rOcKS checks up on 'AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY' (with John Cullum)

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 12:36am

I'll try to keep this short but this evening, I saw AUGUST for the first time with this new cast, in this new venue, and with a new addition in the last week, Tony-winner John Cullum as Beverly Weston.

The first act started terribly. Cullum started the scene strong and then started to trail off...and the dramatic pauses suddenly became minute to two minute long awkward silences when the audience realized he was scrambling for his script which was sitting at the desk during the scene. Then, he lost his spot in the script and Kimberly Guerrero finally got to hint to save the scene and keep it progressing so she did, eventually. And then he forgot his line again and couldn't find it. So Guerrero had to help him yet again. And then the scene ended.

Honestly, it killed the energy for the entire first act. Cullum started strong and was very wry and funny and warm and well suited for the role. He set a nice tone and then once he forgot his lines, he just stopped trying. Thankfully, the rest of the cast was on their A-game tonight and eventually really brought it home. The first act was a little flat but I blame it on the opening scene not working and setting the mood well because of the lack of preparation on Cullum's part. But it ended strongly. The second act whizzed by and was even better than I remembered, and the third act (while a bit draggy towards the end but nothing awful) was a really great finish.

Estelle Parsons is totally bringing her own interpretation to the role and it works like gangbusters. She is fiercely malicious yet caring and you can see it and understand it. Her Violet is really a tour-de-force. And even better than before, if that's possible, is Amy Morton, turning in a stunning, beautifully layered, richly developed portrayl of a hurt and confused woman. Molly Regan is also a welcome presence, again, bringing her own interpretation to Mattie Fae.

The show is just so spectacularly written and directed that it's hard for anything to make it a bad experience or even a so-so one. Although it felt a little draggy this time around (very, very infrequently but it happened) it is still one of the best things to hit Broadway in recent memory.


Go see it! And if you've seen it already, go see it again! It's a true masterpiece.
Updated On: 9/20/08 at 12:36 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 12:52am

"The show is just so spectacularly written"

Really?

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 1:21am

Yes.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 3:03am

I finally caught up with the new cast a few weeks back and totally agree about Morton and Parsons. While I found every single new cast member inferior to the actor they'd replaced for different reasons, I couldn't say anyone was less than good.

But Morton amazingly was even better than when I'd seen her in December/January/March, and I found it inspiring that an actor can play a part eight times a week for almost a year and still muster the energy to blow the roof off the place, and not half ass it at all (the deadened, soulless eyes of Roger Bart and Sutton Foster in mid-March is a sight that will never escape my thoughts).

And while she was no Dunagan, I loved Parsons' take on Violet, particularly her racing down the stairs rather than Dunagan's predatory T.-Rex-like stomping.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 11:47am

I've always found the acting in this show to be far, far superior to the script itself.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 12:13pm

Completely disagree -- I think it's intricately plotted, depicts hugely recognizeable behavior (albeit in perhaps unfamiliar, melodramatic circumstances), and does a great job of etching each character with depth and humor, while completely working on an emotional level -- but I can see your point. I often find great, inspired casts to be a huge boon to 'mehhh' shows (e.g.: Xanadu), so I understand the sentiment.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 12:21pm

depicts hugely recognizeable behavior (albeit in perhaps unfamiliar, melodramatic circumstances)

That was part of my problem with it. Normal behavior in melodramatic settings was a bit of jarring.

The other problem I had was with the, albeit well drawn, injection of humor into what would otherwise be heavy subject matter.
SPOILERS: Drug use, incest, adultery, suicide, and depression, aren't generally themes that are used for their hilarity.END SPOILERS

Plus I thought what Barbara ends up doing in the end didn't seem like a logical end point considering how the entire play was driving home the point that Barbara was exactly like her mother.

EDIT- And please, don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the production. I have seen it twice and plan on going again eventually to see Estelle Parsons and the new cast members, but it's just that I believe that the script itself seems much weaker than the actors who are breathing the life into it. Updated On: 9/20/08 at 12:21 PM

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 12:40pm

SPOILERS: Drug use, incest, adultery, suicide, and depression, aren't generally themes that are used for their hilarity.END SPOILERS.

You don't watch a lot of British or independent films do you?

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 12:46pm

Also, I think a lot of people embrace/rely on gallows humor in life more often than you think.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 7:08pm

Saw it this afternoon and was completely blown away. Wow. Estelle Parsons is giving a tour-de-force performance in this show. The woman is almost 81 years old and she was running up and down those stairs like she was 18. Even my mom (about to turn 60) can't run up and down stairs like that anymore. What's more, her acting was spectacular. It is a very different performance that Deanna Dunegan gave when I saw it in previews, but both interpretations are absolutely brilliant.

Amy Morton is also giving a brilliant performance, as she has been doing for over a year now...good for her.

John Cullum, in his nothing role, was fine. Nothing special. Nothing horrific. He did know the monologue just fine...no mishaps.

The show itself...well, I loved it even more the second time (had seen the first preview last fall). The audience loved it too...and instant standing ovation at the curtain call...and lots of reactions throughout. It was truly fantastic. Congrats to all involved. I had a wonderful time this afternoon.

[Patash]

Posted: 9/20/08 at 9:44pm

"SPOILERS: Drug use, incest, adultery, suicide, and depression, aren't generally themes that are used for their hilarity.END SPOILERS.
You don't watch a lot of British or independent films do you?"

Or network TV for that matter!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 12:30am

Glad to hear Cullum is back on the ball, WAT.

I talked with a couple who saw it this afternoon as well and said it was brilliant...which it is.

Was the theater crowded, WAT?