Posted by KirbyCat 2012-11-12 12:43:17
...I'm kind of more excited to hear how the Golden's facelift went! Whoever goes, please report back!
Also let us know about the show, too... because I am actually excited to hear that too!So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by ljay889 2012-11-12 12:44:01
I will be there tomorrow.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Rainbowhigh23 2012-11-12 12:50:50
It's great when the theater experience includes excitement about the physical beauty of the house itself. It's was what made Loews want to make movie palaces, where sometimes the theater itself is more exciting than the movie.
I doubt, in this case, though, anything could be more exciting than Patti LuPone as a prisoner. I am very excited to see this production!
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Jordan Catalano 2012-11-12 13:53:48
Should I bring my sleeping back to this camp?
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Playbilly 2012-11-12 14:11:52
I'm kinda excited too.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by meyerd584 2012-11-13 17:08:23
Will be there tonight for the first preview and will report back on both!
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Rainbowhigh23 2012-11-13 17:28:15
I'm now torn between Scandalous or The Anarchist for my Friday show, after my Schmackary's run.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Visceral_Fella 2012-11-13 17:36:18
I have an opportunity to see Cyrano and The Anarchist Friday. I don't know which one I should see.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by showchoirguy 2012-11-13 17:47:17
Got my tickets for next week on Wednesday! Right after seeing Drood !
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by aasjb4ever 2012-11-13 22:02:16
Visceral, see Anarchist. I havent, but anything is better than Cyrano. Horrible.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel 2012-11-13 22:27:36
Hmmm...this one was a bit of a head-scratcher. The general premise holds a lot of promise: Patti plays a prisoner up for a parole after having serviced 35 years of a sentence for some unknown crime. Winger plays her lawyer/parole officer type character who is about to retire. Patti claims to have undergone many changes. She's written a manuscript and she's found religion (Christianity) and wants to join a convent if she's released. She still won't give up her accomplice though, which would be the ultimate sign in Winger's eyes if she was truly a changed woman.
So, has Patti really changed or is it all an act? Will she get paroled/will Winger testify that she's a new woman?
The dialogue just doesn't zing enough and it really meanders around what's going on. It only ran about 75 minutes tonight, but it only felt like they repeated everything in my above two paragraphs for those 75 minutes.
Patti is good, but she's a little too committed to playing the innocent, doe-eyed convert. I know she has to either really be a changed person or at least convincingly faking it, but either way it would be good to see some fire underneath. I think she's on her way to getting there though.
Winger stumbled around on some lines here and there, but I guess the ping pong of Mamet takes some getting used to in public performance. Her role is less interesting that Patti's. She needs to play the listener and see if Patti will give up the accomplice or reveal that she's really not the new woman she claims to be. You assume she's going to have the big final monologue/moment, but it never really came.
As many of you know I love going to first previews, but this is one of the rare instances where I wish I was seeing a later performance. I think there will probably be some rewriting of lines (Mamet is writing and directing) and both performances will certainly get better as time goes on.
Compared to stuff like Dead Accounts at least The Anarchist had good intentions and tried to offer up something thought-provoking, etc. This is the type of play that you might walk out of the theater thinking, eh that wasn't really much, but then 4 days later still be discussing it with your friends.
I wish them the best in tightening and fixing things up.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Jordan Catalano 2012-11-13 22:29:46
Seriously, theyre charging $130 for 75 minutes?
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by aasjb4ever 2012-11-13 22:38:33
Its only $2 a minute! What a bargain!
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by meyerd584 2012-11-13 22:40:58
I agree though I think I disliked it way more than you.
I just posted my review in the new thread.
Did you notice a lot of people leaving mid show? I was towards the back, so I had a nice view of the runners.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel 2012-11-13 22:44:40
Yeah, I thought it was going to be 90 minutes, but I was out of the theater by 9:15. It almost felt like the one act of two. Not that we needed to spend another act with these characters, but maybe something thematically similar.
Better yet act two could be a different case, but this time Winger is the one up for parole and Patti is the lawyer. Could be interesting, but I seriously doubt that's in the cards.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by meyerd584 2012-11-13 22:47:16
I had a fleeting thought of the two of them switching roles every performance a la True West with John C Reilly and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
But I don't think Winger is strong enough to handle the prisoner role and I wouldn't go back to hear that same dialogue again if you paid me.
Even the ending (Slight Spoiler below)
-------
was very tired. It's been done before and wasn't much of a surprise. I didn't really care who was right or wrong, if she deserved to be out or not.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel 2012-11-13 22:54:08
meyerd- I just read what you wrote. I was in the mezz and I don't think anyone left up there (not that there were that many to begin with). I didn't hear very positive comments from people while exiting though.
I feel like I've seen FAR worse plays than this, but in general I agree with what you wrote- I guess I'm just putting a nicer spin on things because I liked the premise and I truly believe changes will be made. I didn't want to critique Winger too harshly because I think her lack of character can be attributed to the fact that she was clearly very focused on remembering her lines. Patti already had the lines down and was further along on molding a character.
Many people here are going to want to see this simply because Patti is in it (and rightly so). I won't discourage anyone from going, but I would advise to wait a week or two so the actors and play can settle in.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by frogs_fan85 2012-11-13 22:57:37
Ok but more importantly, how does the theater look?
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel 2012-11-13 22:58:50
meyerd- You hit on a problem that could be easily fixed. The crime Patti committed is never fully explained, and you don't really even care about what happened/is she innocent/should she give up the accomplice. That's why when you get to the end it's hard to care what Winger is going to decide.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by After Eight 2012-11-13 22:59:46
A monotone drone of talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. No snap, no spark, no interest.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by ljay889 2012-11-13 23:01:20
Maybe it's a good thing I didn't get to go tonight....
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by meyerd584 2012-11-13 23:02:06
I'm the worst to ask when it comes to theater restoration. I have no eye for design. I recognized it looked different than before, but didn't wow me.
I was just relieved that my old "Restrooms are downstairs only" usher was back in full swing. I've passed her since Avenue Q days and she's a staple of the Golden for me.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel 2012-11-13 23:04:38
I thought the restoration was nice, but not as beautiful as the Belasco renovation, which I was reminded of at Golden Boy the other night.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by meyerd584 2012-11-13 23:05:05
Yes I agree. I think I had a good understanding of the crime, but not why she did it or details of her accomplice.
Also, there isn't enough story for the warden to care about her decision either.
The big "gasp" moment at the end wasn't interesting to me in the slightest.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by PianoMann 2012-11-13 23:16:32
These comments sound a little bit like the reaction to Mamet's second most-current work Race. I did thoroughly enjoy it because of the excellent cast and and seeing a new Mamet piece for the first time, but most thought it was luke-warm by Mamet standards. If anyone saw both, how does this compare to Race, in terms of Mamet's writing and pacing?
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by After Eight 2012-11-13 23:26:06
^
This is far worse than Race in every respect.
That one at least had some life in it.
This one is dead on arrival.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel 2012-11-13 23:27:00
I thought The Anarchist was worse than Race. Race's dialogue wasn't particularly snappy, but the plot was more coherent and the stakes were higher. Race also was trying to make social commentary, even if it wasn't completely successful in the execution.
If The Anarchist was trying to make commentary on the penal system or radical crimes it didn't get the point across.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by showchoirguy 2012-11-13 23:28:01
I'm assuming stage door was a mob?
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by meyerd584 2012-11-13 23:29:37
I ran to the A right after. I only saw 3 or 4 people at the entrance to the alley of stage doors, but there was still 1/2 a theater of people behind me.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by showchoirguy 2012-11-13 23:31:33
Did Patti and Debra both come out?
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by meyerd584 2012-11-13 23:33:21
As I said, I ran to the subway right after the show ended. Didn't stay for the stage door. When I passed it, there were only 3 or 4 people there. No idea how busy it got or how long they took to come out.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by showchoirguy 2012-11-13 23:36:02
Alright, thank you!
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by A Director 2012-11-14 02:07:04
Seriously, theyre charging $130 for 75 minutes?
The least Patti could do is allow people to take pictures during the show.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by BorisIgor 2012-11-14 11:30:31
It seems that everyone in this board ignores the fact that last night's performance was the first time ever the actors played in front of an audience and it was the first time ever this played was performed anywhere.
While I would agree with some of the comments, I yet have to hear a discussion on the essence of the play. Was the LuPone character punished long enough? Should the crime be forgiven? Who protects the victim's families? What were those young rich kids thinking back in the 70's?
I thought that the play was brilliant and that we will be talking about it for years. Yes, it needs work in a lot of areas, but that's what previews are for.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by After Eight 2012-11-14 11:59:13
^
The questions you ask are all things the author should have explored, not the audience.
If he had, perhaps he would have written a play worth seeing.
P.S.
We now have two concurrent threads on the same show, making discussion more difficult for all of us.
Why can't people check their egos at the door and not start new threads based upon their own misguided fancies?
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by henrikegerman 2012-11-14 13:11:15
"Winger plays her lawyer/parole officer type character"
That sounds potentially more troubling to me than the fact that the crime isn't revealed. Mamet and/or Winger might want to make a choice.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Knowitall 2012-11-14 13:27:15
The crime was revealed clearly in more than one occasion. It's mentioned several times and it is the premise of why they are there.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Knowitall 2012-11-14 17:08:05
Went to today's matinee. People seemed to enjoyed and gave the actresses a standing ovation. Great performances.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Jordan Catalano 2012-11-14 17:10:38
Knowitall, the actresses did not receive standing ovations. Unless you consider walking out during the show a standing ovation. Afterwards, the only thing I heard were people cursing and wondering what the hell that was they had just sat through.
You've admitted you work for the show, please don't try and lie about it.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by broadwaydevil 2012-11-14 17:11:36
A standing ovation, on Broadway??? No way!
If you were looking for a compelling theater experience go see The Anarchist, David Mamet's new play with Patti LuPone and Debra Winger currently in previews and opening December 2. Definitely thought-provoking material and you'll see Patti as you've never seen her before (in prison!).
^That was another gem of a post you made in the other thread. So glad new members are quick to contribute to thoughtful discussion.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Dollypop 2012-11-14 17:15:02
Could someone please post a picture of the show curtain?
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Jordan Catalano 2012-11-14 17:16:02
We all know you're asking because you think it's "funny" to ask that but there is no show curtain.
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by egghumor 2012-11-14 18:05:13
Are you seriously telling me there's no curtain-size head shot of David Mamet???
So I should be excited about The Anarchist, but...
Posted by Dollypop 2012-11-14 19:07:53
"We all know you're asking because you think it's "funny" to ask that but there is no show curtain."
You mean that the show is only 70 minutes long and has no show curtain???? That's robbery. Clear and simple!
