TROUBLE IN MIND Previews- Page 3

[JBroadway]

Posted: 11/4/21 at 11:15am

Jessica Frances Duke is fantastic.

For those who may need their memory jogged, she recently starred in the title role of Signature’s production of Lynn Nottage’s “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” which interestingly, shares some thematic similarities to “Trouble In Mind.” Both plays explore the ways in which Black actresses have been historically typecast as maids and “Mammies.” And yet, the two plays are also very different, and Duke plays a very different kind of role in this play. 

I never watched Jessica Jones or Ozark (well, I watched the first season), but I’m glad to see that she’s having some success on TV too. She deserves to be a star! 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 11/6/21 at 12:00am

I went tonight. I really enjoyed the evening. I actually was expecting an extremely heavy, intense play, and was surprised at how much humor and laughter there was. The acting was mostly excellent. I didn;t think Michael Zegen worked at the director. I feel like you need a real Hal Prince/Arthur Laurents type dickhead, and Zegen came across more like an officious assistant stage manager than a director who could make or break careers. Part of that is Childress's fault -- she does a good job of making characters come to life but the director's character isn't very consistent. 

I also thought that Childress didn't know how to end the play. The play works better as a slice of life -- I loved the scenes of the actors rehearsing what they know is a bad play, and the themes of racial stereotyping and also roles running out for actresses of a certain age and even more so for black actresees of a certain age. But the final conflict seemed a bit contrived, almost like Childress wanted a showy climax but didn't quite know how to get there without a lot of heavyhandedness?

LaChanze and Chuck Cooper are amazing, and both can really sing. Also loved Jennifer Frances Duke.

 

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I kind of wondered -- was Wiletta actually fired? Her extremely emotional reaction seems to indicate she was, but Manners doesn't actually fire her. So it's unclear.

 

[Damiensta]

Posted: 11/6/21 at 12:40pm

I have to say American Airlines Theatre has a winner . I hope when reviews come out that it makes sold out. The mezzanine was pretty empty.
The run time was about 2:10 but I believe that it started few minutes late.
I agree with poster they said it felt like it was written recently. It’s incredible that it’s taken so long to be on Broadway.
I laughed more than some other plays that are categorized as comedy.
I know it’s early in season but give all the awards to Lachanze.
Chuck Cooper was another highlight and Jessica Frances Duke.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 11/8/21 at 8:02pm

I actually wrote a little review of Trouble in Mind:

https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2021/11/ny-diaries-die-meistersinger-trouble-in.html

[Zion24]

Posted: 11/8/21 at 9:39pm

thoughtful review. i agree with you re Zengen, but disagree re Cooper's big dramatic monologue in Act 2: it stops everything cold by reminding us what the abstract topic theyre all talking about is in reality. 

im still surprised more people havent commented on the inherent irony here: the author refused to alter her work to accommodate others, cementing that it is the author who gets to determine what it is he or she wants to say; but Willetta wants to change the author's words/intent in the play-within-a-play. I agree with both women's position but it just jumped out at me as a bizarre hill to have her main character die on, considering.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 11/8/21 at 11:30pm

I actually sort of thought Wiletta's confrontation with Manners wasn't as effective as maybe Childress intended because I thought Wiletta was being unnecessarily confrontational to someone who didn't, after all, write the play. 

It just seemed like Childress needed a big confrontation to end the play. But the thing is, the play's theme is that everyone involved knows it's a bad play. Everyone is going through the motions of pretending they're putting on "art" and they all know the play sucks. So why is Wiletta getting so angry with the director who is just trying to get the show on the road?

Manners is a ****for a million other reasons, but I didn't think Wiletta being so angry at him really worked. 

[Zion24]

Posted: 11/9/21 at 12:39am

Well Manners treats her poorly, and is meant to be a stand in for all the directors and higher-ups that have mistreated her. I think it didnt work because Zengen is too likeable/meek? But yes, shes so furious with the director for refusing to let her....change the text of the play. Which maybe made sense in 1950, i dont know, but you're right, the ultimate thing he's resisting actually is worth resisting, which takes a bit away from the punch of the piece.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 11/9/21 at 12:43pm

With respect, I think you guys are totally missing the point of the ending, AND the point of Childress’ own obstinance.

This is isn’t about “playwrights vs. actors vs. producers” etc. Childress, to my knowledge, wasn’t objecting on the grounds of “playwrights are always right.” She was objecting to the CONTENT of the changes. Because she wanted to present the truth of her experience in full.

And so is Willetta - she’s not demanding the change simply because she wants the upper hand, or because she’s being mistreated in general. If you actually listen to the content of her objection - which is right there in the dialogue plain as day: she’s saying the character’s choice is not true to her experience as a Black woman. She objects to the notion that a mother would knowingly send her son to die. And that the white playwright is depicting this Black mother as naive and unrealistic.

You’re also missing the point of HOW this argument came to a head. It’s not just that Willetta was standing up for her principles. The director was saying that Willetta wasn’t playing the truth of the scene. He was hounding her, telling her to playing it “believably.” And Willetta says (paraphrasing) “because this is isn’t believable. It was written by a white male playwright without regard for the truth of the Black female experience.” She was at a roadblock. She literally couldn’t do what the director was asking of her. She could play the scene as written, but she couldn’t play it with the level of truth he wanted.

That’s why the play is so achingly relevant: it doesn’t matter whether Childress is the actor or the playwright in each of these 2 scenarios. The voices of Black artists need to be heeded when it comes to telling their stories. And it’s not only about doing what’s right, it will also lead to BETTER ART. Because the experiences will be portrayed with more depth and truth.

Updated On: 11/9/21 at 12:43 PM

[swoboda]

Posted: 11/9/21 at 9:22pm

I agree JBway. The drama between Willetta and the director is a key aspect that makes this play a timeless gem. At the outset of the play, Willetta was reluctantly set to play the stereotypical part as she'd done countless other times in her career. She even counseled the young inexperienced male actor on how to give the director what he was expecting, an agreeable and non threatening presence. But his goading Willetta to find the truth in her character sparked her artistic sensibilities resulting in that dramatic showdown. The play is about art and how it's more meaningful if its true to your heart. 

 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/11/21 at 8:17pm

I'm going to the Saturday matinee. Will I see anyone there? I would love to meet any of you IRL.

[kwoc91]

Posted: 11/12/21 at 9:44am

Saw this again last night and was even more impressed!

The cast was really firing on all cylinders compared the previous performance I saw. I think Michael Zegen is getting better as the smarmy director and it makes the characters' choices way more believable. LaChanze just owns that stage in Act II, Chuck Cooper's monologue was utterly heart-wrenching, and Jessica Frances Duke is brilliant. I sat in the front orchestra this time so I really got to see her reaction work - superb!

I picked up on a pretty crucial part of the script this time that I somehow missed the first time and might help clarify the discussion here re: Wiletta requesting script changes from the Director. At the top of Act II, after Bill's monologue, he suggests changing the script to Manners, who immediately says he will talk to the writer about it. Wiletta is shot down every time she makes similar suggestions. 

The audience was fully engaged and it was a great experience all around. I really hope this show ends up getting the love it deserves!

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/14/21 at 10:26am

I saw the matinee yesterday and was also impressed. LaChanze clearly runs the gamut of emotions here - she gets to show off her comic side in Act I (she is REALLY funny), before becoming much more defiant in the crucial second act as she stands up for herself and her beliefs when she requests a rewrite of Chaos in Belleville. I see her getting nominated for Leading Actress in a Play next year. 

There is not a weak link in the rest of this cast. Michael Zegen was very good as Manners - whatever problems he seemed to have early on in the preview process diving into this character are all gone now. Chuck Cooper was fine as per usual but really took flight with his lynching monologue in Act II. I had totally forgot Danielle Campbell was in this, and she was great as well. 

For anyone asking / wondering about run time, the show began yesterday at 2:07 and let out at just about 4:15. I'm sure Roundabout will keep the 2 hrs 10 run time, seeing as the company's "freeze day" was on Friday. I also stayed for a post-show talkback with director Charles Randolph-Wright and the lighting designer, and got to ask a question. 

All in all, a very fun night for my first trip to the American Airlines Theatre. I highly recommend you see Trouble in Mind, you only have until January 9.

 

[Zion24]

Posted: 11/14/21 at 2:14pm

kwoc91 said: "
I picked up on a pretty crucial part of the script this time that I somehow missed the first time and might help clarify the discussion here re: Wiletta requesting script changes from the Director. At the top of Act II, after Bill's monologue, he suggests changing the script to Manners, who immediately says he will talk to the writer about it. Wiletta is shot down every time she makes similar suggestions.!"

wow that is a great point, thanks for adding. i either completely missed or didnt pay enough attn to Manners' openness to script changes from Bill but not Willetta. Definitely makes it all make much more sense.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/14/21 at 7:45pm

Saw it Wednesday afternoon and spent the week thinking about the play and staging. Its genial, knowing, funny, first act has only flashes of the gnarly conflicts that follow; and then the piece coils and strikes with 2021's immediacy and prism, without altering a single word of the original text. To call it prescient denies 1955 America's ugly reality. Those were halcyon days only in the rearview mirror, and only for specific demographics, obviously. Yet what's shocking is the post-millennial nuance Childress brought to a central debate about cultural appropriation and artistic integrity. In the middle of Eisenhower era America. LaChanze, masterfully nailing the protagonist's initial accommodation and then slowly simmering outrage, gives a bravura performance that Childress would've surely cheered. And Chuck Cooper, playing an actor forever sidelined with thankless roles, is heartbreaking and heroic. Michael Zegan, as a director trapped in denial and entitlement is frighteningly recognizable. With theater's comeback volatile, the production isn't selling. If you're in NYC, see it, and hang on for where the play's trajectory takes its characters, and us.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 11/29/21 at 3:29am

Any note on where either the $19.57 mobile rush seats or TDF seats are?  Trying to decide if I should try for those or go with the $49 orchestra row N offer they're running right now

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/29/21 at 3:35am

chrishuyen said: "Any note on where either the $19.57 mobile rush seats or TDF seats are? Trying to decide if I should try for those or go with the $49 orchestra row N offer they're running right now"

I took advantage of the $19.57 and got center orchestra, row J. Great seat.

[swoboda]

Posted: 11/29/21 at 9:45am

chrishuyen said: "Any note on where either the $19.57 mobile rush seats or TDF seats are? Trying to decide if I should try for those or go with the $49 orchestra row N offer they're running right now"

   This probably won't help you in your search, because I paid the $19.57 on November 6th which was previews. I sat in row L which was a great seat in the orchestra. However, I'm not sure if those $19 57 seats will be located in the orchestra now that the reviews are out. You might go for the sure thing and spend the $49 as opposed to sitting farther away for $19.57. Row N is still a very good seat for $49.

Updated On: 11/29/21 at 09:45 AM