia Roberts's movies, but everything about this IMDB news brief rubs me the wrong way:

"Julia Roberts enjoyed a successful Broadway debut Tuesday night with the first preview of Three Days Of Rain, although she burst out laughing when a plastic tomato prop bounced all over the stage. The Oscar-winning actress was so popular with New York theatre-goers her first few lines were inaudible over the audience's thunderous applause at the Bernard B. Jacobs theatre. The New York Daily News writes: "A moment that reminded the audience this was the first preview came midway through the second act. (Roberts) had to contend with a runaway prop tomato. The plastic veggie landed on the floor, bounced and echoed like a table tennis ball - a blooper that left Roberts briefly in stitches. She broke character and couldn't help flashing her trademark toothy grin. That smile was in evidence at the curtain call, which showed that Roberts had checked her superstar status at the stage door." Three Days Of Rain officially opens on April 19 after more previews. In late January, it scored $7 million in advance sales in one day. The play was written by Richard Greenberg and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee in 1997."


...She breaks character, but people are still just gushing over her. If it had been a stage actor behaving the same way during the first preview, the critics would crucify them. But it's Julia Roberts, so that makes it *endearing*.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 5:54am

OK, a few things:

"Roberts has also given some of the most embarrassing film performances in recent memory: Pretty Woman, Sleeping with the Enemy, Mary Reilly, I Love Trouble, Runaway Bride, The Mexican, Michael Collins, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Mona Lisa Smile..."

Sorry, but you lost me after Pretty Woman, as that film features one of her most universally praised performances (she earned her second Oscar nomination for it) and deservedly so. Anything you said following that has no credibility whatsoever.

As for what happened with her breaking character, if it is true, take it with a grain of salt for now. People are putting a lot of pressure on her because of who she is. Let her perform during previews and let the production work out its glitches before you start crucifying the woman. Let the show open and let the reviews come out. None of us have any doubt that NY theater critics will review her with 100% honesty regarding solely this performance, as a fresh actor, a clean slate, just as they do with every other actor in any show.

Updated On: 3/30/06 at 05:54 AM

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:39am

20 bucks says brantley gives her his best review of the season.

[zzannahk]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 6:47am

wow, fist people complain that she's overrated and then orangeskittles seems upset that she made a mistake (gasp) well, people you cant have it both ways, why not actually give her a shot. she's not the first hollywood star on a broadway stage, this isn't a groundbreaking event.

she may not be a great actress but she has made some smart career moves, you would never see her in eyes wide shut, thank god. she has picked and played character that have made her *endearing* to the movie going public, maybe now they'll start seeing some more theatre. or are they not welcome there too?

Updated On: 3/30/06 at 06:47 AM

[ken8631]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 7:35am

Saw the play last night, I don't really think that that role deserves a lead actress nomination. Not because of her, but because of the material. But that said, the Tony people would love to have her up there on stage, so who knows? Plus, it was only the second night of previews. I have NO desire to see it again though, even for free....

[Barihunk]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 9:11am

"20 bucks says brantley gives her his best review of the season"

I think that honor is already a tie between Cynthia Nixon and Christine Ebersole... but Brantley has always been fond of "love letters" to female performers (McDonald, Chenoweth, Turner, Jones, Buckley, Griffith, Clark, the list goes on and on)and he has always been a fan of Greenberg's (he praised his "Violet Hour" when most other critics panned it). Predicting a love letter for both Roberts and this production is not really going out on much of a limb...

[crazyfangirl]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 12:26pm

Kindnessofstrangers, I want to marry you and have all of your babies. I could absolutely not agree more with you. And sometimes I feel like the only person in NYC who doesn't care that Julia Roberts is in a play.

As per your oscar complaint---YES, YES, YES--- that oscar totally belonged to Ellen Burstyn, and I feel as if that is clear to anyone who has seen both movies and knows that both women were competing for the same award that year. Julia was merely "good" as Erin Brockovich, which -- in and of itself-- was a "cute" movie. However, Ellen Burstyn was ART in Requiem For a Dream. I think all actors should study that movie and Ellen Burstyn's performance in it, because it is so masterful, and so completely brilliant, that it is almost blinding. And I will always be agrivated that the academy gave the oscar to Julia Roberts because.... it was "her time."

What the hell does that even MEAN???

Ugh.

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 12:44pm

oscars really aren't given out for the greatest work -- but for promotion, sympathy and zeitgeist. look at paltrow's win over blanchett. harvey weinstein brokered that deal with some heavy lobbying.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 1:10pm

None of us have any doubt that NY theater critics will review her with 100% honesty regarding solely this performance, as a fresh actor, a clean slate, just as they do with every other actor in any show.

Speak for yourself. I'm with ZONEFACE, there's NO WAY they will be completely honest about her performance without factoring in the fact that she's JULIA ROBERTS! Some have probably already written the stellar reviews and actually seeing the show is just a formality. Honestly, I LOVE Julia Roberts, but it just pisses me off the way everyone is kissing her ass BECAUSE she's Julia Roberts when she's yet to prove herself as being worthy of it.

zannak, are you seriously that deluded that you think "making a mistake" like that is usually just glossed over? Bullsh*t. After doing the show hundreds of times, Adam Pascal breaks character in the last 2 minutes of the final performance of Aida and people are STILL talking about it a year and a half later; calling him a diva and unprofessional, etc. etc. This is just one example, but whether you want to admit it or not, she is not being treated the same as any other stage actor would be in the same situation.

Updated On: 3/30/06 at 01:10 PM

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/30/06 at 1:13pm

Mmm, I'm not so sure of that. Look at how much fun they're having tearing into Cate Blanchett right now. Why, it even warranted a special column outside of the regular review. The critics might be sharpening their pens in anticipation of cutting into Julia Roberts.