pixeltracker

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike- Page 3

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

jaxandmci Profile Photo
jaxandmci
#50Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/20/12 at 4:06pm

I am looking very forward to seeing this. I wasn't able to get tickets for it my last two visits so I was quite happy when in the same day, I found out that my January 19 performance of The Anarchist was cancelled and this show--originally scheduled to close January 13--was extending a week. Faced with an open slot, I snapped up front row seats for it and think I will have a much better (and longer) theatre experience. The world works in mysterious ways.

SondheimFan5 Profile Photo
SondheimFan5
#51Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/20/12 at 4:27pm

Any talk of this transferring??

Kad Profile Photo
Kad
#52Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/22/12 at 12:13pm

I saw this last night and have to echo the praise. I really, really loved it and thought it was an excellent departure for Durang. Sure, it still has Durang's trademark absurdity (the bits with Cassandra, the costume party). But I felt it was a lot more sincere and optimistic than most of his plays- less biting irony and wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

Kristine Nielsen basically stole the show for me. If this were a Broadway production, she'd be stiff competition for Best Supporting Actress. Her Maggie Smith impression is incredible and hilarious, while her Act Two telephone monologue is really something else- going from funny to heartbreaking.


"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

PiraguaGuy2
#53Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/22/12 at 11:29pm

Has anyone tried the rush for this?


Formerly SirNotAppearing - Joined 3/08

PalJoey Profile Photo
PalJoey
#54Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 10:31am

Finally seeing this today!


broadwayguy2
#55Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 11:13am

jax,
Where in the front row? In the center two sections, A is front row - and PRIME depending on the spot (ha!) - but B is front row in the other sections...

Nielsen really was striking.. hysterical at the top of the show and then her act two monologue which broke my heart - I was almost in tears.. (DHP's monologue is wonderful as well, and 100% spot on in performance and writing, but not heart wrenching..)

Billy Magnussen really stood out to me.. with the way his character is written and how he is used as eye candy (rightfully so), I think he could have come off as unlikable in the role or just plain bad, but I felt he walked a fine line very well. We were front row on the very side, so I was also able to see quite a bit when he had his back to the front and he was always just spot-on.

Beware of Hootie Pie.

Addison D. Profile Photo
Addison D.
#56Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 12:30pm

Worth seeing for the sheer pleasure of watching six wonderful performances--I didn't think there was a weak link anywhere in the cast.

I will second Kad's (and others') praise for Kristine Nielsen--she stole the show. Her Maggie Smith is really incredible, and I had tears in my eyes after her phone call.

I do feel compelled to say, however, that the play is perhaps the weak link in all this. Observing that the younger generation is sloppy about their grammar when they text, and all the grumpy observations that flow thence? Rather facile as social commentary.

There are larger themes exposed by the action of the show--middle-aged regrets over the paths not taken, the sacrifices we make for career or family, how fear begins to paralyze us as we age--that could have afforded powerful insights. Instead we get DHP flipping out over self-adhesive stamps, and Sigourney Weaver's character 'bravely' revealing that she--a middle-aged actress--is jealous of the ingenue. Durang went for the easy targets, in my opinion, and stopped there.


You think, what do you want? You think, make a decision...

Kad Profile Photo
Kad
#57Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 12:43pm

I don't know, I saw more depth than that. Maybe I'd like to think Durang wouldn't go for such low-hanging fruit, but I saw Vanya's rant as more as exposing that he justifies not living his life by embracing nostalgia and deliberately making himself an outsider.


"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

broadwayguy2
#58Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 12:49pm

I agree with Kad. I think it's easy to see those as low-hanging fruit, but they are things that point to much deeper goings-on. I think they are deceptive in that they can be taken as easy targets.. that is what I think allows the play to exist on a different plane for those familiar with Durang and those unfamiliar with Durang.

Kad Profile Photo
Kad
#59Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 12:52pm

The collection of essays in the Lincoln Center Theater Review issue for the show also illuminate the play a bit more.


"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

broadwayguy2
#60Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 2:22pm

That they did.. I am sort of pleased that I did not read it before the show began.. and the seemingly nonsensical cover art also made sense.

Addison D. Profile Photo
Addison D.
#61Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 4:03pm

I would have to classify myself as "unfamiliar" with Durang, as my previous experience is limited to 'Sister Mary Ignatius' and 'Beyond Therapy'

I am interested to read the essays, although I'm inclined to feel that an author needs to be able to get the message into the text of the play--essays that describe the ideas that s/he wanted to explore don't really count.

And I will think about Kad's interpretation. I don't think I heard justification, except perhaps a kind of implied, retroactive rationale that the observer can use to explain Vanya's isolation.

We see that Vanya realizes that he has the ability to change his ways, symbolized by his decision to get a job--maybe--but the journey from A to B wasn't emotionally/psychologically 'real'--or legible--enough for me. I'm open to the possibility that I'm too literal.


You think, what do you want? You think, make a decision...

PalJoey Profile Photo
PalJoey
#62Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 5:43pm

Addison--you took David Hyde-Pierce's monologue at face value. There was an additional level you missed, in which Durang was, as Kad said, revealing that the people who rail against modernity spend so much energy railing against what is changing that they fail to live in the present.

What distinguishes Durang's writing--and it has never been better than in this play--is the level of artifice: the characters are experiencing traumatic emotion but expressing it, as best they can, in cliches and formalities that comment on those emotions comically. So there is a wink between audience and actor: "We both know I'm saying something silly now, but we agree not to forget that I'm really upset, okay?"

In the hands of bad actors (or actors unable to play off these multiple levels simultaneously), it seems stilted or artificial or unfunny.

But in the hands of a cast like this, it is theatrical magic. This play plumbs depths that most of his plays haven't, because Durang, now in his fifties, is dealing with aging, as is his longtime pal Sigourney Weaver, who has been appearing in his plays since her early twenties, and Kristine Nielsen and David Hyde-Pierce have also done his plays before. So they all share the same comic vision, and the same realization that our lives are the sum total of what we've done and haven't done with them. with little or no possibility left of great change.

That's why Kristine Nielsen's performance is so, so, SO good. For the first act, she is hysterically and self-indulgently stuck in her self-pity...and then that phone call...THAT PHONE CALL! It is among the best performances of a monologue or soliloquy I have ever seen in a lifetime of theatergoing.

I'm so glad I saw it. I really wish it was moving. I hope the next time it is performed, it is performed as well as this was.


Kad Profile Photo
Kad
#63Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 6:43pm

I totally agree with you, PJ. I actually found myself touched by the play a lot more- a heck of a lot more- than I thought I would be. I expected to laugh and see great performances. But I didn't expect to be moved.

Really- that phone call is worth the price of admission.


"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

Addison D. Profile Photo
Addison D.
#64Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 7:32pm

Huh. I've got to say that this is what keeps me coming back to BWW--I really appreciate the insights and perspectives that challenge my conclusions and/or assumptions.

I'm reading the LCTR essays now and digesting a lot of food for thought.

Can it be that I missed something? Shocking, but possible.

More disturbing yet--is it possible that I was blind/deaf to the satire of Vanya's monologue because it is too perfect a mirror of my own perspective? Yikes...




You think, what do you want? You think, make a decision...
Updated On: 12/30/12 at 07:32 PM

Kad Profile Photo
Kad
#65Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 8:22pm

I have to say, I love the LCTR and wish more theatres and productions would have something of that sort published. I know I'd gladly pay a few bucks for them.


"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

vegas2
#66Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/29/12 at 8:49pm

I confess that the play's deeper meaning eluded me. But I still had a terrific time. The performances were wonderful, and the spoofing of Chekhov made for a fun romp.

PalJoey Profile Photo
PalJoey
#67Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 12/30/12 at 9:42am

It wasn't so much "deeper meaning" as it was "deeper feeling."


PalJoey Profile Photo
PalJoey
SonofMammaMiaSam Profile Photo
SonofMammaMiaSam
#69Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 1/4/13 at 2:50pm

Clap, clap, clap!

macnyc Profile Photo
macnyc
#70Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 1/4/13 at 3:44pm

One slight inaccuracy that I noticed in the above article: I believe Sonia is Vanya's adoptive sister, not a stepsister.


Updated On: 1/4/13 at 03:44 PM

ACL2006 Profile Photo
ACL2006
#71Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 1/4/13 at 10:16pm

I think this would fit nicely into the Golden Theater.


A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.

Kad Profile Photo
Kad
#72Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 1/4/13 at 11:01pm

It would've been great at Circle in the Square.


"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

NewYorkTheater Profile Photo
NewYorkTheater
#73Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 1/4/13 at 11:45pm

I really liked this play (proof below) -- and enjoyed reading this thread, which pointed out new reasons to appreciate it.
I'm not completely sure, though, it's right for Broadway.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Review: Durang Makes Chekhov Funny, Keeps Him Sad

PalJoey Profile Photo
PalJoey
#74Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!
Posted: 1/5/13 at 9:10am

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will sell.

Vanya will sell and Sonia will sell and Masha will sell and Spike will sell (very well).