HEIGHT OF THE STORM Previews

[NYfanfromCA]

Posted: 9/14/19 at 10:36pm

Previews for Manhattan Theatre Club's The Height of the Storm started on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. 

"Two-time Olivier and Tony Award® winner Jonathan Pryce (“Game of Thrones”, “The Two Popes”, “The Wife”, Miss Saigon) joins three-time Olivier Award winner Eileen Atkins (“The Crown”, Doubt, The Retreat from Moscow, Indiscretions) to bring the acclaimed West End sensation by Florian Zeller, and translated by Christopher Hampton (MTC’s The Father), to Broadway."

Any early impressions?  Who's going?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/16/19 at 1:49pm

I was at The Height of the Storm: The Father Strikes Back the other night, and talk about a case of deja vu! Not only is it the same play as The Father, but it’s in the same theater. It’s like I got to repeat a night or my life that I didn’t want to.

This playwright is such a one trick pony. At least the mother was a little more unconventional, but it was essentially covering the same ground as these two father plays. Jonathan Pryce does a good Frank Langella and really if you saw the previous play, there’s no reason to sit through this one either.

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 9/16/19 at 1:52pm

Thank you for your review, Whizzer. Its so nice having your civil, and thoughtful posts back!!! 

[Pashacar]

Posted: 9/16/19 at 2:14pm

Whizzer, thanks for the insight. Your post (among some on the other board) has convinced me to skip this one. Given that, I'm wondering if you'd mind spoiling the ending, which I hear is pretty dramatic?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/16/19 at 2:41pm

I didn’t see “The Father”, so I had nothing to compare this to but it left me feeling gutted. I thought it was absolutely devastating in the best way.

[Pashacar]

Posted: 9/17/19 at 9:47am

Jordan Catalano said: "I didn’t see “The Father”, so I had nothing to compare this to but it left me feeling gutted. I thought it was absolutely devastating in the best way."

That's actually a good endorsement of this piece. I entered The Father expecting to leave like that but found it surprisingly unaffecting.

[Evans2]

Posted: 9/17/19 at 12:59pm

Went the other night and this play absolutely gutted me. 

[wolfwriter]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:02pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I didn’t see “The Father”, so I had nothing to compare this to but it left me feeling gutted. I thought it was absolutely devastating in the best way."

Nobody has talked about this is a long while and I finally caught up with it tonight.

I did see The Father and The Mother and now this.

The Father was devastating. Watching Frank Langella on the floor calling for his mother will stay with me forever, as my mother was in the throes of Parkinson's and the dementia that comes with it and asking for her mother (while my Dad was slowly dying of a different illness).

I liked The Mother, but, it's an entirely different play that requires we keep an emotional distance and succeeds in a different way.

The Height of the Storm is another animal entirely.

Like Jordan, I was wrecked. In fact, I texted someone on the way out. My first text was "wow" and my second was "I'm wrecked." I haven't wanted to burst into tears so much in a very long time and I'm not a cryer. All the way home, I felt like I could lose it, at any moment. The final scene is so gut-wrenching, like the final Langella scene, it will stay with me for a long time.

This is not an easy play and the doofus next to me who had to read the news to his husband before the play started, whispered to said husband after 30 minutes, "do you know what's going on?" It might have helped if he didn't fall asleep for most of those 30 minutes.

The play is not linear and sometimes it's a bit jarring to determine what's happening and when. I totally disagree that this is the same play as The Father. 

My reaction to this play, however, might be clouded by the fact that both my parents died last year within a few months of each other and after 54 years, Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins are playing their last days on stage. If you swap the genders, this is their story.

Maybe one's reaction to this play is how close it hits home. For me, watching my Mom's life drag on for years and slowly fade away, where one minute you're talking about the news and the next, I'm a giraffe, is life altering. All of that flooded back.

I must make mention of the remainder of the cast. Pryce and Atkins are extraordinary, but the supporting cast plays this impeccably, as well.

It's a very fast 80 minutes, but I'm sure this will stay with me for a good long time.

Catch this, if you can, before it closes.

[EthelMae]

Posted: 11/21/19 at 8:43pm

Caught this the other night.  Mr. Pryce going round and round saying “what’s my position?” over and over again wrecked me and the last scene with him and Ms. Atkins had me in tears. Wasn’t expecting much but got so much more.

[gibsons2]

Posted: 11/21/19 at 9:10pm

EthelMae said: "Caught this the other night. Mr. Pryce going round and round saying “what’s my position?” over and over again wrecked me and the last scene with him and Ms. Atkins had me in tears. Wasn’t expecting much but got so much more."

I was torn between seeing this play and the Betrayal. Chose Betrayal and was really disappointed ( I should've listen to my gut. Maybe I'll still make it this week.

 

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 11/21/19 at 10:18pm

Saw this on my last trip to New York in September, during previews and loved it. I haven't seen it mentioned here but Pasadena Playhouse is doing The Father in February with Alfred Molina starring. Just got tickets for it and am looking forward to it very much.