Must Read Plays?- Page 3
Must Read Plays?
#50Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/21/14 at 12:45am
My hat? Or a different Eric? I see no avatar, for some reason, for my old posts.... Gaveston, I pointed out 3 yearsbak or whenver this thread was done that Tune had a hit with the Off-broadway production (it actually ran three years or something). Yeston did new music for the songs and incidental music, and Churchill made a couple of major changes for American audiences (I can't remember which version is usually published but the copy we used way back had an interesting essay about her changes--) :P
The pay of M Butterfly mentions the "he's really a man" right at the start, I believe--unlike Cronenberg's film which is an example of a VERY stylized play getting a very "literal" treatment as a movie (Hwang has since said he regrets his screenplay a bit.) Amadeus does this too, but I think Butterfly does it even more so.
#51Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/21/14 at 8:49pm
Eric, your posts on the previous page were missing your avatar AND hat, as of yesterday p.m. The content of the posts was fine.
I saw the Tommy Tune production off-Broadway and loved it, even though I think few Americans really understand the second act. (It's all well and good to write "Victoria is played by a doll", but getting an audience to understand that the flesh and blood Victoria in Act II is the same character as the doll in Act I is something else entirely.)
At the time of the production, advertising emphasized Tune so much I actually assumed that the cross-casting was one of his stunts.
Still it's very fun play to teach and one can never waste time seeing or reading Churchill.
The less said about the film of M. BUTTERFLY the better. The premier play about gender and international politics (at least until ANGELS) is turned into a mere parlor trick.
Updated On: 5/21/14 at 08:49 PM
#52Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/21/14 at 8:51pmEric, I went back and found your mention of CLOUD NINE. At the time, I didn't read the post because it doesn't have an avatar or hat. But we agree, despite my doubts about what an audience can grasp from some of Churchill's plays.
#53Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/21/14 at 10:10pm
To be clear, I have never worn a hat in any avatar :P
Not sure what happened. After years of complaining to the mods here, a few months ago my current account now ALLOWS me to edit finally, or delete--but it's meant that all my previous account (though I never started a new account) posts are missing my avatar.
I've read Tune accepted the show partly to prove that he could do a non-musical (wasn't that the same as Michael Bennett when he did... umm I wanna say he directed the New York premier of Oh Dad, Poor Dad?)
It's interesting that Churchill says she doesn't care what actor plays which part in each act--though she does care about the gender (and race, I assume?) The changes made for New York actually don't do much to address any British issues--I do find them stronger (she moves the mother's great final monologue at the very end of the play, etc.)
Re-reading it for a friend's paper this year, I did find the depiction of gay men quite a bit more dated than I did when I was in it ten+ years back, but it seems unfair to judge given when it was written (and not so dated that I found it offensive.) At our performance the one thing that seemed to confuse the audience--in Act 1--was whether the pedophilia should be funny or not... I was amazed that it ran just under 1000 performances--I knew it was a hit, but...
And yeah--re M Butterfly, it's disappointing Cronenberg didn't try to be a bit more experimental in his direction.
MCfan2
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/06
#54Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 7:08pm
Did anyone mention Cyrano de Bergerac yet? That's my favorite. I've got it in three or four different translations.
For something more recent, I love Freud's Last Session. Saw it in NYC, and ordered a copy to read as soon as it became available.
And Ken Ludwig's plays make for some enjoyable light reading.
#55Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 8:35pm
Eric, I think the Michael Bennett-directed play you mean was TWIGS. I didn't see it, but I think it starred Sada Thompson. OH, DAD starred Barbara Harris and was much earlier in the 1960s, perhaps even before Bennett started as a choreographer.
Jerry Robbins directed OH, DAD in 1963, so I see why you made the association.
Updated On: 5/22/14 at 08:35 PM
#56Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 8:58pm
You're right! It was Twigs.
Did Jerome Robbins do Oh Dad? It was some big choreographer who wanted to show he could do a non-musical.
*checks Lortel Off-Broadway database*
It was http://www.lortel.org/LLA_ARCHIVE/index.cfm?search_by=show&title=Oh%20Dad%2C%20Poor%20Dad%2C%20Mamma%27s%20Hung%20You%20in%20the%20Closet%20and%20I%27m%20Feelin%27%20So%20Sad One of his bios makes it sound like it was a nightmare to rehearse. Still interesting three of the top musical director/choreographers all picked interesting (and I think off-Broadway) works to try to prove something. (I guess Fosse just used his film version of Lenny to do the same...)
#57Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 9:05pm
We were posting at the same time, Eric.
Per IBDB, Bennett received an assistant choreographer credit in 1961, but he didn't stage his first musical until 1966. TWIGS wasn't staged until 1971. It was written by George Furth and had incidental music by Sondheim, and seems to have consisted of four one-act plays.
Was TWIGS composed of one acts left over from COMPANY? If Prince wasn't interested, perhaps it seemed natural that Bennett directed it.
#58Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 9:07pm
Others from the 60's to consider:
MARAT/SADE
THE ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN
SLEUTH
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD
THE LION IN WINTER
What a thrill it must have been to first see these plays in the theater!
#59Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 9:09pm
Wasn't Sondheim in a televised version of at least one of the parts from Twigs? That's astute to make the Company connection--I never thought of that.
And of course Bennett didn't actually *direct* (officially) until Follies, after Twiggs--though Mendelbaum makes it quite clear he basically took over directing Coco, and Hepburn would only work with him by the end.
#60Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 9:10pm^^^^ Ah, for the day when the prestige of a Broadway hit compensated for the financial reward of writing a screenplay.
#61Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 9:19pm
Ok, stand back-- I've pulled out my theater-going history to remind myself of favorite Broadway plays I've seen. Among those not mentioned yet I'd submit--
THE VISIT (Durenmatt)
TRAVESTIES (Stoppard)
TORCH SONG TRILOGY (Fierstein)
PRIVATE LIVES (Coward)
WIT (Edson)
SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION (Guare)
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (Elice)
#62Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 9:22pmNot blaming you, Someone, but have we overwhelmed the OP yet? S/he might have found it more helpful if we had debated the three or four plays s/he should read next.
#63Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/22/14 at 9:30pm
I'm shocked that Six Degrees (and to a lesser degree, Torchsong) have not been mentioned yet! Great choices, Tree.
Gaveston, is the OP even still here? That was three years ago... Apparently back then, I even wore a hat.
#64Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/23/14 at 8:38pmI didn't notice the date. We probably scared off the OP aeons ago. And I, of course, am as guilty as anyone. LOL.
AwesomeDanny
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/30/09
#65Must Read Plays?
Posted: 5/23/14 at 11:35pmI remember this thread from when it was first started! I was also just getting into reading straight plays, and I started with Jordan's list, which was, of course, a remarkable introduction to the genre. What works would you add to the list over these past three years? I must say that I have really fallen in love with the works of Amy Herzog and Stephen Karam. I would also add Tribes by Nina Raine to the list.
