THE SOUND INSIDE Previews- Page 2

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 10/15/19 at 9:59pm

Saw this tonight via Today Tix Rush, and was really drawn in. Very simple. Gorgeous performances. Great direction. Interesting story. Surprised that MLP could hold our attention in that vast theater.

This is what I meant on the other thread. It’s not a controversial or “timely” play. It’s just a good, interesting story.

[wolfwriter]

Posted: 10/17/19 at 10:57pm

Just back from this and...wow! I'm still reeling a bit. 

This is why I love theater. Everyone is at the top of their game. After Heisenberg, I didn't think Mary-Louise Parker could get any better. I was wrong, I've seen a lot of her work and this may be the best thing she has ever done.

David Cromer's direction is the best I've seen him do. Making a two-person play fit into Studio 54 and feel as intimate and riveting as this piece is, is extraordinary. I've run hot and cold with Adam Rapp, but this is my favorite thing he's written, hands down.

Will Hochman more than holds his own, which is quite something in the presence of Mary-Louise Parker.

I don't dare spoil any of this, although, I'm not sure you can. I can't wait to return.

I'm with Jordan. I can't recommend this highly enough.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/18/19 at 1:48pm

What is the other thread...another board?

[Skip23]

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

Well done but slight.

At these prices???

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 10/18/19 at 10:50pm

Didn’t find it slight at all!

[Skip23]

Posted: 10/18/19 at 11:19pm

Really? It felt like an outline for a play, to me.

So many questions.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/19/19 at 2:40am

You’re supposed to have a lot of questions. That’s the point.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 10/19/19 at 9:40am

Thought this was a tremendous evening of theatre. I don’t remember the last time a play took me so by surprise. At one point, I had to take long deep breaths because it had genuinely knocked the wind out of me.

Mary-Louise Parker was exceptional. Understated and dry and still so full of life and longing. Will Hochman was also very good playing an incredibly tricky character who borders on being a plot device, but it really is MLP’s play and she more than runs away with it.

I don’t think it’s a show I could see again. Frankly, I don’t think it’s even a play I could speak about, it affected me so profoundly. But it is absolutely the show I’ll be begging people to get tickets to.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/19/19 at 9:54am

That’s Interesting because it’s a show I can’t wait to see again. It’s like a mystery I know has no explanation but even still I’m drawn back to it to try to find clues, anyways. I don’t think the final tableau of a show has “haunted” me like this one has in at least 20 years.

[gibsons2]

Posted: 10/19/19 at 4:54pm

Thank you everyone who recommended seeing this play. It was my first play with Mary Louise Parker and I'm blown away by her performance. I had to choose between this play, Betrayal and The Inheritance and I couldn't be any happier with my choice. I only wish the theater was smaller and I could see her face closer. I got the $35 rush ticket and the seat I got was row G in the rear mezzanine. Still, Mary Louise acting was so incredible that I even forgot for a few moments where I was and how little of the leg room I had:) I'm looking forward to see her other performance at MTC next year.

Updated On: 10/19/19 at 04:54 PM

[jbm2]

Posted: 10/22/19 at 11:16pm

Excited to see this. Is it appropriate for a teenager? Anything inappropriate? 

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 10/29/19 at 8:01pm

Quick seating question: I have a lot of options for the performance I’m looking into, but trying to keep it on the cheaper side.

The entire rear mezzanine is $49/59 which is in my budget (could go for row EE  for $59 which is the first row of the rear mezzanine I believe)... there’s an aisle seat in rear mezzanine row MM (to help with the leg room) through LincTix for $35... or I could try my luck with Tdf or rush as it gets closer, looking to go in the next two weeks.

Any thoughts on Rear Mezzanine seating or seating in general? All thoughts are appreciated!!!!!

Updated On: 10/29/19 at 08:01 PM

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 10/29/19 at 8:16pm

I was closer down in the rear mezz and never once thought about the distance or view, I was just sucked into the show. That said, it seems like everyone is ending up in the rear mezz so maybe just go with the cheapest seat. I was lucky enough to move back to a few empty seats so I could stretch out a bit.

[gibsons2]

Posted: 10/29/19 at 10:07pm

GreasedLightning said: "Quick seating question: I havea lot of options for the performance I’m looking into, but trying to keep it on the cheaper side.

The entire rear mezzanine is $49/59 which is in my budget (could go for row EE for $59 which is the first row of the rear mezzanineI believe)... there’s an aisle seat in rear mezzanine row MM (to help with the leg room) through LincTix for $35... or I could try my luck with Tdf or rush as it gets closer, looking to go in the next two weeks.

Any thoughts on Rear Mezzanine seating or seating in general? All thoughts are appreciated!!!!!"

I feel that rear mezzanine is too far for such an intimate play. I got a rush ticket in GG row and although the view of the stage wasn't obstructed, all the time  I wished I could see the faces closer. It was my first time at Studio 54 and now I know that the rear mezz is high and far from the stage. EE row is probably slightly better.

 

[Pashacar]

Posted: 10/29/19 at 11:27pm

^^ Just got back from row HH and it definitely felt way farther than your average rear mezz, and with less personal space. I’d hold out for TDF if I were you.

As for the play, I adored the staging and direction, but am not as enthused about the text as so many of you. I appreciate that the ambiguity is sort of the point, but I still didn’t find myself caring about the answers to the questions the play poses. Maybe because it was all telling, no showing; maybe because it was vague—I’m not sure. I tend to enjoy spare, ambiguous works but could have done with maybe 15% more meat on the bones for this one; it just didn’t feel like there was much “there” there.

Then again, there’s a chance I would have felt differently from up close; putting anything this small and delicate in 54 is a crime.

Updated On: 10/29/19 at 11:27 PM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/30/19 at 7:31pm

Skip23 said: "Really? It felt like an outline for a play, to me.

So many questions.

I frequently feel that these 90 minute plays are outlines (best example...A Doll's House, Part 2, which IMO was a brilliant outline, not a play; I also felt that was true with Doubt...I think we should have had more backstory about the mother superior character and the priest).  

I did not feel that way with this one.  I felt that it was an incredible theatrical experience, and could not stop thinking about it for days.  I went with two other people, and we all had different interpretations of what we had seen, and could argue our positions.  That to me is rare, as was the play.

 

 

[persephone88]

Posted: 10/30/19 at 7:34pm

I agree with Pashacar. I went in with high expectations and felt let down, primarily with the book. I felt it really dragged at the beginning and outside a few well done moments, I was not blown away by the acting. The sound and lighting design were beautifully done, haunting at times, but the script didn't hold my attention for substantial stretches. I had an excellent seat through TKTS, but would not have wanted to pay full price for this. Kind of wish I'd gone to Betrayal instead...

[After Eight]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 7:31am

A long, tiresome, and frustrating 90 minutes that stubbornly refuses to engage interest.. A flaccid, talky bore. And also what we've come to expect nowadays: endless  narration —- the lazy person's substitute for actual playwrighting. Look, if you're so enamored of narrating, then write a novel. But if you're going to write a play, then dramatize.

This is also the third play I've seen this season that endlessly drops the name of famous writers. I guess that's supposed to give these plays enhanced prestige. It doesn't. If you can't write a good play on your own, than referencing great writers isn't going to do it for you.

The actors were good, but the dreary lighting and design helped matters not a bit.

Updated On: 10/31/19 at 07:31 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 8:03am

lol

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 8:51am

After Eight said: "A long, tiresome, and frustrating 90 minutes that stubbornly refuses to engageinterest.. A flaccid,talky bore. And also what we've come to expectnowadays:endlessnarration —-the lazy person's substitute for actual playwrighting. Look, if you're so enamored of narrating, than write a novel. But if you're going to write a play, then dramatize.

This is also the third play I've seen this season that endlessly drops the name offamous writers. I guess that's supposed to give theseplaysenhanced prestige. It doesn't. If you can't write a good play on your own, than referencinggreat writers isn'tgoing to do it for you.

The actors were good, but the dreary lighting and design helpedmatters not a bit."

What were the last 4 - 5 new shows that you actually liked?

[After Eight]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 9:54am

“What were the last 4 - 5 new shows that you actually liked?”

Caroline's Kitchen is the most recent play that readily comes to mind.

But I do remember loving Forty Carats, The Goodbye People, The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, and Sheep on the Runway a while back. And of course, many before then.

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 10:19am

I understand people do not enjoy shows and their opinions are more than allowed, but I don't believe I have ever seen After Eight write a positive review. I really question their motives on this board, and for going to Broadway in general. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 11:37am

After Eight has always been like the person who hates eggs and then eats eggs and complains about how much they hate eggs.

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 12:01pm

A8, unlike some others, I always find your posts very helpful as if you don't like a show, odds are it's pretty good though one has to be careful here cause due to the consistency of hating almost everything, like a broken clock that does show the correct time twice a day, you're bound to be right about a few shows.

You are truly the living embodiment of the old adage "be good or be bad, but be consistent".

Forty Carats. LOL.

Updated On: 10/31/19 at 12:01 PM

[smidge]

Posted: 10/31/19 at 6:14pm

After Eight said: "“What were the last 4 - 5 new shows that you actually liked?”

Caroline's Kitchen is the most recent play that readily comesto mind.

But I do remember loving Forty Carats, The Goodbye People, The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, and Sheep on the Runway a while back.And of course, many before then."

Wouldn't it have been nice if you started a positive thread praising these shows instead of being so negative towards shows that may have received more attention?