James Earl Jones & Leslie Uggams in On Golden Pond

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/11/04 at 3:59pm

On Golden Pond is a pretty crappy play, but it's nice to see James Earl Jones (and Leslie Uggams) back on the Broadway stage. I saw this production at the Kennedy Center and Jones is still such a force of nature that he almost makes the evening worthwhile all by himself -- too bad he's not in a play worthy of his still formidable gifts.

From The Times:

"As expected, James Earl Jones is also returning to the New York stage. After a 16-year hiatus from Broadway, he will play opposite Leslie Uggams in a revival of Ernest Thompson's 1979 weeper, "On Golden Pond," due to open April 7 at the Cort Theater on West 48th Street.

Produced by Jeffrey Finn and Stuart Thompson, this production finished a run at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington last month, where it received good reviews, particularly for Mr. Jones. (It was also well liked during a more recent run at the DuPont Theater in Wilmington, Del.)

For Mr. Jones, 73, the role may offer a shot at another Tony Award. He has already won two: in 1969 as Jack Jefferson, the black boxer in an all-white ring in "The Great White Hope," and in 1987 as Troy Maxson, the bitter, fading ballplayer in "Fences," by August Wilson. That play was the last time Mr. Jones appeared on Broadway.

This time around, however, Mr. Jones will play for more laughs, as Norman Thayer, a curmudgeon's curmudgeon in Mr. Thompson's lighthearted family drama. The play, which ran on Broadway before being turned into a big-screen hit (with Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn), is expected to cost about $2 million and to have an open-ended run."




http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/11/theater/newsandfeatures/11broa.html

[pab]

Posted: 11/11/04 at 4:24pm

It's too bad that James Earl Jones & Leslie Uggams are not doing "The Gin Game" which is such a better play. It would be good to see Mr. Jones on stage again. It's been a while since "Paul Robeson" and "Fences".

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 11/11/04 at 4:32pm

I'm actually looking forward to this. I loved Leslie Uggams in Thunder Knocking at the Door a couple years ago at the Minetta Lane. They're a couple of great actors - it should make for an entertaining evening.
And it can't be worse than Cats....

[Plum]

Posted: 11/11/04 at 5:05pm

Oooh, James Earl Jones. Always wanted to see him on stage. If I keep counting my pennies and stop buying Frappucinnos, I'll probably have enough money. On Golden Pond is okay, I guess. I saw a movie version of it, but it never really stood out in my mind.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/11/04 at 5:09pm

wait, redhot, did you like leslie uggams performance or the show thunder knocking ?

Updated On: 11/11/04 at 05:09 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/11/04 at 5:28pm

I shouldn't have been so harsh in my earlier post. Anybody who likes Jones or Uggams should definitely see this when it gets here, especially if discounts are available. It's just that this is a slight, predictable "fluffy" piece of theatre that probably belongs more in a dinner theatre somewhere than on Broadway -- along the lines of a tv movie or an afterschool special rather than the sort of multi-layered, meaty play that I'd love to see two actors of this caliber tear into (the talented young actor who played young Travis in the recent "A Raisin In The Sun" revival is also quite good). It ain't "King Lear" (or even "Gin Game") put it that way.

But, it's like when I saw Uta Hagen's last two stage runs in New York -- "Mrs. Klein" and "Collected Stories." Neither were exactly great plays, but they were decent vehicles that allowed Ms. Hagen to demostrate why she was one of the most revered actors of the 20th Century. And given her advanced age at the time, I wouldn't have missed either for the world. At 73 (and after a 17 year absence) who knows many more times we'll get a chance to see the great James Earl Jones on stage? And while the material is rather pedestrian for the most part, Jones elevates it to such an extent, finding depth and nuance (where there is none on the page) that it often feels like a real play of some substance whenever he's on the stage (which is much of the time).

It is a real old-fashioned, audience-pleaser and, with Jones and Uggams on the marquee, it quickly sold out its run at the Kennedy Center. I bet it'll similarly be a big hit here in NYC, especially with the tourist trade.

Updated On: 11/11/04 at 05:28 PM

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 11/11/04 at 5:34pm

This may be my one and only chance to see JEJ on stage. For that, I'm definitely catching this...

[pab]

Posted: 11/11/04 at 5:39pm

Mr. Jones can really take command of the stage. I remember him as 'Othello' with Christopher Plumber as 'Iago'. I think that that was the last show in The Winter Garden before they renovated it for "Cats". I've already mentioned "Paul Robeson" and "Fences". He was good in "A Lesson From Aloes" and I also remember him in a performance of "Hedda Gabler" up at Yale. Speaking of Yale, for his first Broadway play, he was an understudy for Lloyd Richards.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/11/04 at 5:46pm

I saw Jones in all of the plays you mentioned Pab, as well as "Master Harold and the boys..." when he headed up the national tour. He's such a powerful presence on stage, I'm hard-pressed to name more than a handful of others that I've ever seen have such total command and authority in person (Ian McKellan, Maggie Smith, Plummer, Dench, Charles Dutton, Vanessa Redgrave, and a few others).