'night Mother

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 11:45am

I just watched the film again last night and damn. One of the most exquisitely sad stories in modern theatre. Time for a revival anytime soon?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 11:52am

They did a revival in 2004 with Brenda Blethyn and Edie Falco. This show really needs two extra superb actresses because the show can really drag. It's really a character study show, not plot driven. So unless they are bringing in Judi Dench to play the mother, it should either play off-Broadway or skip a major revival.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 11:57am

So is that to say the Blethyn/Falco incarnation didn't work? The movie's pretty good, but I'm not sure what think about Anne Bancroft. Spacek fared better.

This is the first and last time you will ever hear me say this, but I don't think Dench is right for the role. Kathy Bates would be my ideal for many reasons, not the least of which being her involvement in the original production.

[cknick]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 12:02pm

I would love to see Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson do it. Love these two for many reasons (not just AHS).

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 12:07pm

I LOVE that idea!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 12:08pm

The show can be tedious if it's not well played. I even felt that Belthyn/Falco dragged a bit.

I saw the revival twice. I love Brenda Blethyn, but one of the problems she had was that she played the mother a bit on the "slow" side. You saw shades of her Secrets & Lies character. Almost like the mother was mildly retarded. Edie Falco didn't fare much better. I just felt that there was a blandness in Edie's performance, which I think has more to do with the writing.

Part of the slowness was the ending. From the shocking plot point until the end of the show took an eternity.

I think the show plays better in a smaller theater. It's an intimate story and gets lost in a Broadway house. You need these characters up close and personal.

I chose Dench because I think she is really the only actress where you can look in her eyes and know that something is going on in her brain. The problem I have with many actors today is that they are "playing" a character and the actor looks like they have it all mapped out and are just on auto-pilot rather than living in the moment. To me Judi Dench seems to be living in the moment.

Updated On: 12/16/13 at 12:08 PM

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 12:25pm

"I would love to see Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson do it. Love these two for many reasons (not just AHS)."

Glad I'm not the only one that loves the chemistry between them!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 12:35pm

I think a while ago I mentioned how much I'd love to see Jane Fonda as Thelma in a revival of this.

I saw the last revival twice and was left kind of cold after watching it. Both actresses are phenomenal but I just don't think they were able to bring what was needed to this play.

[cknick]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 12:47pm

Jessica and Sarah DO have great chemistry! I think they're both good at playing extreme, dark characters which is great for 'night, Mother.

The play can drag terribly. When I read it I was in love with it and I saw a production and was so bored. Don't think I'd ever see it again unless it was two actresses I really liked (or at least one). With a good cast, it can me a master class is sustained emotion.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 12:56pm

"The play can drag terribly."

I once saw a production of Sam Sheperd's "A Lie Of The Mind" and I swear time stopped during that production. I was trapped in the dark with a boring play. I couldn't wait until the thing was over (and unfortunately I'm not a person who can leave at intermission because I always hope it's going to get better.) A few months after that production, I read the script and actually found it to be an interesting play. A bad production can ruin a good script.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 1:36pm

I also so Blethyn/Falco and I was fascinated. I will say that Blethyn underplayed the part a little. Falco, though, was haunting. I saw her come onstage and knew there would be no hope. It was an interesting approach to the material that didn't quite work. I liked the attempt to do something different.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 1:53pm

It was just revived Off-Broadway at Hudson Guild this past year starring Joy Franz.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 2:11pm

A moving and beautifully written play, and the movie stands up almost as well.

Totally agree that Lange and Paulson could be wonderful in this.
Updated On: 12/16/13 at 02:11 PM

[E.Davis]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 2:11pm

It would be cool to see Bates play Thelma this time around, but I love the Paulson/Lange dynamic.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 2:42pm

They should revive their GLASS MENAGERIE and do it in rep with 'NIGHT MOTHER.

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 2:56pm

Gwyneth Paltrow and Blythe Danner would sell a lot of tickets.

[cknick]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 2:57pm

Lange and Paulson MADE that production of Glass Menagerie.

I saw the Hudson Guild production and thought it was dull. Anyone else have similar/different opinions?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 3:12pm

"Gwyneth Paltrow and Blythe Danner would sell a lot of tickets."

Except that neither is really right for the roles. And to an extent, neither is Lange and Paulson.

You need actresses that can be believed as simple, country folk.

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 3:26pm

I saw both on B'way. What I found strange was that in the Bates one I cared more about the daughter, yet in the Falco one I was more sympathetic towards the mother. My church theater group is doing a production in February. I wonder who I will be more drawn to this time?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 3:34pm

Patty Duke and Elisabeth Moss

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 3:38pm

Isn't Moss a little young? I love the idea of Patty Duke,

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 3:41pm

"Isn't Moss a little young?"

I guess maybe she is. For some reason, I always think of her as older than she is, but she's only 31.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 3:45pm

Jessie, where are you?

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 3:47pm

Tyne Daly and Mary-Louise Parker.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/16/13 at 3:53pm

I like that idea, but only if Parker can be "unprettified" like she was in Angels.