Is anyone going to the first preview tonight? I hope Whizzer will be there! The show looks to be very funny, and the cast is great. I would look forward to hearing any comments. I bought TDF tickets for early June.
I haven't seen it, obviously, but I know a bit about the script and the production and I have to say, my hopes are very high. Nell Benjamin has such a spot-on sense of humor and it's perfectly suited for this subject matter.
There are three first previews tonight! Comedy of Errors in the Park, Explorers Club and Venice. I chose Venice, and will report back on that, but hope to see this very soon.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Also, this may be too early, but I know it says tickets are on sale through July 21st – anyone know if they have plans to extend it past the 21st if it does well? Coming to the city the next day and hoping it might play at least for another week.
I saw this tonight and thought it had it's cute moments, including some wonderful staging involving a bartender serving drinks, but it had trouble picking up and maintaining steam. It is the slightest of slight farces, and never as laugh out loud funny as Boeing-Boeing or One Man, Two Guvnors.
John McMartin is very funny as a Biblical Scholar who believes he has discovered where the lost 10 tribes of Israel have been all these years.
Jennifer Westfeldt is the only female in the cast and is quite amiable and charming.
The set is very attractive; probably one of the nicest sets I've seen at the City Center location.
I just wish the play had been funnier.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Oh, well! I have my tickets already, so I will be seeing it over the weekend, but Whizzer, I wish your report had been more favorable. I guess it's hard to write a funny play!
I was there tonight, too. I found it pretty funny and engaging, if not perfect. Yes, some lines and bits land better than others. It's madcap farce you have to buy into so that all the implausibilities don't jump up and bite you in the face to ruin the almost Python-esque silliness. John McMartin was drily funny, and Carson Elrod initiates some fantastic physical business that involves the rest of the cast, who must have rehearsed those bits a zillion times. If you're in the mood for a silly, giddy farce that pokes fun at the major cliches of British drama, then you'll have an enjoyable evening. Don't expect perfection, just a silly smile on your face most of the time.
It takes a lot to make me laugh, so I never have high expectations when it comes to comedies. I went in to One Man, Two Guvnors not thinking much and walked out with a huge smile on my face from laughing so much. WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel, sorry to hear this is not as laugh out loud. Unfortunately I missed Boeing Boeing, hopefully it will come around again one day.
Luv2Go, It's a shame you missed Boeing-Boeing! It is not a superior play, but the direction (by Matthew Warchus) was inspired and both the original and replacement casts were so funny. It was one of the funniest shows I've ever seen in New York.
I think it's harder to write a good comedy that sustains laughs than to write a good drama. (Not that writing a good drama is easy by any means.)
gchris, Let me clarify that I don't think you'll be sleeping through this; it's fast-paced, reasonably engaging and sometimes funny. It was like a fully fueled plane that never rarely was able to get off the ground. The premises were set, but the payoffs weren't delivered IMO.
For example (and unfortunately a slight SPOILER example):
One of the characters is growing a strange plant he found on an expedition. He tells us that if you eat/smoke the leaves you go through several phases- giddiness, numbness, slight hallucinations, and finally, if you have too much, death. Luckily before you die you start to itch all over and that's when you know you have to stop consuming the plant.
Of course you can see it coming that everyone is going to consume the plant (he rolls the leaves into cigars and tricks them into smoking it as a distraction). The set-up is all there. The problem is other than some giggling and minor forgetting of what they were talking about the plant has very little effect. They act no differently than if they were slightly inebriated. It's a total letdown and only mildly amusing.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Thanks for the SPOILER tag, Whizzer! I averted my eyes in time! I do love Monty Python, so maybe I will be more entertained than you were. (I guess a One Man, Two Guvnors doesn't come around every day. How I loved that show!)