LIFT at 59E59

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 10/26/14 at 11:05pm

Did anyone see this?


https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Walter-Mosleys-LIFT-Set-for-59E59-Theaters-Inaugural-5A-Season-20140828

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 10/30/14 at 2:53pm

Unfortunately, they apparently didn't make any cuts since its regional production in NJ. It runs a bloated 2 hours 10 minutes, instead of a crisp compelling 90 minutes. There are certainly interesting moments before they get trapped (the sassy woman and the chauvinist boss are quite good) and intriguing moments while they are trapped. But there are far too many uninteresting back-stories that are told (and hard to follow) during the monotonous time they are trapped. The Time Out NY pretty much sums it up as a "repetitive and overlong piece" and says "its biggest mystery is how it ever transferred to NYC." I guess since Primary Stages is no longer at 59 East 59th Theater, they now have to put on second-rate regional theater and off-off-Broadway shows.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 11/9/14 at 11:23am

Whatever you do DON'T SEE THIS SHOW! Stay as far away as you can. This was one of the most miserable experiences I've ever suffered through in a theatre. The show is about a terrorist attack but really it's the audience being tortured for nearly two hours.

There is honestly not one good thing I can say. The program originally said that it was 2 hours with an intermission. On one hand I was thankful that it was cut to an hour 40 without an intermission but then it gave me no chance to escape. I'm pretty sure the reason for cutting intermission was to keep people there the whole time.

This was some of the worst acting I've ever seen on stage. I think I've seen a better acting in a first grade play. You don't give a sh!t about the actors who are on stage and even less about the offstage voices of people from other elevators. The main guy just whined the whole time and you wanted nothing more than to see him die. The other members of the audience thought the same because at one point while he stood on top of the elevator a man behind me yelled "JUMP!" and I agreed with that wish.

The writing was like someone just cut words out and then placed them in a row. The race aspects were handled so horribly that it was offensive to everyone involved. This was one of those kitchen sink plays that tries to tackle everything (race, sexuality, gender politics, terrorism, addiction, etc) but says nothing about any of them.

I don't feel the need to waste energy talking about the set because no thought was put into designing it. You do get to hear a lot of walking around backstage so if that's your thing then you're in luck. I guess there are projections to make it look like the elevator is moving but you'd need to be sitting far back. The stage is very high and the first two rows are actually below it.

I've seen some decent (to not very good) things at 59E59 but if they're hurting for money so bad that they allow this trash then I don't feel the need to attend shows there. I can't stress enough how much I recommend that NO ONE EVER SEE THIS!