somebody please tell me how miracle worker is?

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 2/12/10 at 9:30pm

I'm really psyched to see it
somebody who saw the first preview please give reviews!!!!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/12/10 at 9:41pm

miraculous!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/12/10 at 10:01pm

Wow, there's already a bootleg of the show up on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJtEzAW9WSw

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/12/10 at 10:04pm

LOL

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 2/12/10 at 10:28pm

I loved it. There are definetly flaws but those are more with the actual show not the production. I wanted more scenes with Helen and Annie together instead of the father. Abigail was phenomenal! And Allison was incredible as well!

[sgv123]

Posted: 2/12/10 at 10:35pm

Does it say anything in the playbill about an alternate for Abigail?

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 2/12/10 at 11:40pm

No...just understudy for Helen Keller: Kyra Ynez Siegel.

I really liked the show. Abigail and Alison were BRILLIANT.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 12:07am

I was there too, but I wasn't overly enthused. I think there are some definite problems with the play. There is a little too much focus on the parents and not enough on Anne and Helen.

The other problem I had was with the direction. I don't know if The Miracle Worker really screams to be staged in the round, but since they are in the round they might as well make the most of it. Whereas The Norman Conquests was staged with expert fluidity, The Miracle Worker struggles to keep the blocking moving and I found it hard to contect with the characters, through no fault of the actors. Maybe I was in a "bad" seat, but I felt like Allison had her back to me the entire evening.

The acting from Allison and Abigail was quite good, and I think they will receive some nice notices, but ultimately Allison's role was a juicy as I expected/wanted it to be.

Jennifer Morrison was good as the mother in her Broadway debut and is absolutely beautiful.

The ending seemed a little abrupt to me. I know this play is kind of a classic I guess, but it just don't wow me in any way. Still wish the cast the best...just wish the play had gotten under my skin a little more.

Updated On: 2/13/10 at 12:07 AM

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 12:25am

The Miracle Worker struggles to keep the blocking moving and I found it hard to contect with the characters, through no fault of the actors. Maybe I was in a "bad" seat, but I felt like Allison had her back to me the entire evening.

I don't know where you sat, but it may have just been your seat. I hardly ever noticed anyone having their back towards me. At the end of the show my friend turned to me and said "I didn't want it to be through because I felt like I was living with them" or something. I felt the same way - completely connected the entire evening.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 12:28am

I really felt the blocking was VERY static. Take the scene in the garden house for example. The Kellers basically stood in their spots and Allison entered and didn't move from her mark the entire scene. You can't allow five minutes to go by like that in the round (or not for that matter!)

[April Saul]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 12:42am

I was in a surprisingly good TDF seat, five rows back center on one of the long sides of the theater, and normally would've moved into one of the empty first row seats at intermission, but was afraid I'd wind up in the wrong place, blocked by a piece of furniture or staring at the back of actors' heads at a pivotal moment! But Norman Conquests, although staged more fluidly, was a bit that way, too...the luck of the draw in terms of when you saw which character's face. I think I was on the better side of the theater, like taylor.

For me, the beginning was the weakest part, I felt Helen's parents were pretty one-note in the first act and I wasn't drawn in until Allison Pill showed up. She and Abigail Breslin were excellent and the second act, which was only 25 minutes, ended powerfully and brought me to tears. I'm sure the performances will become more nuanced and they'll all get stronger in the weeks to come. Right now, I'd give it a B+ but I'm looking to others' comments here to understand how it might be improved...

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 12:46am

25 minutes? How long is act 1?

[April Saul]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 1:31am

The whole thing was about 2 hrs, including intermission. So I guess that put the first act at about an hour and 15 minutes or so. And there's a guy on All That Chat that thought it was a disaster, so maybe I'm crazy to think it was pretty good...but not having seen the movie in ages, I wasn't comparing Breslin and Pill to Duke and Bancroft as the poster did!

[theatreguy]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 1:46am

Did they combine the first two acts and have only one intermission?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 6:41am

There was only one intermission. Act 2 was literally under 30 minutes. With some trimming they could turn this into an intermissionless production.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 5:49pm

Did she sign?

Ba dum tish

[Kalimba]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 6:20pm

If someone told me ahead of time that Abigail Breslin wasn't going to speak in this, I wouldn't have bothered getting a ticket last night.

[Luv2goToShows]

Posted: 2/13/10 at 7:25pm

Went to the matinee today, was very pleased with the show. I was seated on the far end side and did not think there was any problems with blockage. My only complaint was when they were at the other end and facing away it was hard to hear. They need to up and amplify the sound better. I thought the acting was phenomenal, they brought you in.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 2/18/10 at 10:22am

I saw the first preview. I love the play though I have never seen a professional production of it. Pill and Breslin are extremely strong. The actors' take on the mother and father lacked nuance. I thought the staging worked though I thought it would have worked better on a proscenium stage.

I'd definitely recommend it.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/18/10 at 10:31am

I have to be the bad witch and say I thought the production was just a huge disappointment. Honestly one of the worst directed shows I've seen on Broadway. Kate Whorisky has no concept of how to effectively work in the medium of theatre for the round and her choices absolutely eradicate all the heightened drama from the work. What should be the big cathartic moments of the show land with an absolute fizzled out thud. The dinner table scene and the final moments at the water pump are like watching a life time movie on quaaludes.

Its a shame too because Breslin and Pill are both excellent (though Pill's accept is odd and unplaceable). But this play really deserved a better, more visceral production.

[Patash]

Posted: 2/18/10 at 10:51am

"If someone told me ahead of time that Abigail Breslin wasn't going to speak in this, I wouldn't have bothered getting a ticket last night."

you're kidding, right? Did you mean that comment to be as funny as it came out? You DID know it was about Helen Keller, didn't you? You DO know who Helen Keller was, right?

Yankeefan -- good one!!!

I've always felt this play is a fantastic scene (the water scene) stuck in the middle of a whole lot of uninspired writing.
It always seems the playwright never knew where to go with it except for that one scene.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/18/10 at 10:53am

I still can't beleive Breslin only has one line? And they bill her as the STAR?

[p.s.]

Posted: 2/18/10 at 10:57am

If someone told me ahead of time that Abigail Breslin wasn't going to speak in this, I wouldn't have bothered getting a ticket last night.


Wa?


p.s.
What are you saying?

[April Saul]

Posted: 2/18/10 at 4:37pm

Patash--You took the words right out of my mouth, but I was afraid of being mean when I first saw that comment about Breslin not speaking...and JoeKv99, you're kidding, right? When I was in grade school, everybody read The Miracle Worker and knew who Helen Keller was. I guess I just find these comments kind of amazing...and call me crazy, but I would think it does take acting talent to play a character who is blind, deaf, and mute and that would make Helen Keller a starring role. Wow!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 2/19/10 at 1:07am

What was the set like?