Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
LightsOut90
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/2/14
#1Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 2/4/17 at 10:42pm
Caught this last night. Took a few scenes to really kick in but once it does...WOW absolutely captivating. Reed Birney scores again and for a play from 2003 its amazing how relevant and current it feels in 2017, a testament to Tracy Letts abilities as a writer.
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#2Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 2/5/17 at 3:41am
Recently turned 30....so now I can't rush it. So everyone ticket is over $100? WTF.
#5Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 2/5/17 at 10:24am
Liked this one a lot. Great role for Reed, and he delivers.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#6Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 2/5/17 at 10:48am
INCLUDES PLOT SPOILERS.
I loved most of this play.
But it lost me at the end. It baffles me. What exactly happens to Ken in the denouement? Suddenly his mother dies and he's ready to return home, be at least open to restoring his faith, and ready to be Nancy's husband and partner again? I don't get it. The last scene between Ken and Nancy rings false, in spite of Birney and O'Toole doing everything in their estimable power to make it work.
Having said that, the show is still well worth seeing. Nana Mansah is a standout in an almost uniformly brilliant supporting cast. Birney, not surprisingly, is terrific. But, wow, O'Toole! She is giving a performance of striking depth and beauty that may greatly surprise many. A breakout role after 40 years in the business.
#7Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 2/5/17 at 8:41pm
I saw this last weekend and agree with henrikegerman. I was going along for the ride for most of this play but the bottom fell out of it for me. Reed Birney's performance is excellent (the cast is wonderful overall) but his big revelation at the end feels unearned.
A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.
#8Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 2/21/17 at 2:16pm
Saw this on Sunday and I agree with the others, the return of Ken didn't feel fully baked to me but the acting was very strong from top to bottom. I had a problem with the pastor allowing (encouraging?) Nancy to cheat on her husband, but everyone is flawed I guess.
The lighting was incredible, the way they used that space.
vampire musical
Stand-by Joined: 6/25/14
#9Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 2/22/17 at 2:26pm
I am a fan of Tracy Letts' work so I really want to see this but I don't want to shell out a lot for tickets (saving up for all the shows I need to see this spring) and I'm too old for the under 30 tickets. All of these comments make me not want to spend on this even though I'm curious about this piece. Is it "worth" going?
#10Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 2/23/17 at 8:49am
We are also big Letts fans but waited for the reviews before we bought our tix. Grabbed them early that AM before they removed the discount and had great seats. But there are still $65 seats, I think it's worth it.
#11Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 2/23/17 at 8:53am
Even after the good reviews came out, the show's still been up at TKTS for most performances. With a 50% discount, the cost is around $40-45 a ticket. It's definitely worth it at that price.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
dave1606
Broadway Star Joined: 12/8/07
#12Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 3/14/17 at 11:06pm
Caught the show tonight. Despite the storm, there were quite a few celebrities in the audience including Frank Langella and Kevin Bacon!
My TDF seats were in the second row and my first thought coming out of this play was what a brilliant Actor Reed Birney is. He really deserved that Tony for The Humans and if this were on Broadway I think he'd garner at the very least a nomination for his work. He and Annette O Toole do great work here.
David Cromers staging is simple but effective and the lighting is great. My real issue is with the play. It just didn't do much for me, especially act 2. I was really with it, and loved Nana Mensah. The whole thing felt like it would make a great film, (I kept thinking of About Schidmt meets Nebraska). Despite some wonderful acting here I wish there had been a bit more meat to the spiritual journey and the resolution ( I am with others who was frustrated with the ending).
UncleCharlie
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/26/16
#13Man From Nebraska (Second Stage)
Posted: 3/15/17 at 2:13am
Saw one of the last previews a few days before opening. Like the rest of you, enjoyed the story, loved the acting but was underwhelmed with the ending. Still definitely worth seeing. For those looking for a cheap ticket, i got mine thru TodayTix which has a $30 on-line rush the morning of performances. With fees, it's $37.50 so not a bad price and even though my seats were close to the back, it's such a small theater, there is no bad seat. I'm not a fan of TodayTix in general but I was able to get on-line $30 rush tickets both to this as well as Jitney last month when general rush was not being offered elsewhere so they came in handy for that.
