#1
Posted: 7/8/09 at 1:32pm
I got in line at around 3:30 for the standby line and was about fifty people from the front of the line. At around 4:30, a Public Theater employee came out to tell everyone near or around my area of the line that we probably would not be getting tickets. But I waited anyway. And at 8:08, I got a ticket! And there were only about five or six tickets left for the standby line by time I got to the front.
I absolutely loved the show. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly aesthetically pleasing the show was...the set was simple but really stunning, the costumes were absolutely fantastic, the lighting was minimal but worked, and the music was gorgeous. And as the play unraveled, I was totally enraptured by the wildly talented troupe of performers and by Daniel Sullivan's nearly pitch-perfect and refreshingly simple direction.
The reason to see this show though is for the performances. Each and every performer knocked it out of the park (no pun intended). Raul Esparza was quirky and hilarious, Julie White did not disappoint, Audra McDonald can really never do any wrong, Jay O. Sanders, David Pittu, and Hamish Linklater were delightfully goofy, and Michael Cumpsty was wonderful.
But, for me at least, the real news here is Anne Hathaway who is finally making her first major stage debut in New York. She somehow stole the show from the Broadway vets for me. But she didn't upstage them, or try to stand out as an A-list film star. She stole the show because she was fantastic and hilarious, yes, but also because she seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself and really kept herself in check throughout the entire show, never showing up anyone else. She was quite a delight and I hope this isn't the last the New York stage sees of her. She turned in a great performance. And her singing voice was really wonderful.
The show is three hours long but I've sat through 90 minute shows that felt longer. Towards the middle of the first act, it dragged a little in terms of pacing for my taste, but it quickly picked up soon after and the rest of the first act and entirety of the second act were brisk and very enjoyable. I had such a great time that I wish I had the patience (or the time) to go see it again. If you can catch it in these last few performances, do so! What an excellent production, what an excellent cast. I really had one of the more purely enjoyable nights in a theater last evening than I've had in a year or so.
***1/2 out of ****
I absolutely loved the show. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly aesthetically pleasing the show was...the set was simple but really stunning, the costumes were absolutely fantastic, the lighting was minimal but worked, and the music was gorgeous. And as the play unraveled, I was totally enraptured by the wildly talented troupe of performers and by Daniel Sullivan's nearly pitch-perfect and refreshingly simple direction.
The reason to see this show though is for the performances. Each and every performer knocked it out of the park (no pun intended). Raul Esparza was quirky and hilarious, Julie White did not disappoint, Audra McDonald can really never do any wrong, Jay O. Sanders, David Pittu, and Hamish Linklater were delightfully goofy, and Michael Cumpsty was wonderful.
But, for me at least, the real news here is Anne Hathaway who is finally making her first major stage debut in New York. She somehow stole the show from the Broadway vets for me. But she didn't upstage them, or try to stand out as an A-list film star. She stole the show because she was fantastic and hilarious, yes, but also because she seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself and really kept herself in check throughout the entire show, never showing up anyone else. She was quite a delight and I hope this isn't the last the New York stage sees of her. She turned in a great performance. And her singing voice was really wonderful.
The show is three hours long but I've sat through 90 minute shows that felt longer. Towards the middle of the first act, it dragged a little in terms of pacing for my taste, but it quickly picked up soon after and the rest of the first act and entirety of the second act were brisk and very enjoyable. I had such a great time that I wish I had the patience (or the time) to go see it again. If you can catch it in these last few performances, do so! What an excellent production, what an excellent cast. I really had one of the more purely enjoyable nights in a theater last evening than I've had in a year or so.
***1/2 out of ****
