THE COUNTRY HOUSE Previews

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 1:24am

Previews start tonight; is anybody going?

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 8:40am

Going on Sunday--hopefully it will be better than that dreadful play Ms Danner appeared in last season.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 10:37am

This play needs to close. NOW. The sooner it closes the sooner Gyllenhaal's play can start and I can take up residence at my new home, the Friedman.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 10:03pm

I was there tonight and after a static first act things really juiced up after intermission and things began to crackle in act two. Maybe all that set up was necessary for the payoff, but I think both Margulies and Sullivan can trim and tighten up act one.

The play is pure Chekhov (perhaps meant as an homage?), complete with a rural setting, aging famous actress, an Uncle Vanya stand-in played by an excellent Eric Lange, and boatloads of general unhappiness, boredom and of self-pity.

Eric Lange is making an excellent Broadway debut as a miserable failed actor who just wants to bring everyone down with him. Blythe Danner is the aging diva who is going after a younger man and is self-absorbed to both humorous and tragic effect.

I also really enjoyed Sarah Steele (Eli Gold's daughter on TGW) as Danner's granddaughter. She has a gift for delivering a sarcastic line that gets a laugh, yet remains warm and likeable.

The set is nice.

This play isn't reinventing the wheel, but given the strength of the second act and the performances in general I would recommend it.

[dave1606]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 10:36pm

I saw this tonight and have very mixed feelings about it, and definitely enjoyed it less than Whizzer. It is a lovely production of a so so play. Blythe Danner is especially good in Act 2, and Sarah Steel is also quite good, but the play lets them down.

Nothing about it is bad, but the whole thing felt very middle of the road to me. The first act lacked any real drama, and by act 2, the whole proceedings seemed to drag on and on.

I agree with Whizzer that cutting the play down would help. There are a few moments of nice humor, but that annoyed me was there would be two minute scenes followed by long transitions. Why does a character have to come in and say two words to his wife only to leave and have to go to he car?! This happened several times. I felt like Margulies kept pushing the fast forward button.

It certainly won't be the worst play of the season, and if you want to see Blythe Danner it is worthy of a visit. Other than that I can't recommend this.

[Wickedmonkey332]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 10:38pm

How was Sunjata??

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/9/14 at 10:43pm

Sunjata was fine. As hunky as ever. He plays an actor who has been a longtime family friend who recently became famous with a hit TV series. There's lots of discussion of selling out to Hollywood, abandoning the theater, commerce vs art, etc.

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 1:22am

Throughly enjoyed the play when it played at The Geffen earlier in The Summer. Curious to hear how it might have evolved. I enjoyed Scott Foley quite a bit and I envision Daniel being an incredible addition to the cast

[homeimp]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 2:15am

I also saw the play at the Geffen and liked it a lot. The audience appeared to be thoroughly engaged and responded warmly at the curtain call. My particular favorite was David Rasche.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 10:33pm

I also also saw the play in LA but didn't like it a lot. I thought it was Chekhovian but with little insight or effect. A pleasant gloss and little else. Steele was wonderful but a middle-aged Konstantine becomes a pathetic, uninteresting whiner. Danner floated through the play. It all seemed dutiful rather than inspired.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 10:41pm

Add me to the list of folks who saw the show in L.A. and really liked it. Thought the ending was a little soft and predictable and needed a little more punch but on balance, thought it was a very good production. 4 out of the 6 cast members transferred to Broadway. Was disappointed Emily Swallow wasn't one of them. As the hot, new girlfriend of David Rasche's character, thought she was spot on.

[Mr. Musical]

Posted: 9/11/14 at 12:19am

I'm going next week to the 30 at 30 night. I'm interested to see it and meet other young playgoers.

[Sauja]

Posted: 9/15/14 at 12:30pm

Caught this over the weekend and wasn't won over. Margulies can write wonderful, wonderful plays. I adore Dinner with Friends. I think Time Stands Still is touching and complicated and moving. Here, though, he doesn't seem to gather enough energy to make the play as compelling as it could have been. While perhaps intended as a Checkhov homage, it comes across as just another rich white people play. "Mom didn't love me enough; Dad's too thoughtless; etc." Yes, the characters are dealing with the aftermath of the death of a loved one, but it never really gels around that idea. So we spend the first act (and much of the second) drifting along as the play develops in very predictable ways until in the last half hour, the plot suddenly starts churning forward, seemingly out of nowhere.

Eric Lange is doing very impressive work, but no one else seems to match his energy or his realism. Steele, who I have found tremendous in other plays, felt a little stiff. Sunjata, not asked to do all that much, perhaps, is blandly hunky. Even Danner just sort of glides through the proceedings without registering as much more than an archetype.

I found it all a touch lifeless and, as such, dull. I can't say I'd recommend it. Nothing about it is BAD, but it also lacks anything that makes it stand out as particularly fresh or new or good besides Lange's impressive performance. A wash for me.

[PianoMann]

Posted: 9/21/14 at 7:42pm

I'm just reposting this from the other thread:

I saw The Country House today on a whim, having finished scouring the Broadway Flea Market by 12:30. I managed to get two student rush tickets for the third row in the mezzanine.

It's a good show, and the cast is quite good. My biggest issue with it is its wildly inconsistent tone, which may be a symptom of trying to handle too many plot points.

I have never seen Blythe Danner on stage before, so it was definitely worth seeing the performance just to see her. The role doesn't require too much heavily lifting on her part, but she gets handle a nice balance of humor and drama (particularly the final scene and her ending short monologue - the best part of the piece in my opinion).

In brief: I'm certainly glad I saw it, but I'm not sure if I would recommend if you couldn't get a cheap ticket.