Jez Butterworth’s award-winning smash hit arrives on Broadway, opening tonight 4/21, following record-breaking sold-out runs at London’s Royal Court Theatre and in the West End.
According to production notes, "On the morning of the local county fair, Johnny Byron is a wanted man. Local officials want to serve him an eviction notice, his son wants his full attention, and his motley crew of friends wants his ample supply of booze…"
Yeah, I think they're going to get the overenthusiastic reviews that they got in London. I haven't seen it yet so I can't judge, but we'll see.
For those who thought NEXT TO NORMAL wouldn't have a life outside Broadway, well it's now playing in 4 cities, 9 different countries and has been translated into 6 languages.
It's a very odd play, with very little to do with "reality," but I still found it enormously entertaining. Just nonsensical.
It certainly would help if you go in with some knowledge of St. George and the Dragon and other English cultural history. But the characters aren't people; they're cartoons or something. I don't believe they were intended to be people; the play seems to be too wacky and magical to be concerned with "reality."
I really don't know exactly what it was, but I thought it was glorious. The writing, though the audience doesn't know exactly what's going on in general, is very crisp in regards to specific moments, and Rylance's performance amps things up to a high level. The end of the show makes the entire thing worthwhile. I hope it gets very good reviews.
"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim
Saw it yesterday, not really sure what I saw but I was completely enthralled. The more I think about it, the more I really liked it. I feel like I need to go back and see it again.
"While the three-hour drama occasionally lags, it provides a fully fledged portrait of Rooster as a modern-day Falstaff. Rylance gives a mesmerizing, thoroughly transformative performance that will leave theatergoers in awe of his spectacular physical and vocal abilities."
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
The New York Times is a rave. Ben Brantley, The New York Times: ""Jerusalem" could have been written in almost any year from the 1920s onward. Yet this work takes you places - distant, out-of-time places - that well-made plays seldom do. And it thinks big - transcendently big - in ways contemporary drama seldom dares...But Rylance also captures - to a degree I can imagine no other contemporary actor doing - Johnny's vast, vital, Falstaffian appetite for pleasure, for independence, for life itself."
For those who thought NEXT TO NORMAL wouldn't have a life outside Broadway, well it's now playing in 4 cities, 9 different countries and has been translated into 6 languages.
It's a weird, lengthy, ambitious, ambiguous play that's going to alienate a lot of people, and I'm not surprised that it's been so divisive. But I'm very pleased Brantley gave this tough commercial sell the review it needed to have a chance of success. Thoroughly deserved, in my opinion.
I'm not saying anything original, but look what a great season that it's been for actors (and my apologies to any that momentarily slipped my mind):
1. Rylance in La Bete; 2. Pacino in Merchant; 3. Cannavale in Mother; 4. Williams in Bengal Tiger; 5. Bedford in Importance; 6. Cruddup in Arcadia; 7. Rylance in Jerusalem; 8. Mantello in Normal Heart!
In over 55 years of attending the NYC theatre on a regular basis, I've rarely encountered that many great performances in one season. Any of these performances are Tony-worthy and would have won hands down in some of our more lackluster seasons (and I've been through my share of them, too). THIS is what great theatre is all about and THIS is the reason we hang on and keep going. I feel truly blessed that I have had the good fortune to see this. Again, sorry about oversights.
What are the Tony rules about an actor being nominated for two different performances in the same category? Can Rylance be nominated for both La Bete and Jerusalem or will they Kate Winslet him?
He can be nominated twice in the same category. I doubt they will do it though. My guess is that he'll get the nomination for Jerusalem, which will really count as his nomination for both shows. That way, the nominating committee can spread the love.
BEST PERFORMANCE OF A LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY Brian Bedford, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Bobby Cannavale, THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT Tate Donovan, GOOD PEOPLE Raul Esparza, ARCADIA James Earl Jones, DRIVING MISS DAISY Dan Lauria, LOMBARDI John Leguizamo, GHETTO KLOWN Joe Mantello, THE NORMAL HEART Al Pacino, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE David Hyde Pierce, LA BETE Paul Reubens, THE PEE-WEE HERMAN SHOW Mark Rylance, JERUSALEM Patrick Stewart, A LIFE IN THE THEATRE Robin Williams, BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle