Those audible gasps you may have heard from your nearest theatre-lover yesterday were likely because of news that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Mike Nichols confirmed they're teaming up to bring Broadway its fourth revival of Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman in the fall of 2011.
But the gasps may have been further induced by something beyond just that simple announcement. Countless tweets in the twitterverse were incredulous about Hoffman's casting, saying he is too young to play Willy Loman, the titular salesman.
Nonesense, I immediately retorted. Hoffman is an actor who is wise beyond his years, and to be honest, has an appearance that can easily belie his 43 years. And just as fast as I could say that, my friend with the encyclopedic mind -- the ever resourceful Kevin Daly of Theatre Aficionado At Large -- quickly pointed out that the legendary Lee J. Cobb was a mere 37 years when he created the iconic role in the first Broadway production in 1949.
While Cobb didn't even receive a Tony nod for his Willy, that premiere production would sweep Tonys in each of the six categories for which it was nominated. First opening at Broadway's Morosco Theatre on February 10, 1949, Death Of A Salesman would win Tonys for Best Play, Best Author (Arthur Miller), Best Director (Elia Kazan), Best Featured Actor (Arthur Kennedy), Best Scenic Design (Jo Mielziner) and Best Producers (Kermit Bloomgarden and Walter Fried). Perhaps even more prestigious was that the production -- which closed November 18, 1950 after 742 performances -- was honored with the 1949 Pulitzer Prize.
Little wonder this is among Miller's most revered works. And little wonder that so many other great actors hold out no greater hope than to sink their enterprising teeth into Willy Loman.
Yet surprisingly, the first Broadway revival didn't come for another 25 years when George C. Scott took on the role at age 47. With Scott also directing, Death Of A Salesman opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on June 26, 1975. Although the cast included James Farentino as Biff and Harvey Keitel as Happy, the production would earn exactly one Tony nomination: for Scott's acting. The production closed after 71 performances.
The second revival came about just nine years later, opening at the Broadhurst Theatre on March 29, 1984. A then 46 year old Dustin Hoffman portrayed Willy alongside John Malkovich as Biff and Stephen Lang as Happy. The revival would earn the Tony for Best Reproduction. While it closed on July 1, 1984, after only 97 performances, the production would enjoy a return engagement at the Broadhurst for another 88 performances (September 14-November 18, 1984).
Perhaps the reason why so many think that Willy Loman is a man closing in on the twilight of his years is because of the last exceptional actor to make the role his own, Brian Dennehy. When the last Broadway revival of Death Of A Salesman was mounted by Robert Falls in 1999, Dennehy was already 60. But that didn't stop the theatre world from showering his performance with praise and accolades. Dennehy would win both the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his portrayal.
That Death Of A Salesman first opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on February 22, 1999. Packing a punch at the box office, the revival would enjoy 274 performances before closing on November 7, 1999. Its cast included Kevin Anderson as Biff, Ted Koch as Happy, Elizabeth Franz as Linda, Howard Witt as Charlie, and also Kate Buddeke (The Woman). All totaled, the revival earned six Tony nominations and scored wins for Best Revival, Falls, Franz and Dennehy.
Since that landmark production has become the gold standard by which most contemporary audiences judge Miller's play, it stands to reason that many can't conceive of Philip Seymour Hoffman as Willy Loman. Also, considering that Death Of A Salesman will herald Hoffman's first time back on Broadway's boards since earning a Tony nod for his effective portrayal as Brian Dennehy's son, James Tyrone, Jr. in 2003's Long Day's Journey Into Night, and it's no wonder the theatre world was gasping.
Of course, since that appearance, Hoffman has gone on to win an Academy Award for his breathtaking work as Truman Capote. I have little doubt he'll do just fine with Willy Loman.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Arthur Miller, Brian Dennehy, Broadway, Death Of A Salesman, First Word On New Show, George C. Scott, Lee J. Cobb, Mike Nichols, Philip Seymour Hoffmann, Play, Revival
The Country Girl (The SOB Review) - Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, New York, NY** (out of ****)For all the
pre-opening fuss about flubbed lines, it's more than just a little ironic, if not downright disconcerting, to discover that's exactly what
Clifford Odet's
The Country Girl is really all about.
And while I never detected any mispoken dialogue from
Morgan Freeman as alcoholic actor Frank Elgin, his muffled voice is all too often imperceptible. In fact, this undeniably gifted Academy Award-winning favorite frequently sounds as though he's mumbling.
Method acting? Perhaps, but when Frank's lines are so intrinsic to this backstage story, it is truly a shame we can hardly make out what he's saying in his desperate gambit to reach the pinnacle of Broadway fame one more time after practically losing it all because of his bout with the bottle.
Among his continuing potential losses is his long-suffering wife Georgie (a sadly miscast
Frances McDormand), whom he calls by her eponymous moniker -- whether affectionately or derisively is never really clear. Early in Act One, with bags nearly packed, Georgie's willful resoluteness in escaping her nightmarish existence is trumped when Broadway director Bernie Dodd (an effective
Peter Gallagher) offers Frank a dream come true: a major comeback role. Bernie enlists her aid in making sure Frank stays on the wagon and learns his lines while the play is being tried out in New England.
Not only does Georgie go with Frank to the out of town tryout, but she acts as his biggest protector against the two primary forces that could plunge her husband headlong back into the alcoholic abyss: Bernie and the show's producer Phil Cook, portrayed by an exceptional
Chip Zien, who singlehandedly transports us back to the fifties.
In maintaining the 1950s milieu, director
Mike Nichols imbues this production with an utterly dissembling, anachronistic feel. Sure, the scenic and costume designs by
Tim Hatley and
Albert Wolsky, respectively, evoke the fifties, but the actors themselves seem like they're from another time. McDormand, in particular, comes across as far too sophisticated and self-assured for a woman who's not only supposed to be from farm country, but also from the middle of the 20th Century.
The more perplexing issue is just how much direction Nichols actually offered. It's as if he's directing several different shows at once, with each of his major stars serving as the center of their own unique solar system. Yes, they're all powerful in their own right, but rarely during the rather inert first act do their stars collide in a way that would make an astronomer sit up and take notice. Instead, these actors are left orbiting around one another, missing opportunities to display what this revival sorely lacks -- passion and chemistry.
Fortunately, all is not lost as the second act provides unexpected twists, which at least place the three principals in the same general trajectory. And make no mistake, at its root, Odets has provided a pretty compelling story that practically begs for the assembled star wattage to shine brightly.
For one brief, triumphant moment near
The Country Girl's climax, they finally twinkle with all the brilliance you'd have every right to expect throughout.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:How Well Did Critics Believe Country Girl Has Matured? (April 28, 2008)
Country Girl Hits Big Apple (April 27, 2008)
Looking Forward: The SOB Top Five (January 2, 2008)
Country Girl To Return To Big City (September 28, 2008)
Labels: Broadway, Clifford Odets, Frances McDormand, Mike Nichols, Morgan Freeman, Peter Gallagher, Play, Revival, The Country Girl, The SOB Review
How Well Did Critics Believe Country Girl Has Matured?Yesterday, the second Broadway revival of
Clifford Odets'
The Country Girl opened at the
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
The
Mike Nichols-helmed production starring
Morgan Freeman,
Frances McDormand and
Peter Gallagher has been tabloid fodder thanks in no small part to Michael Riedel's now
infamous columns on the supposed problems ranging from deviations from the original script to Freeman's "struggling with his lines." However, despite his
third column on the topic -- this time predicting an onslaught of negative reviews -- most critiques came up favorable, with two notable exceptions.
Heralding the revival as “wonderfully on the side of the angels,” New York Post’s
Clive Barnes salutes with three and a half stars: “It is crisply and, so far as humanly possible, unsentimentally directed by Mike Nichols, who knows how to let his actors breathe, react and interact, and has a handsomely picked trio of stars in Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher…. These three are all heart-rendingly credible -- it's among the finest acting of the season - and transcend the simplistic writing to leap into the reality at which Odets surely, and sometimes not so surely, aimed.”
Assessing the work as “surprisingly durable thanks in part to its flavorful evocation of the theater milieu,” Variety’s
David Rooney offers praise: “[I]n Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher, Nichols finds three intelligent collaborators capable of investing those characters with their own distinctive shadings…. While the play's psychology belongs to an era before addictive personalities and parasitic relationships were regularly placed under an unforgiving dramatic microscope, its depiction of co-dependency retains veracity and complexity…. Nichols and the actors respect the exacting rhythms of Odets' writing, constructing these conflicted characterizations nuance by nuance, and frequently risking unsympathetic bluntness before whipping away veils to show a larger, more humanistic picture.”
Calling The Country Girl “a subtle, engrossing and deeply straightforward shaping of a far-from-perfect script,”
Linda Winer of Newsday is largely positive: “Nichols has directed a carefully-calibrated three-star turn, with Frances McDormand as Georgie, the disappointed wife of Frank Elgin, whose career disappeared in a bottle and a bluff. The third side of the triangle is the terrific Peter Gallagher, the most aptly cast of them all, playing the workaholic hotshot director as if channeling Jerry Orbach's dark New York way with a fast-talking dream…. Nichols keeps picking away at these people until, quietly, the relationships click into the complex ways we perceive one another and ourselves.”
Deeming this a “well-mannered mounting,” The New York Sun’s
Eric Grode is also decidedly upbeat: “The occasional hesitations and reversals at a recent press performance by Mr. Freeman (and by his co-star, the fellow Oscar winner Frances McDormand) came to feel less like nerve-racking scrambles and more like the gambits of a magician who piques the interest of his audience by inserting intentional flubs in anticipation of a final cathartic ‘ta-daaaa!’… But The Country Girl" is, in addition to a three-pronged drama about the codependencies of marriage as well as of artistic collaboration, a love letter to the art of stage acting…. The stars on display may flicker now and then, but they cast a strangely compelling -- and equally mysterious -- light on the counterintuitive and wistful energies that create art.”
Noting that “passion -- and I don’t mean just a mechanically raised voice or fist -- never makes an appearance here,”
Ben Brantley of The New York Times : “[W]hat keeps you vaguely but uncomfortably on tenterhooks is wondering whether three of the finest actors around can make you care, for a single second, about any of these questions before the play ends. Sorry to jump to the last page, folks, but the answer is no…. Each star has a few abrupt moments of simulating anger or sorrow via sharp, attention-grabbing technique. But I rarely felt prepared for these explosions; they seemed like unanchored, virtuosic exercises. And while Mr. Gallagher and Ms. McDormand bring a brisk surface energy to the proceedings, the overriding note of this production is fatigue…”
Concluding “By the time the curtain falls, you've already stopped caring,”
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York’s
Daily News also bemoans the “lackluster revival”: “Freeman is a talented actor but isn't fully convincing in this role. He captures Frank's insecurity, but his slack diction undermines his credibility as a once-great star hiding vast reserves of ‘power and majesty.’ As his beleaguered spouse, McDormand looks tired, that's for sure. But her performance is flat and lacks spontaneity. She and Freeman have little chemistry, so it's hard to buy them as a couple who have endured so much, including their child's death. The surprising and rock-solid turn comes from Gallagher, who brings enthusiasm and energy to his scenes, ingredients the show sorely needs.”
I'll be seeing the production next week and will weigh in shortly thereafter with my own SOB Review. Of course, the reviews may not matter at all given the major starpower of this limited run.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Country Girl Hits Big Apple (April 27, 2008)
Looking Forward: The SOB Top Five (January 2, 2008)
Country Girl To Return To Big City (September 28, 2008)
Labels: Broadway, Clifford Odets, Critics' Capsule, Frances McDormand, Michael Riedel, Mike Nichols, Morgan Freeman, Peter Gallagher, Play, Revival, The Country Girl
Country Girl Hits Big AppleToday, the second Rialto revival of
Clifford Odets'
The Country Girl opens at the
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre under the direction of
Mike Nichols.
Celebrated actors
Morgan Freeman and
Frances McDormand headline as Frank and Georgie Elgin, along with
Peter Gallagher,
Remy Auberjonois,
Anna Camp,
Joe Roland,
Lucas Caleb Rooney and
Chip Zien.
Odets' award-winning story is the stuff of pure Broadway, providing meaty roles about a Great White Way alcoholic actor and his wife. The
original 1950-51 production at the
Lyceum Theatre lasted 236 performances, while the
one lone revival before this one in 1972 had 62.
This latest revival is a limited run scheduled through July 30. With all its star power, as well as legendary director a the helm, will critics herald
The Country Girl yet again? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:Looking Forward: The SOB Top Five (January 2, 2008)
Country Girl To Return To Big City (September 28, 2008)
Labels: Broadway, Clifford Odets, Frances McDormand, Mike Nichols, Morgan Freeman, Opening Night, Peter Gallagher, Play, Revival, The Country Girl
"Because We Don't Laugh At Sad People"
"Because We Don't Laugh At Sad People"--
Monty Python's Spamalot co-creator
Eric Idle on
why the Broadway, London, Vegas and touring productions of his hit musical are altering the references of the
pop princess in "Diva's Lament" to this
one.
Idle chattered on to the Associated Press:
Mike Nichols requested it and he's right. We changed the lyrics in London, on tour, on Broadway and in Las Vegas. We think that it's now too sad. Britney Spears is being tortured to death and we don't want to be on that side.
Bravo!
Now let's just hope the young lady gets all the help she needs.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Britney Spears, Broadway, Eric Idle, London, Mike Nichols, Monty Python's Spamalot, Musical, Posh Spice
