Want to travel to NYC to see The Other Place. Thinking of also seeing Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf while in the city and possibly Picnic. Your thoughts? Love plays (and musicals) that make you think, feel, and stay with you for a long time. (Have seen Once twice. Otherwise would add that to lineup.) The Other Place and Virginia Woolf look like very good bets. Not sure about Picnic, aside from liking some of the cast. If Picnic is not a great pick, anything else you'd sugggest seeing instead?
The Other Place is worth it for Laurie Metcalf alone. She will take your breath away.
I didn't think much of Picnic. Mare, Reed and Ellen are all fine, but I thought the play itself and the two "leads" on the listless side. Most of Sebastian Stan's acting is done by his abs.
I would vote for Virginia Woolf as being the best of the three. It is simply amazing. The performances were all Tony worthy. I did enjoy The Other Place also. I enjoy seeing new plays, and it kept you wondering what was really happening. I felt oddly off balance watching it, in a good way. Laurie Metcalf is mesmerizing. Regarding Picnic, it was professionally done, with a beautiful set, but to my mind the play doesn't hold up. If you're in the mood for a period piece, however, you certainly could do worse! Enjoy your trip!
The Other Place and Virginia Woolf are productions you will always treasure seeing. Picnic is a bland revival with exceptional work by Martin, Winningham, Burstyn and Marvel. The leads are a snooze.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
Thanks very much, all. You've basically confirmed my hunch. Will make the trip to NYC to see The Other Place and Virginia Woolf. And, if I can't find an intriguing 3rd option to add to that lineup, will just stick with those two shows. Again, many thanks :)
I loved Picnic. I really like William Inge plays. I like the tales of yearning, sexual appetite and repression. I find his work fascinating. I really liked the production and the cast
I have seen Virginia Woolf too many times so I passed on that.
I hate plays about Cancer.. Life is hard enough to sit through that illness crap.
This production of VW is astonishing, even if you've seen it before. I predict several Tony awards. For me it was the play of the season, by far, and I would NOT miss it if you have a chance to go.
<--------Curtain call, opening night of A Little Night Music, Dec. 13, 2009
I have only seen THE OTHER PLACE. Lovex it and thought they should just give Metcalf the Tony now and be done with it. She was incredible. Get there when the doors open.
I think Morton should have gotten the Tony also. I jave not seen Woolf. She would be the main reason I would have seen it but I am not a fan of Virgina Woolf.
sounds like I should grab a ticket to THE OTHER PLACE before it closes...
2013:Matilda, The Other Place, End Of The Rainbow (Ahmanson Theater), Tribes (Mark Taper Forum) Pippin (ART) 2012: Other Desert Cities (Mark Taper Forum)Seminar(Ahmanson Theater),Red (Mark Taper Forum) Hands On A Hardbody (La Jolla Playhouse)Follies (Ahmanson Theater)Evita, Once, The Lyons,The Best Man, Waiting For Godot (Mark Taper Forum, American Idiot (Ahmanson Theater) Clybourne Park (Mark Taper Forum), The Jacksonian (Geffen Playhouse) Red Hot Patriot (Geffen Playhouse) 2011:Fela (Ahmanson Theater) Jesus Christ Superstar (La Jolla Playhouse) Bring It On: The Musical (Ahmanson Theater) Next Fall (Geffen Playhouse) Poor Behavior (Mark Taper Forum) Ghetto Klown (LA), Porgy & Bess (ART, Cambridge) Shrek (Pantages, LA) Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndham's London) The Village Bike (Royal Court Theater) Luise Miller (Donmar) One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theater) Betrayal (London) Ghost The Musical (London) Tales Of The City (A.C.T San Francisco) Jerusalem, Anything Goes, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Book Of Mormon, Good People, God Of Carnage (Ahmanson Theater), Burn This (Mark Taper Forum), The Escort (Geffen Playhouse) 33 Variations ( Ahmanson) The Break Of Noon (Geffen Playhouse) Hair (Pantages, LA) Circle Mirror Transformation (South Coast Rep) 2010: West Side Story (Pantages, LA)Next To Normal (Ahmanson) Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Driving Miss Daisy, Becky Shaw (South Coast Rep) Leap Of Faith (Ahmanson Theater), They're Playing Our Song (Reprise), The Glass Menagerie (Mark Taper Forum), La Cage Aux Folles, A Little Night Music, La Bete (London), The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (London), Billy Elliot (London), Aspects Of Love (London), Sister Act (London) A Behanding In Spokane, Bengal TIger At Baghdad Zoo (Mark Taper), Subject Was Roses (Mark Taper), Next Fall, The Pride, Fela, The Language Archeive (South Coast) Robin & The Seven Hoods (Old Globe Theater), Xanadu (Road Tour) Girlfriend (Berkley Rep), In The Wake (Center Theater Group)
2009:Time Stands Still, Superior Donuts, Finian's Rainbow, The Royal Family, A Steady Rain, The Brother Sister Plays, Ruined, Next To Normal, 33 Variations, A Little Night Music (London), La Cage Aux Folles (London), Oleanna (Mark Taper), 9 To 5 (Ahmanson)
I recnetly visited NYC in January (an annual trip) and I saw all 3 productions - LOVED Woolf (had seen it with Bill Irwin and Kathleen Turner several years ago), LOVED Other Place (and a previous poster is correct, it is not a "cancer play" - it keeps you off balance during the show and then at the end things fall into place), REALLY LIKED Picnic (had never seen it before and did not know the story). I think the Picnic ensemble was very good - was it the BEST thing I have seen, no. But definitely an ejoyable night of theater.
I think all three would make a great theater trip.
As I'm currently sipping coffee from my Virginia Woolf? mug, I can say that VW is essential for any theatre artist. Whether you love it or hate it, see it. My friend hated it but was still glad she came with me because everyone gets SOMETHING from it. I was absolutely blown away by everything about it.
Agreed with DROOD balancing those other two: a handsome, expertly sung revival and heavily discounted now since it's not selling well.
"Bring down my things. I'm going out of this world exactly the way I came in to it: wearing a hat." - Colleen Donaghy, "30 Rock"
--
"The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not."
Drood Virginia Woolf The Other Place (And the Ragtime concert)
I was simply riveted the entire time through both Place and VW. HEARTBREAKING stories, and some of the best performances I've ever seen. My entire walk back to my hotel after the Other Place was simply, "Oh my."
If you are even toying with the idea of seeing them, DO IT!!
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
I couldn't agree more with newintown's sentiment; THE OTHER PLACE is my favorite new play in a couple of seasons, and Metcalf's performance left me speechless. I'm going again next week before it closes because I want to see Pullman.
VIRGINIA WOOLF is a top-flight revival with four great performances. I much prefer it to the last revival, starring two leads who gave pretty interesting individual performances but who acted like they'd just met five minutes before they walked on stage.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Thank you so much for all of your feedback. It really helps push me to overcome my practical/sensible urge to save money by just staying home and skipping it, and to instead just go for it and feed my mind and soul with great theater. So, I just booked tickets for The Other Place and Virginia Woolf. Got GOOD seats for both. Between those 2 plays and the hotel and the transportation, that'll be enough of a hit on my bank account, but worth it, as always. Thanks again :)
I'd skip Drood now that some of the original cast is gone and attendance by the leads has been spotty. I'd hate to see you give up award winning performances only to have Chita or Stephanie out.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
Just caught up with WOOLF last night. Wow, absolutely superlative. Not to be missed. The chemistry among the cast is electric and palpable. Saw THE OTHER PLACE Off-Broadway and was mesmerized by Laurie Metcalf; the play itself held my interest but I wouldn't use superlatives. PICNIC was OK, nothing more. Go with WOOLF and THE OTHER PLACE.
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joined:10/2/10
Posted: 2/8/13 at 08:03pm