Gary: A Sequel To Titus Andronicus Previews - Page 8

[Nycat63]

Posted: 3/17/19 at 9:39am

Danielle49 said: "Nycat63 said: "By front row do you mean AA? Is BB likely to also be in the splash zone? It may be my only option if I want to sit close so just want to be prepared. Also did you have to crane neck much or is stage low? I’m leaning toward BB over mezz but would love your take since you presumably sat one row up. Thx!!"

Yes, I was in AA! BB may not be in as much danger of getting a sprayed, but I wouldn’t wear white if you’re sitting that close just in case.The stage is very low — I’m 5’ 3” and I was looking up but wasn’t in any way uncomfortable. I’d recommend sitting closer than not anyway to see the three actors at work. I do, however, wish I could’ve seen the set in full effect.

Hope that helps!"

Yes thanks!!  Unfortunately as an out of towner who typically has to plan ahead I won’t get the benefit of $40 seats so good to know the stage isn’t too high.  I’m even shorter than you!

[Jakeevan942]

Posted: 3/17/19 at 10:57am

cotous6 said: "What time did you get your ticket at?"

I got the box office about 10:15, no line at the window-I don't think the rush policy has been released from the production, aside from discussion here, so it shouldn't be the toughest one to grab.

 

 

[JayElle]

Posted: 3/17/19 at 12:10pm

Regarding merchandise, staff said that will be available after the opening.

[JayElle]

Posted: 3/17/19 at 12:12pm

Box office said standing room tickets not offered until after opening night, along with merchandise offerings.

[JayElle]

Posted: 3/17/19 at 12:33pm

For anyone who had difficulty understanding the Titus references, check out this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Andronicus

I read it prior to the show & glad I did b/c they referenced it so often.  I'm not surprised alot of folks didn't understand the dialogue if they didn't understand the original Titus play.

I am glad for the comments here b/c I thought it was just me.  I was bewildered with the juxtaposition of the bathroom humor against the themes of horrible wars, extensive killings, political revenge.  Love Nathan, and thought of Andrea Martin in the role.  

I did wonder if that fake blood stained anyone's clothes.  Kinda reminded me of the old Gallagher smashing watermelon routine.

 

[Damiensta]

Posted: 3/17/19 at 6:38pm

Another hate it or love it show of the season
I did laugh at may moments but some parts just went on and on.
I do believe Julie white will get her Tony nomination. I found her great.
I was also thinking that this could work as a musical too.

[mattyp4]

Posted: 3/17/19 at 10:04pm

BenElliott said: "Now for SPOILERS:
You will get soaked in every bodily fluid imaginable if you sit in the front row. There's blood spraying the audience, p*ss spraying the audience, and sh*t spraying the audience."

Did they.... add a ton of projectile liquids to this production since the first preview??

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

I only saw the first preview & there were fairly thin streams of blood that squirted out onto the audience (at the top of the show during Julie White's opening monologue). It wasn't enough to "cover" anyone though. And I recall Nathan Lane doing a spit take which hit some people in the front row. But I don't remember urine or feces being sprayed into the audience. There was one silly bit where Nathan Lane had urine sprayed in his face (from a corpse). I don't recall anything else though. Of course Kristen Nielsen orally siphons feces from the corpses but I recall all that being mimed at my performance.

 

I mean, maybe I shouldn't compare the two but these reports made me think of the Evil Dead Musical that played New World Stages a number of years ago. My friend & I sat front row center for that-- in the "Splatter Zone"-- and I remember thinking "How bad can it be?" Cut to the end of the show when I was DRENCHED with fake blood. And I remember having to walk home after that. In the November cold. Fun times. 

Anyway... for anyone who saw the Evil Dead Musical I should point out that Gary is not really in the same league. :P

 

[ArtMan]

Posted: 3/17/19 at 10:15pm

Off Broadway's Trainspotting had the fake poo last season.

[mcsquared]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 8:56pm

It doesn’t sound like my kind of humor—anyone want to buy my ticket for April 6 before I put it on stubhub?

[LesWickedly]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 9:05pm

If you were set on seeing Andrea Martin, might be worth calling about a refund (worked for me).

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 9:54pm

LesWickedly said: "If you were set on seeing Andrea Martin, might be worth calling about a refund (worked for me)."

Or if you just want a refund, you can say you like Andrea Martin

[mcsquared]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 9:57pm

LesWickedly said: "If you were set on seeing Andrea Martin, might be worth calling about a refund (worked for me). "

Thanks for the advice! 

[Damiensta]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 9:57pm

Spoiler question

 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

I loved the surprise of dancer. I’m just surprised that it’s allowed for the dancer not to be named or credited. If anyone knows the equity rules. Kinda sucks for the dancer and yes I know they are getting paid. Just curious how it works. Also would of had liked to see who they were. 

 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 10:27pm

To answer your spoiler question - they are handing out a full cast list of the surprise performers (with name, bio, and photo) as you exit the theater.

Just got on the train - had stayed after to stage door, and only Julie came out. Still really nice, she was joking with us about how she didn’t have time to research the original play as she was too focused on learning what she was saying and where she was going, etc. She truly was my favorite character in the show and I wish I had said more to her as she signed my playbill.

Really a fun show that I would love to see multiple times. I adore Nathan Lane and will go see him whenever possible. There was a great moment (after the pie moment) that Nathan and Julie broke character with the giggles. As another poster said, I would like to read the play when it is published just to make sure I got everything. A great night of theater for a great price!

[MarilynMonroeSmash]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 10:28pm

Damiensta said: "Spoiler question
 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

I loved the surprise of dancer. I’m just surprised that it’s allowed for the dancer not to be named or credited. If anyone knows the equity rules. Kinda sucks for the dancer and yes I know they are getting paid. Just curious how it works. Also would of had liked to see who they were.

At the first preview, the ushers handed out slips with their info at the end. I figured they would continue to give them out, perhaps you just passed by the usher without noticing.

 

[Damiensta]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 10:30pm

MarilynMonroeSmash said: "Damiensta said: "Spoiler question

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

I loved the surprise of dancer. I’m just surprised that it’s allowed for the dancer not to be named or credited. If anyone knows the equity rules. Kinda sucks for the dancer and yes I know they are getting paid. Just curious how it works. Also would of had liked to see who they were.

 

 

At the first preview, the ushers handed out slips with their info at the end. I figured they would continue to give them out, perhaps you just passed by the usher without noticing."

 

 

Thank you so much and previous poster for answering. I guess I missed it leaving theatre.

[BroadwayBeebe]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 10:35pm

I went out the doors to 45th tonight and did not pass an usher with an additional insert.

TDF seating location- F 116 in the orchestra. Yay for an Aisle!

This is one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen, but I think I loved it. It was very funny, but I found that it had a lot of interesting ideas and things to say. It does feel a tad long at times, but the performances make the evening. Now that I’ve seen it, I would have been curious to see Martin as Janice, but I don’t know that I’be ever seen her use the dramatic weight that was on display tonight. White and Lane were both delightfully funny and grounded and touching. I might consider seeing this again once previews are through to see it really sunk in.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 10:39pm

Spoiler photo for Damiensta: http://i65.tinypic.com/30256p0.jpg

[LesWickedly]

Posted: 3/18/19 at 10:42pm

haterobics said: "LesWickedly said: "If you were set on seeing Andrea Martin, might be worth calling about a refund (worked for me)."

Or if you just want a refund, you can say you like Andrea Martin "

More or less what I was trying to say haha

[novel idea]

Posted: 3/19/19 at 5:10pm

Saw this last night - definitely think people will either love it or hate it, I was a little indifferent. The people who sat on my right wished there was an intermission so they could leave. The people on my left laughed at every line. I actually laughed only three times, which is not much for a comedy. Well, a comedy with LOTS of pathos, and a completely confusing last 10 minutes.

It’s definitely of the absurdist genre, but not impossible to follow, like, say, something by Ionesco. Do a little research on Titus beforehand, so you know some basic references - the pie, Lavinia, etc. Wiki should do it.

The biggest problem is that the characters often go into long tangential monologues, getting extremely emotional. But we don’t know enough ABOUT the characters or what they are talking about to actually CARE for them or be affected by their beautiful revelations. They reference the past constantly, but because we haven’t been able to experience even one iota of ANYTHING they talk about, it’s not cathartic for us. We really just get to watch the actors do wonderful work, and listen to the playwrights (often) wonderful writing, but I couldn’t help but feel both actor and playwright were just showing off - it was for THEIR pleasure, not ours.

Also, this is the only Broadway show I’ve seen in years where only about 60 people stood up at the curtain call.

All three actors are wonderful, but I wish someone could have the sense to cut some of the “bits” that only land to about 20% of the audience. They aren’t worth it. Comedy must look spontaneous- and the majority of the physical comedy is too planned - you see the “wind up”.

Nathan is wonderful.  Julie, who should've won a Tony for Airline Highway, doesn't seem settled into the 'world' of the play, whatever that may be; she performs as if she is saying to the audience "Look at this zany character I play in the bizarre play!" - it doesn't quite feel grounded.  But she is NOT bad.  Kristine, who shouldve won the Tony for her phone call scene alone in "Vanya, Sonya...", is funny, at times, but doesn't have a completely likable character (which doesn't help matters when it comes time for her wonderfully vulnerable monologue towards the end of the play - we just don't care!!!!), and I couldn't help but feel I would've preferred the lighter touch of Andrea Martin.  

I was anxious to see it, glad I did, but sadly can’t SAFELY recommend to anyone I know.

Updated On: 3/19/19 at 05:10 PM

[JayElle]

Posted: 3/19/19 at 5:46pm

I found this helpful b4 I went to show.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Andronicus 

Only 60 people w/standing ovation. That is incredible considering cast.  I had mixed feelings about show.  I didn't laugh much b/c it felt too forced.  If this was a movie, would it have been rated X or R, I wonder.

 

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 3/19/19 at 6:02pm

I feel going to this one after smoking a tiny bit of weed may be the move here

[JayElle]

Posted: 3/19/19 at 10:18pm

You know Barrett, smoking weed b4 the show probably would've made it more enjoyable. I certainly didn't get a kick cold sober, but I don't drink b4 shows b/c I like to remember what I saw. 

No, I can't recommend the show to anyone.  And if only 60 folks felt the need to stand for an ovation to the cast, that is a very sorry statement of what they thought, or maybe they were too stunned to move.

Nathan, my Lad, what were you thinking?   Frankly, I probably would've enjoyed it more had Andrea Martin been in it b/c so much of what Nilsen did kept me thinking Martin would've been better. Martin's sarcasm, facial expression, body language can pull off so much more.  

And yes, I did get a refund. I had 2 tickets on 2 dates and asked for a refund of one b/c Martin wasn't in it.  I did agree to at least see Nathan but even that was a mistake. I bought the ticket last Nov and paid twice what the same seats were selling for that night. Never again will I do something that dumb. As for the show, I was disappointed.

The show had so much bathroom humor that I just couldn't mesh it with "life's a bitch" and "let's make it better" philosophy that they preached.  Wasn't quite sure what the show was really about. And the ending was even more bizarre than anything Monty Python would've done.

I won't recommend it to anyone. Instead, I tell them to wait for the reviews and make a decision based on that.

 

 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/19/19 at 10:41pm

I really hated this. 90 minutes of low-brow body humor, including blood, urine, erections, masturbation, etc - mixed in with dull musings on class and responsibility that go all over the place and never find traction. So much so that even the actors couldn't seem to make sense of it for themselves. After coming with a clever premise, Mac laboriously attempts to milk 90 minutes out of it, desperately grasping at insights, but never really reaching anything beyond (as the poster above put it) "Life's a bitch." An obvious "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" wanna-be, but with a fraction of the wit and intelligence. The characters are all one-note, with aspirations and character traits that are established, and repeated over and over, but barely advance. 


This reminded me of something I would have seen in a series of 10-minute one act plays performed at a college. And that's probably what it should have been. How all of these talented names could come together only to put on such a misfire if beyond me. 

EDIT: I'm now reading through some of the comments in this thread, and it seems like a lot of people are citing the play's "weirdness" as a reason why some might dislike it. And I just want to say, for the record, that I LOVE weird. I love bizarre, quirky plays that leave you going "I don't know what I just saw, but it was amazing." I'm happy for those of you that had that reaction with this play, but I did not. Sure, the premise and style are a weird, but in terms of the actual content of the play? I just thought it good old fashioned Bad Writing.

Updated On: 3/19/19 at 10:41 PM

[JayElle]

Posted: 3/19/19 at 11:31pm

Well JBroadway, the body humor was awful.  One thought I had was that industry folks say it's the post 50 yr old crowd that spend so much money on tickets.  Have you ever noticed the audience demographic at a Wednesday matinee?

If that is so, I wondered how folks in their 60, 70. 80s want to hear about embalming procedures, i.e. draining blood, evacuating intestines?  I didn't and I'm not in the waning years. It was such an off topic.

As for stage door, one chatter wrote that only Julie White came out.  Nathan probably pulled a Jim Parson from Boys in the Band and bolted out the front door into a waiting limo. He doesn't SD. Perhaps Nielsen didn't want to show her face for this questionably "good" show. I saw those few soldiers in the show  come out post matinee, but that was it.