THE LEHMAN TRILOGY Previews

[NYfanfromCA]

Posted: 3/23/19 at 12:30am

The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes, started previews today, Friday, March 22, 2019, at Park Avenue Armory.  Opening night is Wednesday, March 27.  From the Park Avenue Armory website:

"Originally documented by Italian playwright Stefano Massini, this vast and poetic play gets a thrilling new life at the Armory following a sold-out run at the National Theatre in London in an adaptation by Ben Power."  

The original cast of Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, and Ben Miles will reprise their roles.

Who's going?

Updated On: 3/24/19 at 12:30 AM

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 3/23/19 at 12:50am

any chance this could extend by a week?  

[Wick3]

Posted: 3/23/19 at 7:40am

Seeing the show next week! Can't wait!!!

[LarryD2]

Posted: 3/23/19 at 9:01am

VernonGersch said: "any chance this could extend by a week?"

Probably not, since it's slated to begin performances on the West End on May 11.

[Andre4]

Posted: 3/23/19 at 11:39am

My wife and I saw this last night and it was truly incredible - a visually stunning and immersive history lesson that was beautifully written and acted. You learn a lot about the influence of these brothers (cotton, coffee, railroad, radio, television, finance, and even the Panama Canal), how hard they worked amidst terrible times, and how several bad decisions by some people - and mostly by people outside their family after everyone’s death - corrupted an entire legacy and hurt so many people. A great story really that I knew nothing about. As always, amazing epic staging in one of the best vast configurable spaces in NYC - the Park Avenue Armory. Go see it if you can!

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 3/23/19 at 11:08pm

im already hearing about this coming to Broadway after the West End run finishes

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/23/19 at 11:16pm

Most of the Amrory stuff isn’t easy to put on Broadway.. is this?

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 3/23/19 at 11:48pm

its a similar set to the one used at The National and the one that will be used in the West End. 

[macnyc]

Posted: 3/24/19 at 12:40am

After seeing The Hairy Ape at the Armory a couple of years back, I've come to expect something visually exciting at the venue, and The Lehman Trilogy did not disappoint. THe playing area is basically a glass box that spins on a turntable. That was striking by itself, but the amazing part was the huge curved wall behind the box that served as a screen for the projections. I have never seen anything as monumental.

 

 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 3/24/19 at 5:46am

Scheduled to attend in April and could only afford row V.  Can anyone comment on sight lines from back there?

[Andre4]

Posted: 3/24/19 at 9:53am

We were in the same position and got center row V. It is stadium seating but the set is so immense and the sound so excellent that it was not an issue. You could see some facial expressions even. Seeing the promo videos, the change in angle makes it slightly different being up higher in that you don’t look through the glass box at actors’ level towards the rear screen (so slightly less immersive) but again the staging and screen are massive and beautiful. We loved it! Sure, row H center or so would be nice but then I remembered what those cost at the moment. :)

[Wick3]

Posted: 3/24/19 at 10:09am

I sat in row V for the Hairy Ape a few years ago and still had an amazing experience.

In London, I did dayseats and the seats were row G mezzanine (dress circle) and I still didn't have issues with sound and can see Simon's facial expressions on all the different charactershe plays. Because of the angle, though, I'll admit I don't remember the huge LCD screen behind the glass box.

I feel I haven't seen that much marketing for this show but then again I'm not sure if I am the target market. Show seems to be selling very well. Good for them!!!

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 3/24/19 at 12:26pm

you arent seeing much marketing because most of the run sold out months ago

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/24/19 at 12:39pm

Rush report from Saturday. First person was in line at 7:30am. The next person came at like 8:30am. By the time the box office opened there were about 25-30 people in line. An announcement was made before opening that they didn't know how many tickets were available and people would be brought in two at a time. There ended up being about 13 tickets. The last people to get them arrived at around 10:15-10:30am. Seats are the very last row (row W) which I think was added just for rush.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 3/24/19 at 2:02pm

How much were the rush tickets?

[Susanswerphone]

Posted: 3/24/19 at 2:18pm

Website says $45

[CarmenA3]

Posted: 3/25/19 at 1:35pm

I rushed today (Mon, 3/25). I got there at 10:40a and was 4th in line. Just under 20 people in line by noon. Ticket agent said number of tickets each day varies. Tickets were $47 ($45 + $2 fee) in row W.  

I will add an update after we see the show tonight. Can't wait!

[wolfwriter]

Posted: 3/26/19 at 12:24am

Saw this tonight and I'm not sure what to think.

On one hand, I was almost never bored (almost). On the other hand, this is an entirely narrated exercise. In fact, it's not a play, by the definition of the traditional structure and craft of playwrighting.

I'll start with the good: The story-tellers (actors/narrators) are excellent. Three men play so many characters and move seamlessly in and out of various accents, with ease. The set is interesting, mostly anachronistic and, after this and Yerma, glass boxes must be a thing at the Armory. The projections are pretty neat, even if I'm not a big fan of projections. Oddly, for 3.5 hours, I was not bored for 99% of it.

As for the not so positive: 3.5 hours of narration/story-telling is not a play. Live underscoring does not compensate for lack of dramatic tension. Despite its length, there is no character development, so that when major events happen (deaths, etc), we are coldly detached, if not disinterested. Not once did I feel emotionally invested in any of it, which made the ending devoid of impact. This is a bullet-point essay..."this happened, then this happened, then that happened, then this happened..."

There is no point of view. The author seems to want to tell us a story of immigrants who came to America and took advantage of their hard work and the freedom of capitalism, to build an empire that ultimately failed (138 years later), but the work doesn't do that. It just tells us what happened, but it doesn't tell me why I need to be sitting in a theater watching this, tonight. If it intends to praise or indict the "system," if fails at doing either.

The last 79 years of history and the conclusion were so rushed, they were almost silly. I'm surprised Sam Mendes didn't think of something better for the second half of act three.

It took me until the third act to realize what my brain had been trying to figure out about the entire work. This is an audiobook of a Wikipedia page about the Lehman Brothers, with all its attendant superficiality. They just decided to put it on stage. I think this would be fun to listen to with these actors performing so many characters, but it really didn't require watching.

The audience seemed to mostly like it although many did not stand. The gentleman next to me slept through much of the second act and left at the second intermission, but the woman next to me, walking out said that was "damn good."

In no way was this terrible to watch and it moves rapidly, but I'd love to ask the playwright why he thought I should be watching it, at all.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 3/26/19 at 12:44am

I'm not sure if it's common knowledge, but I heard Sam Mendes talk about how the "play" itself is basically just a chunk of text that's left to the director to distribute amongst the characters and such (also that it had only ever previously been done with 12 actors).

Very interested to hear what people have to say about this and if it'll be divisive

[CarmenA3]

Posted: 3/26/19 at 12:14pm

I was at the show last night as well, and it's interesting how different our perspectives are. We thought it was fantastic! At the first intermission, I was already texting friends to not miss this.

You're right, there is not a lot of drama, it's a retelling of the story of the Lehman Brothers. Even though it is a pretty straight-forward story, there is still much to take away.  The simple piano accompaniment gave the dialogue extra energy - I found myself realizing that I was tense or sad all of a sudden. The simple stage was effective,  

Sorry that you had people next to you sleeping, but up in the top of the risers (Row W and below), everyone was enthusiastically clapping and standing at curtain call.

If you're seat is further back, I recommend going down to the floor during one of the intermissions (I went at the start of the 2nd intermission and the curtain was still up). Seeing the set up close is very impressive.

[theatregoer3]

Posted: 3/26/19 at 1:54pm

I was there last night and left after the first intermission. I didn't think it was bad, per se, but I wasn't in the mood for 3.5 hours of narration. Despite the size of the set (which wasn't my favorite work from Devlin), this is a rather intimate tale that may have benefitted from a smaller theater. 

[Wick3]

Posted: 3/27/19 at 3:00pm

Artist talk interview of director Sam Mendes and Ben Power at Park Ave Armory: