THE NORMAL HEART Reviews- Page 4

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 9:59am

I never said I own this board, don't put words in my mouth. The only person who can put something in my mouth is this guy
<-------------------

But like my good friend Emcee said, it's the pretending to give a shlt about the material just because a tv star you adore is in it is what's offensive and rubs me the wrong way a well. You're on a theter message board and have no love or respect for theater whatsoever. You can't honestly tell me you're not here solely because of your favorite actor and to get information about him which would be fine if you were just upfront about it.

Now I have good porn downloading and need to attend to that, if you'll excuse me.
Updated On: 5/2/11 at 09:59 AM

[anyanyanyany]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 10:51am

i have to side with topher about how he was treated here. He is obviously uninformed and inexperienced about theater and its terminology but he had good intentions and appears to want to get into the play more.

One poster in particular comes off as an aggressive snob who apparently sees himself/herself as the personal protector of the play's legacy, the only problem being that the play was never attacked or criticized. Granted, Topher's previous posts were not very clear or articulate, but just because you love the play doesn't mean who should allow yourself to be the "bitch" you described yourself as.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 11:36am

I can see how topher's single-minded focus and repeated questions about one actor might irritate those who wished to discuss the play.

But if someone who had seen the play had just answered his question the first time, these unpleasant exchanges could have been avoided.


But there is a larger question here, about how one should treat newbies in general, and old timers as well. Because there was a thread some time ago about how the number of participants on BW seems to have diminished. Many former regulars here have left, and now engage in theatre discussions on Facebook. I, for one, miss them. Many of them were very bright and highly articulate. I miss their input, their insights. I've been told by more than a few of them that they left because they were fed up with the personal putdowns they met with. They were just tired of it. I feel their absence is a definite loss to this group. So I think we should go out of our way to be nice to newcomers. And yes, they need to be nice in their turn.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 11:51am

No one attacked the play, no. But certain posters are acting as if it serves as nothing more than a showpiece for Jim Parsons's Broadway debut.

Maybe if you sat in the theatre listening to the sniffling as Bruce tells of the indignities his lover faced because he died of AIDS, seen John Benjamin Hickey visibly decline over the second act and ultimately break down, heard the applause after Ellen Barkin's speech go on and on for a full minute and then came back to repeated posts whining that no one was talking about Jim Parsons and his handful of one-liners, you would understand why people are bothered.

I'm glad that Jim Parsons is on Broadway. Every actor should have that experience. He seems to be truly enjoying himself and he couldn't have picked a better show to be a part of. But this play is so much bigger and more important than just him, and I don't think topher understands or respects that.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 12:13pm

"I'm glad that Jim Parsons is on Broadway. Every actor should have that experience. He seems to be truly enjoying himself and he couldn't have picked a better show to be a part of. But this play is so much bigger and more important than just him, and I don't think topher understands or respects that."

I feel topher does respect that and that he's making a considerable effort to understand.

But topher can speak for himself here, and I hope he will.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 12:48pm

Hahah, if I really wanted to be a bitch, trust me, I would and could be. But I knew that with this "Waaah, y'all are MEAN!" mentality, someone would think I was.

I feel topher does respect that and that he's making a considerable effort to understand.

I am torn between agreeing with you that yes, now he is, and that he's trying way too hard to fake it because he just wants to be able to chat with people who can give him the information he wants. It was a little bit suspect when suddenly after the whiny, narrow-focused tone was pointed out, he was all OH THE PLAY SEE YAY! Like I've said before, I hope that following one actor's career inspires genuine interest. It happens often, and I think it's great. I'm not some kind of keep-it-to-myself elitist. But I don't think it's fair to basically walk in with a tone that mocks others' genuine interests, and that's how it felt. And I was not alone in thinking that.

But certain posters are acting as if it serves as nothing more than a showpiece for Jim Parsons's Broadway debut.

Exactly. It's so much bigger than that, and I think that acting as though that's all that matters about expecting other people to also think that it's of utmost importance and whining when people don't talk enough about him is disrespectful with a play like this. Where people seeing it lived through it. Still are living through it. Etc. That's what bothers me. Bottom line. And I have to wonder if people who don't understand that even know what the play is about or any of the history behind it. Vicious cycle.

Oh, and this is not about television versus Broadway. If the actor deserves to be there, I could care less.

Updated On: 5/2/11 at 12:48 PM

[Pomita]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 2:41pm

'Maybe if you sat in the theatre listening to the sniffling as Bruce tells of the indignities his lover faced because he died of AIDS, seen John Benjamin Hickey visibly decline over the second act and ultimately break down, heard the applause after Ellen Barkin's speech go on and on for a full minute..'


Sorry for posting randomly here. This paragraph just did something to me.. at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have to say that I'm screaming inside, at this time, because it's impossible for me to see this.

[topherkraz78]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 2:59pm

First of all I am a female. My name is described as being a loyal fan of Topher Grace, a tv star, an actor I worked with in 2000. Secondly, if I didn't care about the play in general or its content and meaning, why would I go and buy the book? Why would I bother if I didn't want or care about the play? Yes, what attracted me to the play was indeed JP but I want to see it because of its brilliance. Now maybe I brought forth too much Jim love but I was not the one that dropped his name recently. I got hounded by Jordan over at the Tony award nods because after seeing Jim's name on there more than once as possible nods, I mentioned (without using his name) that I was happy to see a certain someone in the thoughts of others. Ok, so where did I go wrong there? You want new people to venture out and partake in your world but you can't accept that some people who are more familiar with the tv world would not know much about the broadway world. God, what a **** am I to think that maybe I could actually get some support and understanding for something I wasn't familiar with! God for bid that one single actor turned me to this world to discover but why bother if you are going to be shot down at all costs? Jordan starting having an issue with me because I simply asked about metal detectors in the theater. Damn, what a bitch I am to ask that, huh! FYI, I only asked because in the tv world which I am VERY familiar with, you HAVE to go thru two metal detectors to see the shows live. Wow, for me to think that theaters may have the same type of security! You do what you want but if this is how you treat the new people who want to TRY to understand this scene then many more will follow suit and leave.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 10:47pm

You will continue to fail to see what the problem was here, but:

Secondly, if I didn't care about the play in general or its content and meaning, why would I go and buy the book? Why would I bother if I didn't want or care about the play?

Only AFTER anyone called you out. Until then it was Jim Parsons, Jim Parsons, why aren't you talking about Jim Parsons?! It wasn't, hey what's the deal with this play, or hey, I'm curious to read it. It was just petulance at the fact that people weren't talking about Jim Parsons enough, then sudden overcompensation to get into good graces. You have to be able to see how that looks to others.

Or, maybe you're not. But it's absurd of you to cry "misunderstanding" when it's all there in writing. The thing about this is, none of us can read minds; all that's there is what someone expresses on the screen.

Updated On: 5/2/11 at 10:47 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 11:20pm

If you're a female, why does your BWW profile say you are male?

At least this makes sense now. You were so up in arms about the rumor that Parsons was gay because you want him to be straight. News flash honey, it's not going to happen for you.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 11:38pm

If this strange interest in Parsons sells more seats to this show, then, hey, I'm glad people are seeing it. But there is no need to be rude to posters like Emcee and others who have been on here a lot longer than any of you who have joined in the last week and have time and again proven themselves to be competent and knowledgable about theatre and specifically about the play in question here.

[Pomita]

Posted: 5/2/11 at 11:56pm

@bjh2114 - What difference does it make to any of us, male or female, whether an actor is gay or straight, unless we're homophobes or something (which I trust we're not)?

I really don't want to contribute to this whole somewhat OT discussion, but just couldn't help responding to that rather strange comment.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/3/11 at 8:16am

@bjh2114 - What difference does it make to any of us, male or female, whether an actor is gay or straight, unless we're homophobes or something (which I trust we're not)?

I agree that it shouldn't make a difference. But topher flipped her **** about 2 pages ago when I brought up the reports that Parsons was in a long term relationship with another man. She CLEARLY cares. I, however, do not.

[Pomita]

Posted: 5/3/11 at 8:35am

For the record, I don't care about the fact of it, I cared about (objected to) the discussion being brought up here, because the topic of someone's personal preferences seems far more OT to me than gushing over a specific actor's performance in the play.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 8:15pm

Sheesh! I only brought this thread up to let you know that even more tickets were placed on TDF through NEXT weekend. I didn't expect this kettle of fish!


Stinks for the production to be on TDF so much -- but good for us! I can't wait to see it on the 14th. (And I've never even SEEN Parsons' tv show, so I could care less.)

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 12:27am

Please go see this play.

Please.

Please go see this play.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 1:08am

I couldn't hold a GUN to your head to get you to Angels in America, a metaphorical GUN to your head.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 5:02am

Later tonight. Seems like I've been waiting forever.

(And jerusalem this afternoon!)

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 11:16am

I had such a perfect experience seeing the original Angels in America. It set a new standard for what I hope for at the theater. Particularly marathons: I had been enthralled by the Nicholas Niclelby marathon before Angels, but as brilliant as it was, it was Dickens--it wasn't about my life. The Ring cycle I saw at the Met a few years ago was gorgeous, but it was about Brunhilde and her gang. It wasn't about my life.

Then Angels marathon summed up the lives and hopes of me and my friends and everybody I knew. The words were poetry, and the performances were legendary. They not only laid themselves bare; they laid me bare. Plus Liza Minnelli was there the night we saw Perstroika. I assume they laid her bare as well.

I didn't feel the same way about the HBO film, which I enjoyed for the poetry and the the performances, but it didn't lay anything or anybody bare.

I'm very picky about revivals of things I loved when I was younger. They invariably disappoint.

I know this Angels was good, but I didn't want to chance that it wouldn't be as perfect a marathon experience. It wasn't just the expense of money. It was the expense of time. And of spirit.

Normal Heart was not that kind of perfect experience for me in 1985. It was like seeing a documentary of our lives with painful melodramatic scenes that were only as melodramatic as our lives were back then. I want people to see Normal Heart not because it is a well-acted, well-written play. It is--very much so. I want them to see it because I want them to know there was a war once.

And we lost. And nobody cared.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 2:36pm

I can accept everything you say by way of explanation and will disregard the last two lines and chalk them up to Kramer having got to you.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 4:20pm

Yup ;-}

[751guy]

Posted: 5/14/11 at 4:43pm

"I want them to see it because I want them to know there was a war once.

And we lost. And nobody cared."


Guess it's all in the way one looks at life.

Sometimes the most horrible thing that happens produces the most wonderful unexpected things.

And yep, everyone should see this production.

[Performer]

Posted: 5/15/11 at 11:09pm

I just saw the show today...

If you have not seen this show: you ABSOLUTELY must. You NEED to.

I'm hesitant to say this, but I think that it may have been the best show I've ever seen. I have never been so moved by a piece of theatre in my life, nor have I ever cried so hard in public (at least not that I remember). Especially if you're gay - you MUST see it. It was a therapeutic experience. The actors are absolutely phenomenal as is the direction. It was so incredibly honest and real.


PLEASE. Go and support this show. It deserves MUCH more attention than it is getting.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 5/15/11 at 11:18pm

I saw this last week and have been raving about to anyone that will listen. I also saw Angels in America, and I know a lot of people have been comparing the two. It may have been because I was sick when I did the Angels marathon, but I think Normal Heart packs more of a punch. I don't think anyone would argue that it's artistically and linguistically more beautiful than Angels, but I think the more stark and realistic (nobody flying around, hallucinating, etc.) text of Normal Heart better illuminates the horrors and the scale of the epidemic.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/15/11 at 11:20pm

Saw this Saturday night. Loved it. I was moved, I was horrified, I was educated.

Not much else to say but to encourage ALL to go and see this important work and realize how much work we still have to go. I say "we" as Americans -- not gay or straight Americans, just as Americans.

Sure, things are "better" but they still aren't RIGHT.