Saoirse Goes Broadway
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jlent — 10 years ago(September 12, 2015 01:46 PM)
It was tricky, but the site ended up sending me to different places.
This is it. Pick a date:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/The-Crucible-Ny-tickets/artist/2161375 -
DCI77 — 10 years ago(September 14, 2015 11:36 AM)
I'm late, obviously. Anyways
This is great news. Theater is a wonderful way to sharpen the acting chops, and with such magnificent material! (Arthur Miller is one of my favorite playwright and The Crucible one of my favorite plays.) Honestly, I'm more interested in how the director will inte5b4rpret the material than anyone who is cast here. It's just a nice plus that Saoirse's in it, and with the role of Abigail! The Crucible would draw crowds regardless of who stars in it.
But Broadway. [yawn] Not really impressive, really, when it comes to these straight-to-Broadway scenarios. There two ways a production gets to Broadway. (1) Big Musical, either straight-to or after a successful out-of-town tryout (gotta test the waters first if it's popular enough, and if the critics like it) and (2) cast established actors in a play, after all most tickets are bought by tourists, and stage producers are no different than movie producers when it comes to investing ones money in productions.
Straight to Broadway.. Wow!
Broadway, when it comes to straight-to transfers aren't really the "best of the best" nor does it necessarily mean anything. It's a business and the productions that get the Broadway feather are seen as moneymakers. (Producers would never cast an early twenty-something young Ann Hathaway in a one-woman show.) Plus, it's The Crucible performed by established actors that says Broadway. Arthur Miller's name + The Crucible says "transfer to Broadway" alone. If it were a new play, eh, less of chance for an automatic transfer, and if it premiered in NYC it'll be off-Broadway simply due to the fact that the material isn't well known. Without any established actors 2000it might even be done at an "off-off-Broadway" theater. And Broadway, nowadays, is more so a destination than anything else, and less of an actually standard. Film actors, especially established ones, if they're going to do stage, want the branding of Broadway. That's what Broadway, the name, really is: a brand.
What would be more impressive if it were a cast of mostly unknowns, and an established stage actor here or there, getting transferred to Broadway. An example would be Spring Awakening where it premiered off-Broadway, gained critical acclaim and then later transferred. The rest is history. In terms of a play, August: Osage Country that orignated in Chicago's Steppenwolf and later transferred to Broadway. The rest is history.
This production for The Crucible was packaged for the Broadway glitz. At least Tevi Gevinson is getting more stage roles, who's around Saoirse's age.
In saying that, I have a sibling who lives in Manhattan and one thing we both share is our interest in plays & musicals, so Manhattan is a toy store for him when it comes to this sort of stuff. When it opens I'll give him a heads-up that Miller's play is showing and hopefully he'll see it. If so, I'll ask for feedback on the production.
2015: Slow West, Brooklyn -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(September 14, 2015 02:42 PM)
Thoughtful post DC. I'm pretty much unfamiliar with stage productions. Perhaps she needs to scratch an itch, or maybe she believes the experience will result in the betterment of her craft. Given the playwright and other experienced actors, don't you think her casting says a lot about how she is perceived by those who put this whole thing together?
BTW, what's your thinking/expectations about Brooklyn? Do you feel she had a legitimate chance to land an Oscar nod? -
jlent — 10 years ago(September 14, 2015 03:43 PM)
No one takes Broadway seriously for new plays. It's musicals and standards for the tourist crowd. I'm pleased Saoirse has enough clout to get as her first stage performance one of those tourist attractions. (Though The Book of Mormon is KILLER.)
Real work, in new plays, is being done off-Broadway and off-off Broadway, but that kind of theater is dying off for large audiences, the way classical music is. Look at movies from the 30's, 40's and 50's. So many of them were ABOUT Broadway. I'm thinking of All About Eve. But I'm also thinking of last year's Birdman.
The former was an ode to Broadway, the latter more of a requiem.
Writers would rather do screenplays now. -
peterquennell — 10 years ago(February 02, 2016 05:41 AM)
No one takes Broadway seriously for new plays. It's musicals and standards for the tourist crowd. I'm pleased Saoirse has enough clout to get as her first stage performance one of those tourist attractions. (Though The Book of Mormon is KILLER.)
Real work, in new plays, is being done off-Broadway and off-off Broadway, but that kind of theater is dying off for large audiences, the way classical music is.
Hmmmm. We average Broadway and ballet once a week and I'd say at least a 1/4 of what we see is new. What really happened is that demand expanded to average over 50,000 seats a night and so most of the big shows could cover their initial costs. -
zorrodvd — 10 years ago(September 17, 2015 08:34 AM)
Interesting and unusual link to official ticket site.
http://t.co/KPDQruCvcK -
narkelbiazzi — 10 years ago(September 17, 2015 09:57 PM)
A Saoirse fan page got some great pictures from this animation:
http://tinyurl.com/p5dtcba
This one in particular, looks amazing with the Saoirse ghost face
http://tinyurl.com/p4b2lnj -
jlent — 10 years ago(September 22, 2015 08:23 PM)
The general rule of thumb is the closer the seat is to the front the more you have to look up to see the action because the stage is above you.
Front row111c is also definitely not the best for sprawling musicals where you are likely to miss some of the action across all of the stage.
But the Walter Kerr is an intimate theater.
Here's a photo of it to give you at least a bit of an idea. As you can see, the stage is not that high.
http://tinyurl.com/o6qpofh
I have second-row seats, which still ain't cheap. I'm very happy.