Scarlett bursts onto the stage and by the time she's uttered the words "no-neck monsters" you know this is going to be good. She was brilliant tonight, and luckily Benjamin Walker is every bit her equal. Best scene partners of the season so far.
Debra Monk and Ciaran Hinds were great too. Hinds is playing Big Daddy like a bastard and not the almost hokey comic relief that the role seems to have become. Monk's scene where she finds out about the cancer was awesome- her, "what's that word Big Daddy uses? Crap. Well that's what I say: Crap!" was terrific.
Ashford has added a ghost Skipper who skulks around the stage (!), but really it's not as distracting as it sounds. This revival is all about the performances they are not to be missed. Scarlett is proving again that she is one of the best actress of her generation.
Thank the review. I saw a so/so regional production about a decade back that had a ghost Skipper too. I find it way too literal an idea to work--but I'm glad to hear the rest of the show is in good shape.
Oops- I did forget about Morton and Letts! I liked both pairs, but maybe it's just because I prefer Cat to Virginia Woolf that I liked tonight's scene work more.
Ripped Man- I love her film work! She was good in The Avengers!
I normally wouldn't go to a first preview. I fully understand the "well if I'm paying full price, I can criticize it" mentality, but I tend to be more forgiving at the beginning. And that's where I stand with this production. It's definitely not there yet. BUT...I think in a few short weeks it will be there, very, very much so.
Walker and Monk are the closest of the main 4 to being there. Hinds goes in spats. Sometimes he's magnificent, and sometimes it doesn't seem like he knows what he's doing (or what accent he's doing).
I'm a big, big Scarlett Johansson fan, so I was anxious to see how she'd follow up her VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE performance. The first act, she's great (using a southern accent). The third act, it seems like she was doing her Brooklyn accent from VIEW! It was quite odd. But I'm sure that will be taken care of after a week or so of performances.
This was my first time seeing the play so I don't have anything to compare it to. But I am very anxious to revisit in a few weeks.
Was there tonight as well and thought for the most part it was an excellent production.
Rob Ashford's direction does indeed get a little heavy handed - including the completely unnecessary gimmick of including the physical presence of Skipper- which is a distraction from the poetic lyricism of the text-but there is lots that gets it right - in particular the work of Johannson, an earthy, coarse Maggie, who nails already the complicated cadence of Maggie's first act 'monologue'- and Ben Walker who is probably the most consistently fine Brick I've witnessed ( a near impossible role). Debra Monk and Ciaran Hinds also do nice work.
This script utilized an adaptation that seemingly combined some elements from all three versions of the text- with an ending more sympathetic towards Brick and Maggie than I've encountered.
I think arguably this production could reach a little further into the poeticism of Williams' words- it's earthy quality is occasionally at the expense of the more lyrical passages of the piece- but it's definitely overall a very strong production of CAT and I recommend it strongly.
It's so easy to dismiss Johansson because she's one of the biggest stars of the world, and she's the kind of performer who acts so natural on screen/stage that she makes it look effortless. First of all, I thought she was great in THE AVENGERS, she could sell the action sequences (something where a lot of actresses fail), she had great chemistry with the guys, and she got the humor of the show. Woody Allen brought out the best in her in MATCH POINT and VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA (where she's great and perfectly subdued in the least showy role). But it was her performance as Catherine in A VIEW...that proved she is indeed one of the best actresses of her generation, it wasn't a star turn, she disappeared in the role and worked so beautifully, was completely comfortable with letting it be Liev Schreiber's play, and still managed to provide so much complexity to her role. That was just a magical production, I can't wait to see what she does with Maggie in this production, it sounds very promising.
Johannson has more innate stage craft than I ever would have expected from her bases on her film appearances. On screen, I've often felt like she is prone to a certain bag of actors tricks- including a tendency towards a rather flat monotone line delivery (which would have potentially been disastrous for Maggie's vocal demands in Act One) but happily none of that was on display last night; and I suspect when its all said and done, she will probably be the best Maggie we've had on Broadway since Elizabeth Ashley-- no small feat.
The set is beautiful and airy- there are some pictures on Instagram.
How does this production compare with the last Broadway revival, which featured Anika Noni Rose and Terrence Howard? I saw that production (although I saw it the week Terrence Howard was out and Boris Kodjoe was in) and thought it was rather conventional in direction and design (I did quite like Phylicia Rashad as Big Mama, though).
The casting for this production sounds good (and I'm glad to hear positive early reports). I'm curious about the costumes and the set.
The idea of a ghost Skipper would be giggle-inducing if it didn't seem so maddeningly contrary to the specific way Williams creates this particular world. This play's use of the unities -- it's performed in real time in one evening -- is its strength, one Williams was especially proud of and discussed*. It's actually one of his few attempts to adhere to the strictures of realism (and yes, I'm well aware he was not a naturalistic writer; CAT was his attempt to work with Aristotelian craft issues.) Though STREETCAR invites poetic flourishes -- the depiction of the French Quarter in the text is poetically textured -- CAT is built on putting real people in that bedroom in real time. A ghost on the periphery of the action sounds intrusive in extreme.
Such touches suggest direction that doesn't trust the text. Skipper's very much alive in the discussion, vivedly so, but who he was is part of the emotional suspense in the story. Part of the audience's journey is imagining how important Skipper was to Brick and Maggie. Seeing him -- rather than extending the theatricality -- actually hinders it.
Is this a new trend? Didn't Cromer drag in Blanche's dead husband in Chicago? Though I'm not in support of that intrusion either, in a strange way that at least makes some dramatic sense, as Blanche's hold on her mind and memory are a critical part of the story, and she is literally haunted by the man. Also, stylistically, Williams documents her efforts (the sound effect of the bullet is a haunting stage direction).
I'm sure someone has staged MENAGERIE with the father who fell in love with long distance lurking on the fire escape. Increasingly, it seems as if it takes artistic courage to let the play speak for the play.
*"...The play comes closest to being both a work of art and a work of craft. It is really well put together ... and all its characters are amusing and credible and touching ... it adheres to the valuable edict of Aristotle that a tragedy must have unity of time and place and magnitude of theme... Its running time is exactly the time of its action, and I know of no other modern American play in which this is accomplished..." Tennessee Williams, MEMOIRS, page 168.
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Posted: 12/18/12 at 11:20pm