Mary Stuart (The SOB Review) – Broadhurst Theatre, New York, New York
*** (out of ****)
It was the best of times (and sigh!) it was the dullest of times.
Fortunately, once you sit through the extraordinarily dry exposition of the first act of
Phyllida Lloyd’s ultimately worthy revival of
Friedrich Schiller's
Mary Stuart (with new adaptation by
Peter Oswald), you’re in for one of the year’s most powerfully explosive acts, period.
Thanks to the unusually fierce, bravura performances from
Janet McTeer and
Harriet Walter starring as cousins
Queen Mary of Scots and
Queen Elizabeth I, respectively,
Mary Stuart comes close to becoming a theatrical
tour de force of epic proportions.
Certainly from the start, McTeer and Walter are more than enough to whet anyone’s appetite. But it’s not until the gales from the onset of Act Two that their portrayals of the original dueling divas truly reigns down on the stage with an intensity so pure and genuine that you forget for a moment you’re watching something set back in time over 400 years.
For the second year in a row, I’ve witnessed a level of virtuosity from McTeer I never before could have imagined (in 2008,
I saw her extraordinary turn in the earlier London mounting of the Tony-winning hit
God Of Carnage). While Walter nearly goes toe to toe, McTeer offers that rarest of theatrical delights: a performance for the ages.
So if you’re like me and easily tire of
Mary Stuart’s labored first act (despite McTeer and Walter’s exceptional efforts), rest assured that after intermission, you’re bound to get just a little, well, moist.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Friedrich Schiller, God Of Carnage, Harriet Walter, Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart, Peter Oswald, Phyllida Lloyd, Play, Revival, The SOB Review
Overheard (Mary Stuart Edition)
Overheard Sunday afternoon, while finally taking in a performance of the current Broadway revival of
Mary Stuart:
"You see, it was a very difficult time in history."
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Mary Stuart, Overheard, Play
What Hath God Wrought?Yesterday, the Broadway incarnation of
God Of Carnage opened to a slew of
pretty decent reviews, including the
one that seems to matter most.
Helmed by
Matthew Warchus , the Great White Way staging of
Yasmina Reza's latest work (with translation from
Christopher Hampton) stars
Jeff Daniels,
Hope Davis,
James Gandolfini and
Marcia Gay Harden.
After having thoroughly enjoyed last year's brilliant London production with
Ralph Fiennes and absolutely mesmerizing
Janet McTeer -- click here for that
SOB Review -- I find this morning's favorable critiques to be very tempting for a revisit to this visceral comedy. Oh, and if you'd like to see McTeer, your opportunity comes later this month as the London-cum-Broadway revival of
Mary Stuart begins previews.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Christopher Hampton, Critics' Capsule, God Of Carnage, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini, Janet McTeer, Jeff Daniels, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Stuart, Play, Yasmina Reza
Bloody MaryLast Saturday evening, actor
Daniel Hoevels nearly killed himself live on an Austrian stage when his dull-edged prop knife was replaced with an all too sharp one.
Hoevels, appearing at Vienna's
Burgtheater in
Friedrich Schiller's
Mary Stuart, was portraying a character trying to commit suicide when he accidentally slashed his throat with the very real blade. The audience reportedly was unaware that the blood wasn't fake until the final curtain call. By then, Hoevels had been taken to the hospital where he was stitched up. However,
one doctor said, "If Hoevels had hit an artery or cut only slightly deeper, he would have died on stage."
Speculation ran rampant that police were investigating whether this incident was intentional. No wonder the above scanned German-language headline from the
Austrian newspaper Osterreich translates to "Real Drama at the Burgtheatre."
But before you can say, "Where's
Angela Lansbury when you need her?"
Time magazine notes that Hoevels is quite the trouper, having returned to the stage the very next day for a final performance of the play. Hoevels is now in Hamburg performing in
Goethe's
Die Leiden Des Jungen Werthers (The Sorrows Of Young Werther).
Time's Adam Smith notes wryly:
In that play, the long-suffering title character winds up shooting himself in
the head. Someone might want to double-check the gun.
Here's wishing Herr Hoevels a speedy recovery.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Accident, Austria, Daniel Hoevels, Die Leiden Des Jungen Werthers, Goethe, Mary Stuart
Broadway Preview: Mary StuartAfter getting wind yesterday that acclaimed British actress
Janet McTeer would be returning to Broadway for her first time since earning a Tony Award for Best Actress in 1997 for her turn as Norma Helmer in
A Doll's House, I couldn't help but think, "How wonderful that she'll be reprising the her
absolutely brilliant portrayal of Véronique Vallon stateside in
God Of Carnage."
Yes, McTeer
is coming to the Great White Way in Spring 2009, and she
will be reprising a West End role. But it won't be in
God Of Carnage. Yet.
According to
Variety, McTeer's Rialto return will be as
Mary Queen of Scots. She'll be starring in a transfer of
Donmar Warehouse's 2005-06 hit revival of German playwright
Friedrich Schiller's
Mary Stuart.
Harriet Walter, whose only Main Stem credit came 25 years ago in a revival of
All's Well that Ends Well, will reprise her West End portrayal of
Queen Elizabeth I.
Peter Oswald's adaptation of
Mary Stuart will be directed by
Phyllida Lloyd of
Mamma Mia! fame.
Now perhaps it's because Americans aren't as engaged in British history as, oh, say the
rest of the world, but
Mary Stuart has only seen two previous Rialto incarnations.
The first came in 1900 at the
Fifth Avenue Theatre when it played in repertory with
Macbeth,
Marie Antoinette,
Much Ado About Nothing,
The Ladies' Battle and
Twelfth Night.
The next revival of the work wouldn't come for another 71 years, when
Mary Stuart was produced at
Lincoln Center's
Vivian Beaumont Theatre in late 1971. Clocking in at a mere 44 performances, the
Jules Irving-helmed play pitted
Salome Jens' Mary versus
Nancy Marchand's Elizabeth, and featured
Philip Bosco as Robert Dudley.
While you might think that they'd stage this new adaptation of Schiller's
Mary Stuart at one of Broadway's not-for-profit venues, it will instead be housed in one of the commercial theatres owned by the
Shubert Organization.
Whether New York audiences will enjoy rediscovering
Mary Stuart is a big question mark. Yet given the renewed thirst for royal entertainment, thanks in part to
Cate Blanchett's breathtaking turns as the first Queen Elizabeth, as well as
Showtimes' "
The Tudors," the time might very well be as right as can be. And the opportunity to see McTeer should be worth the ticket itself.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Labels: Donmar Warehouse, First Word On New Show, God Of Carnage, Harriet Walter, Janet McTeer, London, Mary Stuart, Phyllida Lloyd, Play, Revival, Transfer
