rOcKS @ 'Ruined'
rOcKS @ 'Ruined'
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#1rOcKS @ 'Ruined'
Posted: 4/9/09 at 12:26am
I'll keep it short.
This is the rightful Pulitzer winner; it totally deserves it. Timely, important, well-written, funny, and incredibly moving; it's probably my favorite straight play I've seen this year so far. Why is this not on Broadway?
A trio of absolutely astounding female performances from Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Condola Rashad, and Quincy Tyler Bernstine. Breathtaking performances all around (except from the guy who played the professor; something about him annoyed the crap out of me) but these three women just blew me away.
Great direction; gorgeous set design and striking lights. I loved the musical interludes even if they went on for a bit too long at times.
I wasn't sure how I felt about the ending; it's definitely the weakest scene of the play but it's still strong enough to make a mark.
Go see it; I paid $27 with TDF tickets and feel like I got away with murder. It's a stunning new play and the performances aren't to be missed by any avid theatergoer.
***1/2 out of ****
#2re: rOcKS @ 'Ruined'
Posted: 4/9/09 at 12:34amI have been wanting to see this, but kept putting it on the back burner. Your review totally put me over the edge and I'll make the effort to get to it soon. Thanks for another great review!
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#2re: rOcKS @ 'Ruined'
Posted: 4/9/09 at 12:55amEven if it doesn't win the Pulitzer, I can't imagine some producer or another not trying to get this to Broadway - particularly this production - sometime next season. It's been extended three (I think) times; it obviously has commercial possibilities; it really deserves it.
"Y'know, I think Bertolt Brecht was rolling in his grave."
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
RentBoy86
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
#3re: rOcKS @ 'Ruined'
Posted: 4/9/09 at 1:28am
I think if they were going to transfer it would have been announced or happened already, but maybe not?
I saw it and loved it, but I don't think it deserves the Pulitzer. It has some great moments, but some of it feels very "soap opera." But I still would tell anyone to go see it. And I loved the musical interludes!
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#4re: rOcKS @ 'Ruined'
Posted: 4/9/09 at 8:40am
It's one of the most powerful pieces of theater I've seen in a long, long time.
If MTC had plans to transfer it, they would have done so already; I read an interview with Lynne Meadow and Mandy Greenfield where they stated that they didn't have plans to move it. But does it really have to be on Broadway to be successful? It's playing sold out houses, extended through mid-May...
I had no problem with the ending. Friends thought it was too sappy, but I felt that it was the closest Nottage could go in terms of putting a bow on it without actually doing so. True, there's a bit of "happiness," but knowing the circumstances in which they live and how that hangs over everything?
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#5re: rOcKS @ 'Ruined'
Posted: 4/9/09 at 9:32am
It wasn't sold out last night.
And we weren't let into the theater until 7:50...they were rushing around because one of the understudies was to go on and they put out the "at this performance" sign and then about ten minutes later, they took it down and the ushers were running around again. Not sure what it was about but there were (at least not to me knowledge) no understudies in the show.
I wish it would transfer though...it could fare well in a smaller Broadway theater.
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