FARINELLI AND THE KING Previews- Page 3

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 12/9/17 at 10:12am

Thanks for the quick replies!

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/9/17 at 10:29am

The play is fine and, I suspect, reflects a good deal of Rylance's input. The story is entertaining without being a laugh riot, and the story is interesting if not all that deep. The acting is excellent throughout, and let us not forget it is also a chance to hear a world class countertenor as a bonus. No one would suggest we would be seeing this playwriting debut about an obscure subject on Broadway were Rylance not intimately involved.  

[Mike66]

Posted: 12/9/17 at 11:12am

rosscoe(au) said: "Is there actually a show, maybe it’s just seats"

 

Could everyone who has seen the show please post a review -- I need to figure out if I want to buy seats for the end of January, and I'm counting on all of you to tell me all about it.

THANKS

 

Updated On: 12/9/17 at 11:12 AM

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 12/9/17 at 12:41pm

If anyone has stagedoored this, did Mark Rylance have any recommendations about where to sit?

[mw212]

Posted: 12/9/17 at 1:27pm

This thread is cracking me up. So many seat questions.

Anyway, saw this a few days ago, so thought I'd post a review. It was a hit and miss night for me. Rylance and the cast are exceptional. The singing is superb. It's hard to be back in the Belasco with a company from The Globe and not think of their perfect productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III. It would be difficult for any play to live up to those memories and unfortunately, Farinelli and The King does not. The tone is all over the place. Some scenes are comic, some melodramatic, there is an anachronistic use of a language in some scenes, but not in others.  The first act is the best when it slows down and lets us live with these remarkable characters. The ending feels incredibly rushed. It's a pity because the production, the cast, the music is all remarkable. I would still recommend it, but I would temper expectations. 

[macnyc]

Posted: 12/9/17 at 1:59pm

Thanks for your review. I was expecting something magical like Twelfth Night. I will temper my expectations now as you suggest and try to enjoy Farinelli for what it is. I am seeing it next Saturday, the matinee, so I will be hearing one of the other countertenors.

Updated On: 12/9/17 at 01:59 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/9/17 at 2:30pm

I think mw212 gets it just about right. If you think of it as great entertainment rather than a great play, I don't think you will be disappointed. It's a good play.

[jbird5]

Posted: 12/10/17 at 2:14pm

I don’t know, I think where you sit will definitely impact your experience with this show.! If you sit in the front pews or the lower boxes, definitely expect some interaction with the cast. It’s like being part of a live action Masterpiece Theater except Mark Rylance sticks head in the box, shakes your hand and thanks you for coming. The acting seemed a bit mixed with a jumble of styles. Rylance of course doing his thing. (I thought the opening was right out of Nice Fish) Sam Crane underplayed his part with MR chewing the scenery. Melody Grove was a gorgeous Queen. There was the typical uptight bureaucrat in his Bourbon Wig (the costumes are fantastic), a Cockney Opera Impresario, and the King’s physician (the one nod to colorblind casting in this very English production). The singing and playing are fantastic and the staging, though simple, has a few surprises. The two women in the box with me had seen it from the orchestra and came back to sit on stage. I would agree the book is probably the weakest part of it, so I would try to maximize the experience by getting as close as possible. The box office was advertising that $32 seats were available.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 12/10/17 at 2:28pm

UncleCharlie said: "If anyone has stagedoored this, did Mark Rylance have any recommendations about where to sit?"

Genuinely LOL'd at this.

[macnyc]

Posted: 12/10/17 at 4:26pm

^^^ Me too!

[phantomcrazy14]

Posted: 12/11/17 at 12:08am

I was at the Saturday evening show.

First off in regards to my seating, I got a box seat (not onstage) through the rush around midday. The view was slightly partial, but honestly very fine. I felt close to the characters and only missed the furniture coming on and off.

The play itself, I will admit I didn't love it like I thought I would. Visually it is beautiful. The set and lighting with the use of real candlelight was haunting and set the mood. And the costumes were gorgeous pieces.

All of the performances were good, and I've never seen Mark Rylance live before and I enjoyed watching him, But the play felt very disjointed to me. Especially Act 2. The scene where they break the 4th wall a bit made me laugh, it wasn't a bad scene, it just felt out of place. And I agree the ending felt very rushed.

Also, on a side note. The ushers were very aggressive in regards to cell phone use before and at intermission. Don't get me wrong, when the show starts my phone is on silent, airplane and turned off and put away, and I hope everyone is the same. But I see nothing wrong with people texting or being on their phones before the show so long as they don't take pictures.

To the ushers defense there are some orchestra members onstage preshow, and I was also there the night they were filming promo shots, but still. The ushers were haranguing anyone who had their phone out even though there was twenty-fifteen minutes to curtain. Not to mention, they didn't really move to the people. They stood at the top of the stairs and would try to catch the persons attention by flashing their flashlights and yelling, which obviously someone engrossed in typing or reading wouldn't notice over all the movement and talk around them.

Sitting alone in my box it was quite amusing to watch the failed attempts.

[STEVEPCPA]

Posted: 12/12/17 at 12:33pm

I have 2 onstage tickets available for Farinelli & the King
matinee-Wednesday, December 13th- 2pm
upper level right-seats 15 &17

Paid (with service fees for the two $84.00)
Selling the pair for $70.00

Let me know if you're interested.

[nycward]

Posted: 12/16/17 at 2:08pm

Saw this production last night along with Steve Martin and Denzel....no we weren't  besties I just saw them in the audience from my $32 onstage seat:) Also upon exiting the theatre at the end of the evening I heard Denzel ask an usher how he can go backstage and he told him to go outside which of course Denzel was having none of that but I digress.

I found the show extremely enjoyable. Just like the Globe's last visit here it is a real treat to be transported to London's South Bank for a couple of hours. These onstage seats are a real bargain as well as a unique view of the entire evening (including that of the audience, as I've mentioned.) If you can still score the onstage 2nd level do try for stage right seating. I was stage left and there are some key moments where there was no visual whatsoever and you needed to wait for the actor to move. Rylance does seem to like to hug that stage left wall more than he does the right and Sam Crane as Farinelli really doesn't play much at all to the stage boxes (perhaps more of a character choice I would say.) Yes, you are often viewing more of the performers heads and there is occasionally a sense of watching the show from the wings but all in all it is a unique experience and as I've said a true theatre bargain. This should be deservedly well received by the critics tomorrow night.

[little_sally]

Posted: 12/16/17 at 6:08pm

What’s the run time?

[jbird5]

Posted: 12/16/17 at 9:03pm

little_sally said: "What’s the run time?"

2:15

[macnyc]

Posted: 12/17/17 at 11:17am

I caught the matinee yesterday with a friend and had the upper on-stage seats ($32). I agree with the previous poster mw212's opinion. There's a lot to enjoy here, but don't go in expecting the magic that was Twelfth Night. For me, the play held my interest but never took flight. I didn't think the characters were sufficiently developed, and the most interesting one to me, Farinelli, was a complete cipher. I would have loved to have known more about him, how he felt about being maimed, etc. 

Because I went in with realistic expectations, I was only mildly disappointed!

I do think it is something to see, though. The show truly is a spectacle. The set is beautiful and the music is other-worldly, complete with period instrumentalists. We saw countertenor James Hall and thought his singing was beautiful. Plus, there is a wonderful stage effect featuring him. My friend found it a bit jarring that two men play Farinelli, but it didn't bother me because I had expected that, and plus I saw Preludes at Lincoln Center a while ago where two men played Rachmaninoff. My friend felt that the singer could have also handled acting duties. The costuming was also lovely.

I think I am getting a bit tired of Rylance's mannerisms, but for true fans, the play certainly serves up a heaping plateful. 

As far as the seating: As I mentioned, we were in the highest tier. It's much higher up than I anticipated, and higher than I think Twelfth Night was. My friend, who is afraid of heights, was actually pretty alarmed at first and had to hold on tight to the railing in front of us once seated to regain her composure. I was perfectly comfortable up there, though, and the structure is very sturdy (and lovely). There is no back to the seat unless you lean against the wall, which is not comfortable while actually viewing the show. That space is great for stowing coats and bags though. And you can lean forward because there's no one behind you, and our row had fine leg room.

Still, it is partial view, no doubt. Plus, because of the height, you will mostly be looking down on the actors' heads, depending on where they are positioned on the stage. I was happy with the view for $32, but the women in front of us had paid $167 for a similar (slightly lower) view, and they were mad that the seats weren't sold as partial view. I'm curious about that too. How can the production get away with that? My seats weren't marked partial view either. I don't think that is fair. She's going to complain. 

Anyway, if you are picking on-stage seating, the higher the seat number, the better. The people sitting in the lower numbers are basically looking at the backs of the performers' heads. We were in 16 and 18, and at least could see profile views. I think the folks in the lower two rows had much nicer views, but of course those are full price. 

Still, I recommend going for the overall experience!

 

Updated On: 12/17/17 at 11:17 AM

[Mediamaven2]

Posted: 12/17/17 at 4:08pm

Hey MacNYC! I was at yesterday's matinee also seated on the stage!!!!! 

I was seated on the lower level, second row, towards the front of the stage, LR 7. Mark Rylance shook the hands of the people in front of me (including an 11 yo old girl there with her mom! quite impressive!)  I was too uncomfortable to extend my hand also, but regret not doing so.

I enjoyed the show - thought it was v interesting and loved the staging/set design taking you back to the period, the footlights, and so on. I liked Act 2 but was a bit confused by the end. Would need to view again. And might well go  a second time.

Obviously the uncomfortable seats were part of the authenticity harking back to the time period! I am 5'8" with long legs and there was so little room, my legs could not even rest at right angles. I also felt  that if I wasn't careful, my knees would jab the  back of the man seated in front of me. 

So I watched the play kind of frozen in a not too comfortable position, afraid to move too much because of the lack of room. Everyone's winter coats added to the lack of room - it was not possible to have your coat rest on the seat of your chair, behind you, as these were more like benches. 

At intermission I complained to the usher that the seats were worse than sitting in an economy airplane seat and so on. She pointed  the head usher out to me and told me to speak with her if I wanted another seat.  I thought long and hard.  Frankly, I felt it was conspicuous leaving two stage seats empty if I chose to move with my companion during intermission. I know that was ridiculous of me but I thought out of respect, I was a big girl, I could live the next hour and survive in the cramped space. It was, despite the discomfort, a unique  and  uncommon vantage point. 

PS Also, while I had turned my phone  back on during intermission (as it was off during the actual performance),  I heard the usher tell someone else to turn theirs off because it 'ruined' the ambience the production was trying to create of a certain time period. I thought if indeed the production want to convey that  and request that  of its patrons, they should employ other or additional modes of communication to do so.

 

 

Updated On: 12/17/17 at 04:08 PM

[macnyc]

Posted: 12/17/17 at 5:56pm

Mediamaven, I was envying you guys down there! Such a great vantage point. I'm glad you enjoyed the show. 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 5:19pm

What's the merch like? Do they have windowcards?