Mother Courage at CSC

[AlanR2]

Posted: 12/15/15 at 8:06pm

I haven't seen any comments on Mother Courage and her Children at the Classic Stage.  Has anyone seen this show?  Curious about other opinions before I head into the city for it.

Thanks, 

AR

[pacificnorthwest]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 2:13pm

I am also curious. Anyone?

[LarryD2]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 2:16pm

I know that at least one performance was cancelled over the weekend due to a cast illness. That could be the reason for the lack of posts.

[mar6411]

Posted: 12/20/15 at 8:50pm

Bump.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has seen this.

Thanks.

[rcwr]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 2:26am

I'll be interested to hear about this production. I saw the show eons ago at Boston Shakespeare Company -- maybe 1984? Linda Hunt starred. She was amazing in that role.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 12/24/15 at 2:03pm

I don't know the original play so I can't say how much this was changed in translation or altered or adapted. I can say that I didn't think very much of it. I think it was a combination of the writing and the acting and the music. I got used to the choppiness, being thrown into scenes years apart without developing a real sense of the characters but even within scenes the dialogue didn't always ring true. I feel like this was more of an idea play than a character play but even if you're going to do that you need to deliver the lines in a way that feels natural or else it's just really obvious and quite frankly boring. 

 

I don't want to call out specific actors for their poor efforts/choices so I'll just say that Tonya Pinkins was great. She is holding this whole thing together. Given the subject matter, it really made me wish that I'd seen her in Caroline or Change. I feel like she was the one cast member who really understood what she was doing and was fully committed the entire time. Just looking into her eyes for a minute was more worthwhile than ten minutes of dialogue. The actors playing her daughter and the cook also shone in their dramatic and comedic scenes respectively. 

 

The set, such as it was, was not terrible but I got no sense of the Congo. I think I would have rather seen a colorblind casting version of Mother Courage that was period accurate or completely abstracted so there was no sense of a specific war. Because that's how they played it. The music did not help. I don't think I'm a Duncan Sheik fan. And his music for this did not work except as a vehicle for Tonya Pinkins to sing. I think out of everything it distracted me the most from the idea that this was set in Africa. And the lyrics were trite ramblings barely to set music. 

Updated On: 12/24/15 at 02:03 PM

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 12/24/15 at 2:41pm

Was hoping for a good mix of Duncan Sheik music, but we only got 10-15 minutes worth out of the 2 hour 20 minute show.  I loved Tonya Pinkins in Rasheeda Speaking (what a fun show that was), but this show came across as a slog and a bore (and hard to follow).  The rest of the cast was "uneven" (to put it kindly).  Many were making their off-Broadway debuts and sounded like they had never acted/sung before and were up on the stage for the first time.  One lady had had enough and walked out before the intermission from the center section.  Quite a few walkouts at intermission.

The only good thing I can say is that CSC eliminated a row from their right side section (the side section that's closest to the entrance), so that you can enter/leave from both sides of the right side section without having a barrier forcing you to climb over 10 people (and now have more legroom).  This is a major improvement to the side section of seating.

Updated On: 12/24/15 at 02:41 PM

[macnyc]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 4:17pm

Tonya Pinkins to Depart From ‘Mother Courage’ Off Broadway

Tonya Pinkins, who plays the title role in Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children” at Classic Stage Company, will leave the production on Jan. 5, a publicist for the theater said on Tuesday.

The Jan. 7 opening will be postponed while a replacement is sought.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/tonya-pinkins-to-depart-from-mother-courage-off-broadway/?smid=tw-nytimestheater&smtyp=cur

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 4:19pm

Hope she is OK. This is clearly serious:

"In an email, she wrote that she had drafted a statement detailing her reasons for leaving the show, but that her lawyer had discouraged her from sharing it. “I’m not even sure I want to tell it,” she wrote.

Brian Kulick, the production’s director and Classic Stage’s artistic director, declined a request for an interview on Tuesday."

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 4:22pm

Yikes. Anyone have any semblance of an idea what this might be about? This sounds pretty calamitous. 

[LarryD2]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 4:24pm

Tonya is no shrinking violet. Neither is Brian. Perhaps the room was too small to house both of their egos.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 4:38pm

Yeah does someone want to make public what she clearly doesn't want to make public so that someone who doesn't know her can have some information on her personal life?

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 4:43pm

I have tickets in a few days. Hope they don't cancel!

[smidge]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 4:46pm

Miss Pinkins has reconsidered and will provide a detailed explanation to all Broadwayworld members.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 4:56pm

They are going to have a hard time finding a name actor who is free and is willing to learn this difficult part in such a short amount of time.

Updated On: 12/29/15 at 04:56 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 4:58pm

We will know soon enough. Too many people would have been witness to the problem for it to stay under covers. My guess is Kulick will have egg on his face when he departs his gig in a few months. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 5:03pm

Maybe Meryl can step in. :)

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 5:10pm

Kathleen Turner was brilliant in the Arena Stage version two years ago. The entire production was great and from what I've heard,  far superior to the one Classic Stage has produced. The problem is that there are many translations and different scores, whoever comes in, even if they have done the part before, will have to learn it all over again.

 

On a side note, I'm not sure how I feel about no reason given. The entire show was done for Ms Pinkins and people bought tickets to see her. If I had shelled out money for her I would like some sore of an explanation.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 5:13pm

From the little that has been said, it certainly doesn't like it's health-related so I hope to see her on stage again soon in a better show/production. She was really the only part of this show worth seeing. I did like two of the other actors but I wouldn't go out of my way to see this just for their performances. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 5:23pm

South Fl Marc said: "I'm not sure how I feel about no reason given. The entire show was done for Ms Pinkins and people bought tickets to see her. If I had shelled out money for her I would like some sore of an explanation."

I don't think she is the person who owes you an explanation. She did not sell you the ticket. I do think the story will come out but it makes sense it may not be appropriate for it to be from her mouth.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 5:29pm

HogansHero said: "South Fl Marc said: "I'm not sure how I feel about no reason given. The entire show was done for Ms Pinkins and people bought tickets to see her. If I had shelled out money for her I would like some sore of an explanation."

 

I don't think she is the person who owes you an explanation. She did not sell you the ticket. I do think the story will come out but it makes sense it may not be appropriate for it to be from her mouth.

 

"

In what part of my statement did I say that she was the one who needed to explain anything.

[musicaltheatreman2]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 5:46pm

This is odd, I am really curious as to what  happen? Hopefully it's not a to serious and she is ok. 

correct me if I am wrong, but hasn't she done this before and abruptly pulled out of show into its run? 

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 5:48pm

My guess is Kulick will have egg on his face when he departs his gig in a few months. 

How did you come to this deduction?  Kulick's leadership of CSC has made it a very, very successful off-Broadway company.

[tazber]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 6:15pm

Of course people are going to want to know the reason she's leaving.

 

Her statement of "non-statement" seems almost calculated to engender curiosity.

 

 

[PattyO'Furniture]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 6:29pm

Taz - you beat me to it.  That is exactly why her non-statement was crafted.