My NYC Trips:Reviews of Gypsy and Cat! (slight Spoiler)

[Depaultheatrekid]

Posted: 3/20/08 at 11:47pm

Sooo glad I finally made it up to see these two shows this season both are not to be missed.

First let me say Ms. LuPone is in amazing form as she prepares to open this show. The Power this woman gives from start to finish is amazing to watch and a joy for the audience. Laura was great, not my favorite louise but she makes the character work for her and I think she brings quite a few levels in the latter part of the second act. Boyd is wonderful as herbie as I assume he was at City Center........always a joy to see him on stage. What made the show amazing for me were the final moments



*******SPOILER****** as the light bulbs were going out on the rose sign Patti was biting her fist and muffling a scream. Made me lose it ....soooo powerful! *****END of spoiler*************** get to the St. James and see this show.




At the end of the show I saw Arthur Laurents walk right past me with his AD going back stage with a steno pad to give notes That was AWESEOME!

The next day around noon before the matinee I ran into Patti LuPone outside the St.James as I was going to store. I told her great Performance as she passed by me she leaned over her right shoulder and said thanks love! It made my day.

Wednesday Night:
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof : WOW! Seeing my Idol James Earl Jones was far more rewarding than I ever thought it would be! first off, Anika was in rare form from the top of the show. Her maggie is a must see. Her levels and the way she handles endlessly caring that first act with almost no help from howard she is simply extraodinary. I guess they must have settled into the roles or the groove of the show because all of the things I read about it being extremely comical and like a black sit-com were not apparent Wednesday night at the theatre to me. There were places of inappropraite laughter but not at all throughout most of the play. Many of the dramatic poignant moments landed and made the audiences think as oppose to laugh. Terrence does a good job of playing brick. He had a few moments that I really loved, not at all my favorite Brick but a nice debut on the stage. Phylicia Rashad is a powerhouse and a force to be reckoning with. Like her or not I have never seen this woman on stage where she doesnt still the show. As I had assumed, Phylicia portrayal was DEAD ON( I read the script on the plane from Chicago).....her choices were not at all over the top and if they were it worked to perfection. She embodied a woman like my grandmother who is a rich southern black woman. Her vocal choices were annoyingly perfect and spot on.....I could not get enough. James Earl Jones bellows in a way only he can and commands his time onstage with Terrence. Watching him made me think debbie just let him do what he wanted to do and it worked so she didnt bother it. There were moments when all the actors could have been pushed further but I feel they lacked the directions in which to drive home intensity in certain spots. Overall I thought the show was great and I would say RUN over to the Broadhurst this one is definately not to be miseed!

At the stage door: Anika reconized my girlfriend and I from myspace. We had a nice chat she was lovely and very sweet. Shes the nicest ever and the first out of the stage door,A Broadway Legend in the making for sure! Terrence mentioned they didnt go as deep as they usually do tonight, I didnt really know what that meant other than he was apologizing for not feeling adequate onstage.LOL Not trying to be mean I just didnt know why he offered that info lol. Phylicia was gracious and in lovely spirits at the stage door, very cheerful but visably tired and slightly hoarse.

GREAT TRIP!

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 3/21/08 at 12:02am

Thanks for the reviews, sounds like you had a great time! I think it's really interesting, actually, the way Terrence Howard commented on the level of the performance that night. So often stars, however gracious, seem very guarded at the stage door and offer only smiles and "thank you"s...it's kind of refreshing to hear that he actually wanted to discuss the acting on a deeper level. Shows a little more respect for his audience.

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 3/21/08 at 1:02am

Thanks for your review! Glad you had fun!

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 3/21/08 at 2:42am

" Many of the dramatic poignant moments landed and made the audiences think as oppose to laugh."

What is the sound of an entire audience thinking? It would be easy to tell they were not laughing... but... they all must have had some pretty loud thoughts.


kmc

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/21/08 at 10:58am

There is no sound. You can just feel it.

[Depaultheatrekid]

Posted: 3/21/08 at 11:57am

Sorry I assumed they were thinking.....you could feel that the moments onstage landed and resonated with the audience

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/21/08 at 5:56pm

Re the "spoiler"
Yes that moment was the final "click" for me connecting everything that had gone b4. Shattering!

[Depaultheatrekid]

Posted: 3/22/08 at 11:53am

Yes I totally agree

[JRybka]

Posted: 3/22/08 at 12:01pm

I think I am going to have to see Gypsy then....when I go in April.

[theatreislife]

Posted: 3/23/08 at 6:43pm

I wanted to stab myself during the second act of Cat. I sat there thinking that they could have performed the entire production of Les Miz in that time. I was shocked to see,when it finally ended, that only an hour had passed. This storyline SHOULD have gripped the viewer and taken them along with them for the ride. It SHOULD have made an emotional impact. SHOULD... didn't. It was over-acted. The experience was disappointing. Anika was OK - all but maybe 5 minutes of the first act is her delivering dialogue, but, even James Earl Jones was not gripping ( before he bellows, he stops and takes a deep breath and, finally yells). Terrence Howard was simply awful. People in the audience talked and even made cat calls when Anika was changing her clothes. Am I glad that I went... yes, I won't have to wonder or say "I wish I had...". Would I go again.... no, I'd put my tickets p on ebay.

I wonder if we saw the same play?

[chitowndoll]

Posted: 3/25/08 at 11:40am

I saw Cat on March 8. I thought it was good but uneven. I was a little perplexed with the amount of laughter from the audience on the night I went. My friend and I frequently looked at each other like, "What's so funny?" I knew there were comedic "moments" in Cat but I didn't think the whole play was a comedy?

If I had to rank the performances I would have to rank Anika and James at the top, followed by Phylicia Rashad. I thought Terrence Howard's performance was good but mechanical at times. I expected a little more from him, especially considering his top billing and hype.

Anyway, overall I enjoyed the play. It was definitely entertaining. And I will give props to Debbie Allen for continuing to stretch herself as a director!