The Realistic Joneses- Page 2

[MillieDillmount]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 3:49am

I am going to rush this show tomorrow! Super excited they finally announced it! This show just seems really interesting. Plus, not gonna lie, I am really excited to see Michael C Hall in this! I binge watched Dexter a couple of months ago, and now I'm a little obsessed. Can't wait!

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 4:21am

Just booked my ticket for next month! So stoked!

[ak72090]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 8:33am

Just bought tickets for 4/5! Excited!! Wish I knew this was the last night on previews, Kind of wanted to ree the regular show. Is it normal for the leads to miss the last night of previews? Got to be honest, I'm really only interested for Michael C. Hall lol

[followspot]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 10:53am

^^ Last night of previews will be press night. You'll be seeing the real show, cast intact.

[ak72090]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 11:49am

good to know...thanks followspot. i think youve answered every question Ive posted on this forum recently lol

[CoreyRyan3]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 12:02pm

Okay so I was at the invited dress last night for this show. Bizarre is the only world I can use to describe it. It jumps all over the place and is hard to keep up with. It has a lot of funny lines and it's good for a laugh. The way they speak in this show may seem to people to be absurd, but as a friend pointed out, it's very much the way we speak in normal conversations today.

Michael C Hall gives the best performance in this I think. They're all giving fine performances but Michael C Hall really stood out to me because of his comedic timing.

I don't know, like a poster said above, this show and Will Eno's writing is truly and "acquired taste" and I'm not sure if it's a taste I've acquired.

[ak72090]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 12:07pm

can you describe the style or the plot at all without spoilers? ive just bought tickets with no idea what im in for lol

[CoreyRyan3]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 12:53pm

I honestly don't know if there is much of a plot. It's basically just about this couple (Letts and Collette) who meet their new neighbors (Hall and Tomei) and it's just about their interactions, really.

[shtoft]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 1:07pm

I have an extra for tonight's first preview. DM me if you want it.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 1:24pm

I hope they sell merch with the the graphic of the squirrel. I'm seeing this tonight, very excited.

[ak72090]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 4:51pm

Updated On: 3/14/14 at 04:51 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:10pm

If this is anything like Eno's other plays, it is less about plot (if there is plot) and more about idiosyncrasies in character and, in particular, speech.

He's in the vein of absurdism.

Updated On: 3/13/14 at 07:10 PM

[PianoMann]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:36pm

Jealous of those of you seeing this tonight! Please report back!

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 7:38pm

I've only read this play, but I can confirm it's light on plot. Eno is more intent on exploring existential truths than anything.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 10:48pm

I was there tonight and I really don't know what to make of it. I didn't hate it, and there are some funny one-liners for sure, but the play lost me in the final two scenes. At the risk of sounding like a ditz, I just didn't get it.

I wouldn't call the play plotless, but it's thin, so to discuss naturally is going to reveal some slight SPOILERS. Letts and Collette play a couple living in a small mountain town. One night another couple (Hall and Tomei) sneak into their backyard with a bottle of wine to announce that they have rented a house down the street.

Collette reveals that her husband is suffering from a rare disease that is cruelly debilitating him. She has turned into an underappreciated caregiver and has become a man of few words.

Later Hall admits to Collette that the real reason he moved to this town is because he is suffering from the same rare disease and he's beginning to lose his mind/coherent speech capabilities. Both Letts and Hall lose their trains of thought, speak in non-sequiturs, and especially Hall seems to be getting rapidly worse over the second half of the play.

There are some funny lines, but I wouldn't describe the play as hilarious or anything. It seemed to be trying to say something on a deep philosophical level, but I'll be damned if I know what Eno wanted us to glean from his play.

I'm surprised this is playing on Broadway, even with the starry cast. Seems like a perfect fit for the Lortel or PH. There were rows and rows of empty seats up in the balcony, so the good news is if you want to go there's a cheap way to see it.

[After Eight]

Posted: 3/13/14 at 11:26pm

90 minutes; seems like 900; 9 would be 9 too many for this obnoxious waste of time.

A trying exercise in smart alecky self-indulgence. The audience catches on early to the author's sophomoric word tricks, which, alas, continue coming to the bitter end, which, unfortunately, doesn't ever seem to come at all.

Can these plays possibly get any worse?

Frighteningly, probably!

[ak72090]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 6:18am

Well, that is really dissapointing to hear. Now I have buyers remorse....anyone need tickets to 4/5 2pm? Got two tickets to sell Doesnt seem like a show worth a three hour drive to see. Sucks

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 7:31am

You're making that decision based off of what TWO people said about a first preview?

[cglaid]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 9:08am

I echo what Whizzer and AfterEight said. I have no idea what I witnessed last night and that was the longest 90 minutes ever.

The only funny moment, which I believe was a goof... potential spoiler... but there's a dead squirrel in the backyard which Toni Collette picks up with a shovel and tries to drop in a plastic bag. Well, she missed the bag and the squirrel dropped to the ground. They were like OOPS and Toni Collette tried to pull herself together but couldn't stop laughing. That was pretty much the only enjoyable moment for me.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 9:25am

Whizzer, out of curiousity, have you seen other plays by Eno? Like Middletown, when it was at the Vineyard?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 9:44am

I did see Middletown at the Vineyard. I thought that play was a little weird, but I remember enjoying it well enough (and thinking Georgia Engel was a hoot). I definitely liked it more than The Realistic Joneses because although it didn't have traditional structure or dialogue the characters were easier to relate to and the "message" wasn't so obscured.

I probably will never completely warm to Eno's writing style judging by these two plays, if only because it doesn't allow for the actors to exercise much range or "show off." It's just my preference, but give me Other Desert Cities, Good People or Vanya and Sonia over this kind of writing any day.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 10:41am

The show was definitely saved by the star power. I couldn't believe it was 90 minutes as it felt it went on forever, and a few people behind me in orchestra left early. There was a lady asking at the merch booth if they sold items from Dexter.

If she were alive, Brittany Murphy would have been great as Pony.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:02am

It sounds like this will not be the Best Play contender that I thought it would. Do any of the actors have a memorable enough role to contend in the acting categories?

Oh well, despite the tepid response here I'm still looking forward to seeing it for myself, especially with such high caliber talent!

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:14am

All four of the actors are giving good performances, and I think they're in sync with what the material is asking for, but only Michael C. Hall probably has a juicy enough of a role to eke out a nomination.

[CoreyRyan3]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 8:12pm

^^^ agreed.