FWIW, my Playbill cover is different from yours. Mine has the typeface and layout used by Playbill in the 1960s. I noticed others looked like Playbills from the 1950s and 1970s.
Yes. I looked that up after I recorded the video. Somehow I missed that one. Probably because it was a limited run in a small theater and starring Hugh Jackman. tickets were probably hella expensive.
Thank you for bringing up the question of Joan and what motivates her to make the choice she makes in act two. I think there needed to be more fleshing out of Veronica and Joan's relationship for the play to really resonate... the ambiguities at the end felt stretched a little thin to me, to the point that I did feel confused or that the play didn't focus wuite enough on its main characters and themes. COMPLETELY agree that nearly all the men were unnecessary. I wish Butterworth spent more time fleshing out a couple of male characters and deepening relationships. I felt this play was pretty unfocussed. And the end teetered into melodrama a bit for me. (I also was really confused by Ruby's panic attack and it felt like a convenient way for the writer to pull focus from Gloria's ranting about Joan). In all, I think I liked this less than you, but I was intrigued by it overall and wasn't really ever bored. I was just disappointed.
Good points. Yes, I was confused by Joans arc from youth to adulthood. I was hoping adult Joan would shed some light on her relationship with her mother, but Adult Joan seemed so lackadaisical that I didn't really understand why she couldn't go up to see her mother. She didn't seem like someone who was holding a grudge. Unless that was a coping mechanism? I think the production is really greater than the sum of its parts. Not as good as Jerusalem and The Ferryman, but I enjoyed my 2 hours and 50 minutes in the theater.
ALSO... SPOILER! I didn't mention this in the review because I didn't want to spoil the ending. So if you haven't seen the play stop reading! - I was surprised that the sisters didn't go upstairs to be with their mother for the administration of the morphine. It seems like they were chosing Joan over their Mother by staying in the kitchen, which was strange considering the tension between Joan and the sisters for the bulk of the play.
It's a Broadway tradition that I think they'll have a hard time getting rid of. I'm always so baffled when I go to the West End and there's no playbill - just souvenir programs.
Hi, I follow your reviews and except for this one, we seem to be so much on the same page about so many aspects of so many of the shows. In this one, I left feeling like if I knew what it was like before making the decision to go, I wouldn't have gone. The slow start you spoke about, for me, never really engaged me, throughout the whole show. It was way too long. It felt like the editing button was never used.
I don't disagree with you that it needed some editing. Do you think the darkness of the subject matter may have attributed to your negative reaction? Or because the main characters are not especially likable?
@@MatthewHardyMusicalI don't think it was the dark subject matter that turned me off, because I am a psychotherapist. I am very used to that. I think it was not well written. It needed to be tighter.
Slow burn is a good description. First third was enjoyable but not exciting; but the last third definitely packs an emotional wallop and reels you in.
I think I was in a very patient mood that day so I was willing to go for the scenic ride at the beginning.
sure it will be nominated...might even win best play tony this year
We shall see. It will have to contend with the homegrown Oh Mary!
FWIW, my Playbill cover is different from yours. Mine has the typeface and layout used by Playbill in the 1960s. I noticed others looked like Playbills from the 1950s and 1970s.
That's some weird Playbill anniversary thing they're doing this month. If you tear it off the real cover should be underneath.
Jez also wrote "The River" which starred Hugh Jackman, and Laura Donnelly was in that too. Talk about a slow burn...
Yes. I looked that up after I recorded the video. Somehow I missed that one. Probably because it was a limited run in a small theater and starring Hugh Jackman. tickets were probably hella expensive.
Thank you for bringing up the question of Joan and what motivates her to make the choice she makes in act two. I think there needed to be more fleshing out of Veronica and Joan's relationship for the play to really resonate... the ambiguities at the end felt stretched a little thin to me, to the point that I did feel confused or that the play didn't focus wuite enough on its main characters and themes. COMPLETELY agree that nearly all the men were unnecessary. I wish Butterworth spent more time fleshing out a couple of male characters and deepening relationships. I felt this play was pretty unfocussed. And the end teetered into melodrama a bit for me. (I also was really confused by Ruby's panic attack and it felt like a convenient way for the writer to pull focus from Gloria's ranting about Joan). In all, I think I liked this less than you, but I was intrigued by it overall and wasn't really ever bored. I was just disappointed.
Good points. Yes, I was confused by Joans arc from youth to adulthood. I was hoping adult Joan would shed some light on her relationship with her mother, but Adult Joan seemed so lackadaisical that I didn't really understand why she couldn't go up to see her mother. She didn't seem like someone who was holding a grudge. Unless that was a coping mechanism? I think the production is really greater than the sum of its parts. Not as good as Jerusalem and The Ferryman, but I enjoyed my 2 hours and 50 minutes in the theater.
ALSO... SPOILER! I didn't mention this in the review because I didn't want to spoil the ending. So if you haven't seen the play stop reading! - I was surprised that the sisters didn't go upstairs to be with their mother for the administration of the morphine. It seems like they were chosing Joan over their Mother by staying in the kitchen, which was strange considering the tension between Joan and the sisters for the bulk of the play.
Yes and thank goodness for programs, Broadway still has programs and has not opted for that horrible QR nonsense
It's a Broadway tradition that I think they'll have a hard time getting rid of. I'm always so baffled when I go to the West End and there's no playbill - just souvenir programs.
almost all the male parts were superfluous. The kids were superfluous.
I liked it.
I wanted to love it.
I did not love it,
but I did like it.
Yup. Hard not to like when everyone involved is at the top of their game.
Hi, I follow your reviews and except for this one, we seem to be so much on the same page about so many aspects of so many of the shows. In this one, I left feeling like if I knew what it was like before making the decision to go, I wouldn't have gone. The slow start you spoke about, for me, never really engaged me, throughout the whole show. It was way too long. It felt like the editing button was never used.
I don't disagree with you that it needed some editing. Do you think the darkness of the subject matter may have attributed to your negative reaction? Or because the main characters are not especially likable?
@@MatthewHardyMusicalI don't think it was the dark subject matter that turned me off, because I am a psychotherapist. I am very used to that. I think it was not well written. It needed to be tighter.
@@carolegladstone-ramos3962 I can't argue with that!