Reviews of The Normal Heart in DC (updated and re-titled thread)

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 7:51am

I would love to hear reports.

edited to add BWW-ers reviews and a collection of reviews from various publications




Updated On: 6/26/12 at 07:51 AM

[welcometothetheater]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 1:56pm

Bump.

I'm seriously considering flying to D.C. to see this at the end of July, so any insight would be appreciated.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/12/12 at 12:04pm

Now that the Tony madness is over, I thought I'd bump this. It opens on Thursday, so we'll see reviews then, but just thought someone might have thoughts to share in the meantime.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 6/12/12 at 12:11pm

I would LOVE to hear people's thoughts on this. I'll be down there the first weekend in July and I'm planning on seeing it.

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 6/12/12 at 1:04pm

BUMP. I'm very curious too. Thinking about a DC trip in late July to see this.

[fiesta1]

Posted: 6/12/12 at 2:31pm

I am seeing it on June 23rd (I have a conference in DC, so this gives me a great excuse to see it). I will report back.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/12/12 at 3:34pm

If it's even half as good as it was on Broadway (which I have no reason to believe it won't be), it's worth said trips. Very excited to hear what people think of this cast. I wish I could see it.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 11:20pm

I saw it a few weeks ago. If you're even considering making the trip, come. I loved it in Broadway last summer, and it's just as good here.

Luke MacFarlene especially stood out. Since he played such a small role in the Broadway production, I didn't realize he had it in him. A younger and, well, hotter Felix definitely changes the tone of the relationship with Ned. Nick Mennell was a huge improvement over Lee Pace. I love Lee in other roles, but his Bruce just felt so stiff. In this production, it's clear that Bruce really does care about Ned. I can't help but wonder what kind of performance Lee Pace would have given had his real life not so closely mirrored Bruce's hang-ups.

If anyone else goes, definitely take the time to look at the panels of the AIDS quilt they have on display in the lobby. I didn't even register what it was until I saw Howard Ashman's name on one of them. The first time I ever heard about AIDS was when they laid out all the panels on the mall. I was only about 8 and had no idea what AIDS was, but I remember the images from the paper and the local news. It was a great idea to incorporate them with this production.

[theeatah]

Posted: 6/24/12 at 9:09am

double post
Updated On: 6/26/12 at 09:09 AM

[jdrye222]

Posted: 6/24/12 at 5:15pm

Updated On: 6/25/12 at 05:15 PM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 6/24/12 at 7:02pm

I saw it this afternoon and still processing what I saw.

I was a senior in high school when the story of AIDS broke and I remember over the course of my college years, hearing a bit more on the news about this disease. There were parts that definitely hit home, but overall I wasn't particularly moved by the play itself.

I remember the start up of the "Act Up" movement when I lived in NYC and their slogan "silence = death".

The performances were uniformly good, but after a while, the shouting and the arguing go to be a bit much.

There was someone outside the theatre handing out letters from Larry Kramer with a list of mind boggling facts and statistics about AIDS.

[ActingDude172]

Posted: 6/25/12 at 12:31am

What's the future of this tour after San Francisco? I would really like to see it.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 6/25/12 at 11:06am

Saw it yesterday afternoon as well. Overall, everyone was really good. Didn't care for Christopher J. Hanke that much but thought everyone else was really solid. I saw it on Broadway as well and as much as I LOVE Lee Pace, he was really stiff. I agree, Nick is definitely an improvement. If you have the chance, go go go!

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/26/12 at 6:46am

Great cast. Touching production. Go if you can.


Theater in DC collection of reviews of Normal Heart Updated On: 6/26/12 at 06:46 AM

[canmark]

Posted: 7/10/12 at 4:10pm

Saw The Normal Heart this past weekend. I thought the production was quite solid (although I wouldn't say exceptional). I think the audience was moved, and there was plenty of laughter, and some sniffles at the end. I saw a few people who were clearly wiping tears from their eyes as they were leaving the theatre (the 500-seat Kreeger theatre, part of a striking, modern 3-stage theatre complex).

SPOILERS. Patrick Breen was very good as Ned Weeks, irascible and passionate, grating yet compelling. Luke McFarlane was terribly charming as Felix Turner. The direction of the end of the play, and how Felix was presented when sick didn't entirely work for me--I didn't feel as emotional as I felt I should (I had seen a production of the play several months previously, so I suppose the outcome was not a surprise).

Michael Berresse, Nick Mennell and John Procaccino were all solid as Mickey Marcus, Bruce Niles and and Ben Weeks. As Dr. Emma Brookner, I thought Patricia Wettig could have been a bit more forceful (this play is full of yelling, which serves it well), and Christopher J. Hanke's Tommy Boatwright might have been less flaming (or less silly flaming, anyways).

While overall I liked the direction, staging and design of the show, the latter stages were a bit weaker, I felt. Not sure why they had the actors who were not in the scenes sitting at the back of the stage: to me, that was a distraction. I liked the use of projections, and think it might have worked to use that even more.

If one hasn't seen The Normal Heart before, this is a production well worth going to see. It's an important play, that time has allowed us to gain some perspective on. Further, it plays almost as a documentary of the time. As Kramer says: it's all true.

And it's, of course, timely because Washington DC will be hosting the International AIDS Conference this July 22-27. It will be great for attendees to see. But visitors (and locals) should also check out the many related arts and cultural events associated with this conference (including displays of panels from the AIDS quilt--do young people even know what this is?). Toronto (where I live) hosted this conference in 2006, and it's a good opportunity for people of the city to learn about what's going on in the world. I believe this is the first time this conference has ever been held in the US. Hopefully it will get coverage in the media and raise awareness of what's going on now--and what when on in the past. Episodes like what is documented in The Normal Heart.

http://www.arenastage.org/shows-tickets/the-season/productions/the-normal-heart/
http://www.aids2012.org/

Updated On: 7/10/12 at 04:10 PM