The Real Thing
Posted: October 22, 2014 Filed under: Becca Doodle - Sad, Broadway, Drama, Play, Revival | Tags: broadway, cynthianixon, ewanmcgregor, itsaboutyou, maggiegyllenhaal, moulinrouge, review, roundabout, samgold, therealthing, tomstoppard Leave a comment
If you went to high school with me, then you know I fell in love with Ewan McGregor when I was 17-years-old, saw “Moulin Rouge” for the first time, and my young mind exploded. You also know that I had a Seth Green phase earlier in high school, but let’s move past that for the moment. After I proceeded to watch as many of Ewan’s films as I could the following year, I eagerly awaited the moment to see him in a live play (since I tried and subsequently failed to see him in Guys and Dolls when I was studying abroad in England). So yes, I admit, Ewan was the primary reason I wanted to attend the newest revival of Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing.
Henry (Ewan McGregor) is a playwright. His current play is about a woman who cheats on her husband, starring his wife Charlotte (Cynthia Nixon) and an actor named Max (Josh Hamilton). In real life, Max is married to Annie (Maggie Gyllenhaal). When we learn that Henry and Annie are actually having an affair, art begins to imitate life. Or is it the other way around?
Sadly, this production left me wanting in many ways. I wasn’t invested in these characters, emotionally or intellectually. They don’t need to be sympathetic (which they aren’t) for me to be invested, but I still have to want to go on a journey with them. Instead I felt left behind. This was in part due to the story itself being confusing at times (intentionally), and it can be hard to follow because the language is so dense. But that aside, I couldn’t connect to the style itself. It was very presentational and plotted out. Rather than discovering on the line, all of the words seemed planned. If a character had a big speech, it was performed like he or she had memorized it and had reached the appropriate time to recite it. It did not feel spontaneous.
Matt and I were discussing that maybe this was because of the slightly heightened, highly intellectual language, but on the other hand, Shakespeare is heightened and poetic. Even if you don’t catch all of the metaphors, subtext, and meanings in the first hear-through, you are still with the characters. You’re discovering things together, in the moment, no matter the density of the words. For example, when I saw the revival of Stoppard’s Arcadia a few years back, I went in blind, and while I was desperately confused at times (lots of math talk in that play), I still felt like I was there with the characters, going through something with them, trying to figure it out together.
The Real Thing won a Tony Award for Best Play in 1982 and Best Revival of a Play in 2000. It took home the Drama Desk, and the leads won Tony Awards in both productions. I mean, it makes sense! Stoppard is one of our most popular playwrights, known for his intense, philosophical, beautiful dialogue and topics. And I love all four of these actors in their other works. I think the root may be a direction/style choice. I’m curious what the previous productions did differently that made them so successful.
This play is about love, marriage, and in/fidelity. It’s about the feelings that are left unsaid, acting the opposite, playing it cool. We find out rather quickly that the first scene is a performance, a play within a play, but come the second scene in “reality,” it still feels like a performance. This might have been the point, as it partly represents the lack of honesty being shared among the characters, but then again, there needs to be a contrast. There are only a couple of moments with that kind of truth sprinkled in (Ewan has a touching moment alone onstage in the second act that I appreciated). I don’t mean that the characters need to show this truth to each other, but the vulnerability could be shared with us. Someone should be honest with the audience and make that connection, if only for a moment, because we want, we need the real thing.
The Real Thing
Written by Tom Stoppard, Directed by Sam Gold
American Airlines Theatre, Closing January 4, 2015
Photo Credit: Joan Marcus
Pictured: Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ewan McGregor
Aladdin
Posted: April 9, 2014 Filed under: Becca Doodle - Sad, Broadway, Musical | Tags: abu, aladdin, alanmenken, broadway, flyingcarpet, genie, jafar, jasmine, musical, review 1 Comment
So the critics and I haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye much of late. ROCKY received mostly negative reviews, and I think it’s one of the more exciting shows this season. Meanwhile, Aladdin received rave reviews, and to be honest with you, I didn’t think it was all that amazing. People are lapping this show up; the audience was on its feet before the bows even started. And I doubt the show will have much trouble selling tickets being that it’s…ya know, Disney’s Aladdin (albeit The Little Mermaid wasn’t much of a success).
Here’s the thing: this production is a huge and colorful spectacle, but ultimately, I thought it lacked heart – the heart that I feel is deeply a part of the movie. Lines taken directly from the film (lines that still make me cry despite having watched the movie a thousand times because it’s my favorite Disney flick) actually made me roll my eyes. I don’t think the show goes much deeper than the glitzy surface. Aladdin comes off as pretty bland, and it becomes even more apparent how much this hero lies.
My biggest complaint may be the cutting of the animals. Yeah, yeah, I know – it’s a new musical, it’s not the same as the movie, and I have to let certain things go. But I’m sorry! This is Disney! They have so much money. Figure out how to make Abu work instead of throwing him to the curb and giving Aladdin three pals who follow him around instead, churning out jokes like “I feel awful.” “Did someone say falafel?” Iago is still in it, but now he’s Jafar’s human sidekick. He does have some funny moments, but I want the parrot! Abu, Iago, and Raja are iconic characters. As far as I’m concerned, it’d be like doing Beauty & the Beast and cutting Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts.
Oh, and I imagine you want to know about the flying carpet. Yes, the carpet does fly. It’s cool magic, and I don’t know how it’s done, but “A Whole New World” (one of my favorite songs of all time) falls short. The stage is dark except for the stars, and you can barely see the actors as the carpet makes its way all over the stage. The orchestrations are thinned out, and as a result, I didn’t feel the charge and excitement that typically comes hand in hand with that number.
Okay, enough negativity. Let me talk about the things that do work. You guys! Jafar is THE Jafar! Jonathan Freeman, the voice of the original Jafar, plays the role, and the kid in me definitely got a kick out of hearing him live. Some of the new songs are nice (written by Alan Menken and Chad Beguelin) and for the most part add to the story (A Million Miles Away is a lovely new tune).
Basically, the thing to know is that the Genie is the show. It should actually probably be called Genie. James Monroe Iglehart, who was also pretty darn fabulous in Memphis, gets another truly flashy role to show off his comedic and physical chops. “Friend Like Me” is an enormous production number and is the principal reason to buy a ticket. The way critics are saying it’s worth going to ROCKY for the last big fight? That’s what this song is. Nothing else matches it. (Speaking of which – why is it not the Act 1 Finale? I wonder if that’s changed since I saw it in previews. There are more scenes after that and another reprise of “Proud of Your Boy.” Bring the curtain down! Nothing can top that number!)
So listen, if you go see Aladdin, I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself. I just felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities. There were more tricks and magic in the Finding Nemo production I saw at Animal Kingdom in Disney World. And the “wink wink nudge nudge” humor in the new material becomes so dominant that when you get to the deep-down spirit of story, the energy drops. The show is still fun as a whole, and the target audience will certainly be entertained. As for me, I think if more time had been spent on the heart of the show rather than all the mugging, I might have walked away feeling differently.
Aladdin
Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, Book and Lyrics by Chad Beguelin, Directed by Casey Nicholaw
New Amsterdam Theatre, Open-Ended
Photo Credit: Cylla von Tiedemann
Pictured: Adam Jacobs
Becca on Broadway 