Miscasting At Williamstown- Page 2

[LarryD2]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 7:07am

I wish I could give this an unqualified rave. Audra is superb throughout, as is Glynn Turman as Phil. Phil Hogan is so often played as little more than a drunken Irish stereotype; casting someone so far away from that really makes you see the heart and the humanity of the character. Seeing Ming Cho Lee's legendary set recreated is breathtaking. Unfortunately, Will Swenson is out to lunch. I respect him for trying, but there's really not much there. The production also felt oddly paced, with those long scene changes and poorly chosen incidental music. It was worth seeing, though, for McDonald and Turman -- and any trip to Williamstown is  worth it.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 9:54am

The set and lighting were stunning.

I enjoyed the incidental music - why do you think it was poorly chosen?  I'm interested in your thoughts about that.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 10:03am

I wouldn't necessarily call the music poorly chosen, but it certainly ranged all over the globe, which struck me as a little odd.

I'd love to see this Josie again; I can only imagine she'd deepen an already lovely performance.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 10:07am

In addition to Reg's comment about the global variety of the music, I also found much of it wildly overwrought. It felt like the kind of incidental music you hear that tries to hard to produce an emotion in the viewer. I didn't need any help in that department; the acting was doing the job just fine.

I would love to see this production have a longer life -- although this play is produced somewhat often, it always feels fresh -- though I doubt McDonald's schedule would allow for her to reprise it any time soon. 

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 10:37am

Audra blew us away.  We knew she could sing, but her acting was incredible (and those guns!  she does fill the role!).  We were less impressed with the other castmembers, feeling that Glynn was a bit of a caricature and Will Swenson was playing somewhere between Bill Hader and Jimmy Fallon, but not funny.

 

Sets were amazing, as they usually are at WTF.  Seemed like on Saturday night the 2nd act started a bit quickly as there were nearly 2 dozen late returnees to their seats, which was distracting.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 10:44am

OMG, Bill Hader! Now that you say that, that's exactly the voice he's doing. Watching An Intervention the next day, I couldn't help thinking that Josh Hamilton would make a much better Tyrone.

[newintown]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 12:03pm

I've been wondering about this production; the race thing is trivial, although those who don't know the play might wonder as they watch why miscegenation is never mentioned.

 

Beyond that, I (personally) don't think either McDonald or Swenson are really quite skilled enough actors to make this difficult piece of O'Neill really shine in a way Dewhurst and Robards could. I know it's considered anathema to state such a thing here, but I found McDonald's Lady Day performance to be little more than a practiced vocal imitation. Her acting always strikes me as exceptionally heavy-handed and obvious. Swenson seems to me to be little more than a singer who learns lines and conveys a general mood. This sounds similar to casting Clay Aiken as Oedipus or Stephanie Block as Lady Macbeth.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 12:15pm

Comparing anyone's Josie to Colleen Dewhurst is setting them up to fall way, way short. Dewhurst's is one of the great performances of all time. The fact that no one has equaled her does not take away from the fact that McDonald is giving a confident, assured, fully-realized performance that is more than just a bag of tricks. Swenson, on the other hand, obviously benefited from his wife's largesse and wouldn't be playing the role otherwise.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 12:43pm

and yet newintown has done so without even seeing Audra's performance!

 

 

(and no, I never saw the Dewhurst/Robards production)

[newintown]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 1:14pm

No, I don't think I actually compared any performances. You could try reading what I really wrote, but please don't let that stop you from continuing to indulge in bizarre straw man arguments and other logical fallacies. They're cute.

 

(In case you require clarity, what I did was describe my perceptions of McDonald and Swenson's acting abilities. I did mention Dewhurst and Robards in passing, merely as the prime interpreters of the roles in this play, not comparing them to this current cast - that this needs to be spelled out thus is a tragic commentary on an impaired ability to read for information, rather than to bolster an agenda.)

Updated On: 8/17/15 at 01:14 PM