The Substance of Fire at Second Stage

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 3:30am

while i keep in mind it was only a first preview yikes! ive seen a good 20 productions at Second Stage over the last few years, this was the first out right dud.

All the pieces are there for a great production but ultimately the picture never comes together, and whats ultimately to blame is the play itself, which after 23 years has not held up well, this is socialite white theater at its definition, well off characters with no real issues that contains 90% references to things that fly over the general audiences head. Also the plays two acts feel incredibly disjointed. My major issue was with the direction, these characters are suppose to be incredibly damaged and desperately fighting for the family legacy and all of it is restrained, the actors never feel as frustrated or angry or desperate as the situation calls for and i'm not sure why Cullman is directing these actors to not be more intense about these things thus causing the audience to not connect with these characters.

The positives, the set design is pretty amazing and John Noble is fantastic apart from that the rest is kind of a mess

proceed with caution, or you may get burned by the fire.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:25am

Second Stage is probably my favorite Off Broadway venue, but we saw one dud there a few years back. Mr. & Mrs. Fitch. Lithgow in a Douglas Carter Beane show and it was a real dragger of a show.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 12:12pm

Unfortunately, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE was a Second Stage dud, too--and I really wanted to like it. Great cast, poor material.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 12:20pm

What time is an 8pm show "out on the street"?

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 4:22pm

^ about 10:25

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 6:40pm

Did enjoy Mr & Mrs Fitch.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 7:05pm

Was the acting good, at least?

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 9:12pm

Am I the only one who thinks Baitz' plays are reminiscent of TV movies and soap operas? Only without the close-ups. I thought the Taper production of FIRE 20-odd years ago was like a "very special episode" of DYNASTY.

[MrBaxter]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:12pm

Updated On: 4/18/14 at 11:12 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/11/14 at 11:25pm

I was in the minority that Other Desert Cities was terrible. I HATE when a play is just a bunch of people sitting around "revealing family secrets." It was tedious and horribly boring.

I can't imagine this is any better or worse. It sounds like the same sort of retread of an idea.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 12:25am

I found this to be a well-acted drama, with a great cast and a very fancy set. Act I is set in the 1980s where the father is arguing with his three adult children over the direction he wants to take his publishing business. Quite a lot of shouting and fireworks in Act I. Act II takes place over 3 years later on a cold winter night, when you learn what happens to each of the three siblings, as well as what happens to the family's publishing business. John Noble and Charlayne Woodard have a great rapport with each other on stage. The last scene is especially poignant - pay attention to the cough into the napkin, and the two characters who walk out together just as the show is ending. I really enjoyed this show. And if you go during the first week of previews, you'll get free cake downstairs on your way out (just before you reach the box office) - a choice of tasty chocolate or lemon/white cake. 2 hours 18 minutes, including intermission.



Updated On: 4/12/14 at 12:25 AM

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 12:29am

^ ok thanks plant.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 12:52am

A cake?! WTF.

What's the set like?

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 2:04am

PlayItAgain, are you calling stevenyc a plant?

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 11:52am

yes, look at how weirdly written his post is....

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 12:22pm

Cakes. Ooooo-kay.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 12:28pm

I'm glad Second Stage had the foresight to plant him here 9 years ago for this moment.

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 1:23pm

"Socialite white theater"

I think there's an element of truth to that on a superficial level. Beneath that level in Baitz' plays there's an often sincere attempt to critique that class. Theater isn't just a visual brochure that expresses diversity or lack of diversity. It's also about the political risks it takes below that surface. That said, I disliked the calculated quality of OTHER DESERT CITIES so much that I'm not eager to revisit Baitz' more sincere earlier works.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 4/12/14 at 3:06pm

PlayItAgain, that's stevenycguy's style. No one's called him out on it before, though he's been here for almost a decade. And I don't see a pattern of pushing Second Stage shows. To dismiss him categorically, with little evidence yet that he's the only person out of an avalanche of naysayers, seems presumptuous and rude. We're not talking Soul Doctor here. This is a play that's been judged good enough to be produced in town by Playwrights Horizons, LCT, and now 2nd Stage. It's runs were successful enough to merit a film adaptation and regional productions across the country.
That doesn't make it good necessarily. But so far, Stevenycguy just seems like someone who disagrees with you.

[April Saul]

Posted: 4/13/14 at 12:28am

I get that the OP can't conceive of anyone liking this show, but jeez, stevenycguy is hardly a plant...come on now!

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 4/13/14 at 12:46am

sorry his writing came off very strange, the cake thing is what mostly threw me.

[jbm2]

Posted: 4/13/14 at 1:54am

Is this a new play? Or an old play being re-staged?

[scripps]

Posted: 4/13/14 at 2:56am

I clicked on this thread by accident, and had no idea that Dr. Walter Bishop and free cake were involved in this. I think I have to check this out regardless of what everyone is saying!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/13/14 at 6:52pm

It's an old play. It ran at the Mark Taper Forum in LA in the early 90s, I believe, and per a poster above, this is its third trip to New York City. And it was very well received critically. So although I was underwhelmed by it, many other people have enjoyed it.

None of us need apologize, I don't think. Baitz is certainly not a "stupid" writer: he knows what he wants to accomplish.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/13/14 at 9:14pm

Baitz stuff does play like soap opera--though I usually like his work (I like soap operas too--and I admit, I don't know this play.) Probably why ABC hired him to create Brothers and Sisters for them (which he left early on when ABC dictated too many changes like, according to his blog, forcing him to write in a character who they asked be "young, female and blonde"--oddly I see he has a new drama on ABC that's been picked up for the Fall.)