reasons to be pretty Reviews — Page 3

Brantley's summary is up and it seems very positive:

"Neil LaBute's "reasons to be pretty," which opened at the Lyceum Theater in a wonderfully acted production directed by Terry Kinney, may turn out to be the sentimental sleeper of the season. Making his Broadway debut with a revised (and much improved) version of a play seen off Broadway last year, Mr. LaBute has exchanged misanthropy for empathy, reaping unexpected dividends. Oh, sure, the characters in this belated coming-of-age story embrace the nastier forms of self-expression long associated with Mr. LaBute's writing. This isn't just another dark-hued portrait of people who use people, though. I suppose that in the wrong hands "reasons to be pretty" could sound like a Sunday school lesson, albeit one with a most unchurchly vocabulary. But Mr. Kinney's production never smacks of the pulpit. Even more than when I saw it last June, "reasons" flows with the compelling naturalness of overheard conversation."

Updated On: 4/2/09 at 10:20 PM

Very happy to see all the positive notices. It's not a great play, but it's a very good one, and I hope all the praise for Sadoski means means we'll see his name a lot come awards season.

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Entertainment Weekly gives the show a B-:

" An unsympathetic heroine saps the energy right out of rtbp, which marks the prolific playwright's Broadway debut and his third meditation on body image/beauty obsession (see also: 2001's The Shape of Things, later filmed with original stars Rachel Weisz and Paul Rudd; and 2004's Fat Pig, starring a mercury-free Jeremy Piven). A hit in its downtown premiere last summer, rtbp has since received a substantial makeover: Ireland stepped in for Alison Pill, late of Milk and HBO's In Treatment, as the plain-faced heroine; Rescue Me star Stephen Pasquale now plays alpha-male Kent, who's not pleased about the ever-expanding ass of his pregnant model-gorgeous wife Carly (Piper Perabo). Also, LaBute wisely cut the characters' awkward direct-address monologues. (Greg's concluding speech actually began with the words 'What'd I learn from this?' If he didn't know after 2 hours and 20 minutes, LaBute sure didn't do his job.)

But in his tinkering, LaBute also completely excised all of Steph's likeability. Her speech engendered sympathy. 'Don't I wanna be with someone who finds me beautiful?' Steph asked in rtbp's earlier version. 'I don't have that much going for me, not really. Not all educated and smart or anything, and not gorgeous, not like some girls ? but I like what I've got and I'm gonna protect that... I mean, wouldn't you?'"

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20269797,00.html

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John Simon is Very Positive:

"The two holdovers are Thomas Sadoski, whose Greg is appropriately at the crossroads between laissez-faire nerdiness and intellectual ambition; and Piper Perabo, whose Carly, though as staunch as she is pretty, is not free from vulnerability as her suspicions justifiably increase.

New are Marin Ireland, whose acting is as apt as was Alison Pill?s, although not as good at winning audience sympathy; and Steven Pasquale, whose Kent is both more charismatic and more amusing than that of Pablo Schreiber, his predecessor."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601098&sid=amF9uI1tauvk&refer=movie

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Seems to me the heat is on between reasons and Irena for Best Play. Also, is this eligible for the Pulitzer? Just curious.

Talkin' Broadway is mixed but positive about the cast:

"No one familiar with the work of Neil LaBute will be surprised at hearing that his transferred-to-Broadway reasons to be pretty, now at the Lyceum Theatre, begins with a twentysomething man and woman going at it hammer and tongs in a series of he-versus-she recriminations. But despite the inclusion of the sort of starkly incisive and abusive talk of the sort at which LaBute excels, the play -- which has been somewhat trimmed for its uptown incarnation -- still registers as a "here-we-go-again" enterprise.

Fortunately, its flaws are partially redeemed by its four-person cast: Thomas Sadoski, who has deepened his already probing performance as factory worker Greg, the intensely gifted Marin Ireland, who deserves to be kissed by the producers on the hem of her late-in-play asymmetrical skirt for immersing herself in the role of Greg's aggrieved girlfriend Steph, and Piper Perabo (the show's other holdover) and Steven Pasquale as married co-workers Carly and Kent, who also warrant kudos for their committed performances under Terry Kinney's acidly biting direction.
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Full Review

Maybe I'll need to see it again. Like I said, I really love the play itself. But something about the production was missing for me. Then again, work has been done and I only saw the third preview. In the midst of these raves, I can't help but think it's worth another shot.

Well, congrats to the cast!

ff

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I think it works fine w/o the monologues. I'm not sure exactly what each monologue discussed or gave insight to, but it flowed fine. The only problem I had was the Act 1 closer. It didn't really end on any sort of "what's going to happen" next type moment. And, the play does wander from the topic of him calling his girlfriend "regular" to another story line that I'm not sure I see the correlation to it and the overall theme of the show, but maybe I do.

RAVE
A.P.
Variety
Talkin' Broadway
Hollywood Reporter
The New York TImes

VERY POSITIVE
Bergen Record
Word of Mouth
USA Today
John Simon (bloomberg.com)

MIXED-TO-POSITIVE
Backstage
Entertainment Weekly
Talkin' Broadway

MIXED
The New York Post

VERY NEGATIVE
Wall Street Journal

Updated On: 4/3/09 at 10:55 AM

Just got back, and absolutely loved it !!!! The 2nd act dragged just a tad bit, but it didnt take away the power of the story, and its message.

The acting was phenomenal !!! Heard so much about Sadoski, but Ireland was absolutely incredible !!!

Would love to go back and see it again...!

Btw, all monologues are gone.