Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
WilliamT
Stand-by Joined: 5/17/06
#1Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/1/06 at 6:34pm
Randy Harrison, of former Wicked fame, is set to do The Glass Menagerie at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis this January to March.
The Guthrie Website
#1re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/1/06 at 10:36pm<3!
How can they see with sequins in their eyes?
#2re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/1/06 at 11:03pmis he playing laura? i can't imagine him as either tom or jim.
RIP glebby <3
#3re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/1/06 at 11:12pmlol
Attend the tale of Bovine Boy
His party threads we all enjoy
But does he have Mad Cow Disease?
He doesn't eat beef - but cows skating? - oh please!!!
With cocoa!?!
And lemonade!?!
The heifer-mad poster of Broadway
(World)
#4re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/1/06 at 11:29pmI had the same question, turtle....
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."
-Charlie Manson
#5re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/1/06 at 11:33pmStupid question: is this the same Randy Harrison who played Justin in Queer as Folk? If so, then I completely agree with cturtle.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
jimnysf
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/10/05
#6re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/2/06 at 12:21am
is he playing laura? i can't imagine him as either tom or jim.
Me, either but maybe he is a better actor than I give him credit for.
is this the same Randy Harrison who played Justin in Queer as Folk?
Yes. If he is, of former Wicked fame, then he is the same Randy Harrison who was on "Queer as Folk".
"I've lost everything! Luis, Marty, my baby with Chris, Chris himself, James. All I ever wanted was love." --Sheridan Crane "Passions"
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"Housework is like bad sex. Every time I do it, I swear I'll never do it again til the next time company comes."--"Lulu"
from "Can't Stop The Music"
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"When the right doors didn't open for him, he went through the wrong ones" - "Sweet Bird of Youth"
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"Passions" is uncancelled! See NBC.com for more info.
LouieLovesTheater
Leading Actor Joined: 3/30/04
#7re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/2/06 at 12:50am
He is playing Young Tom (they are splitting the role of Tom into a younger and older version)
Harriet Harris is playing Amanda.
Look for more big name (at least to us BW folk) casting at The Guthrie before the season is over!
#8re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/2/06 at 1:19amDoesn't "Young Tom" have most of the scenes though? If I remember the play, "Old Tom" only has the great opening monologue, the final monologue, and the narration. I very much dislike this idea of dividing the character in the two roles. I was not aware Randy Harrison had been part of any Wicked fame, it sounds like an interesting idea, he could either be utterly miscast or he could bring something very unique to the role. I'd be delighted to see Harriet Harris as Amanda though, Amanda Wingfield is by far my favorite Tennessee Williams female role.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#9re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/2/06 at 1:29amVery interesting concept and casting...
C is for Company
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/16/05
#10re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/2/06 at 1:33amLove the play, totally do not see him as Tom, but something I'd love to see. Amanda ties with Blanche as far as my favorite female roles go.
WilliamT
Stand-by Joined: 5/17/06
#11re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/2/06 at 5:47pm
Thanks for the additional info Louie!
More info:
http://minneapolismetro.blogspot.com
Link to my source
#12re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/2/06 at 7:02pm
Who is that guy? He usually does not like Williams and finds the script to Menagerie "EH", but he is sure he can get over that since "Hottie McHotterson" is in it?
He says he is looking for some more loyal readers, but with comments like that I don't think he will be accumulating too many from this board.
Updated On: 12/2/06 at 07:02 PM
WilliamT
Stand-by Joined: 5/17/06
#13re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/2/06 at 7:16pm
Kyle, I've read more than enough posts on this board that resemble this guy's opinion (with regard to so-and-so is hot and I don't care for such and such). So perhaps you could be wrong.
whyayvee
Swing Joined: 6/30/06
#14re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/3/06 at 1:20pmyou snobs obviously have no idea of Mr. Harrison's distinguished resume. He has a BFA from CCM and won rave reviews from Variety, the Boston Globe and other newspapers for his dynamic portrayals of Alan Strang in Equus in 2005 and Mozart in Amadeus in 2006, both at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. He also did 3 roles in The SITI's production of Midsummer Night's Dream this past spring
whyayvee
Swing Joined: 6/30/06
#15re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/3/06 at 2:33pm
some previous reviews for Randy Harrison
"After starring in Berkshire Theater Festival's "Equus" last year, Harrison returns with another Shaffer battle between man and his god/gods, giving Mozart a vibrant physicality, energy and joy. The virtuosity is so overwhelming it cannot be contained in his body: Harrison jumps, skips, kicks and practically levitates onstage as he gets carried away with his music -- as well as his libido.
"But Harrison's scatological man-child is oddly endearing, too. He is playful more than petulant, passionate about music (even if it is just his own), with a chastened boy's regret in knowing he has gone too far. His second-act decline is rich in emotional detail, with just the right modulated sparks from his former self to buoy his last gasps of genius."
Amadeus review. Variety, June 26, 2006. By Frank Rizzo
"Jonathan Epstein, an exceptional actor “at home” at Shakespeare & Company, becomes Solieri, with all of his flaws, cunning, wracked conscious, and self-torture. He dominates Act I. Yet in Act II, Randy Harrison (Mozart) is allowed to shine in his zest, boyishness, self-absorption, and ultimately physical decay. Each defines what a man may be reduced to in pursuit of his desires. The actors are an excellent match."
Amadeus Review Shera Cohen - In the Spotlight Inc. com Theatre Reviews
"Randy Harrison, who made a striking debut in last season's 'Equus' here, demonstrates again that he is a disciplined, versatile actor. His Mozart is rude, unbridled, yet aware of the gift he has been given: 'I am a vulgar man - but my music is not.'
By Chesley Plemmons NEWS-TIMES THEATER CRITIC
July 2, 2006
"What also surprises in Eric Hill's customary vital direction is a merciful shift in how Mozart is presented. With Randy Harrison in the role, we are finally given a Mozart who, despite his vulgarities, is likeable, charming and believable. While the childish laugh (that became a trademark of all the Mozarts I have seen portrayed in Amadeus) is still there, it is silly without becoming caricaturishly annoying. Even though his Mozart speaks most of the same words as actors before him, Harrison makes us both hear and feel them. And with a more dimensional Mozart, Salieri's action has far more consequence. Here he not only destroys a musical genius, but also a flesh-and-blood man as opposed to a braying jackass begging to be put out of our misery."
By Ralph Hammann, Metroland Magazine
July 3, 2006
"As Mozart, Harrison more than rises to Shaffer's occasion in a richly passionate, often touching portrayal that knows its boundaries even when Mozart does not."
Jeffrey Borak Berkshire Eagle Staff
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
"Harrison gives us a Mozart capable at one moment of being revolting (if funny) in his vulgarity, and in the next moment being forgiven because of the pure and perfect music that wells up beneath, behind, and above his shenanigans. One loves him as one deplores him, and an essential child-like goodness radiates beneath his vulgarity. He accepts his genius as a given, even though in his adult years few believe in it.
June 23, 2006 performance reviewed by Frances Benn Hall. NewBerkshire.com
"Randy Harrison as Alan Strang the distraught teen-ager becomes the character from the moment he chants his first singing commercial. He has experienced an ecstasy the doctor has never been capable of. He hides his secret; his domestic, religious, and sexual conflicts as long as he can, even gleefully reversing the roles and interrogating the doctor, but finally, seduced by a fake 'truth pill,' he is stripped naked to curl up in his bed - a "normal" young boy who will never again know passion. Every moment is beautifully and convincingly played."
Reviewed by Frances Benn Hall July 2005, NewBerkshire.com
"Randy Harrison, a star of Showtime's 'Queer as Folk," is one of the primary reasons for BTF's success. As the young man who turns on the horses he loves, Harrison produces a finely etched portrait of sublimation. He transfers his passion for Jesus to one for equus and other sources of ecstasy. What he conveys on an even deeper level is how innocence can so quickly turn to guilt. His religious mother and stern father have made stirrings of any sort seem sinful to him."
Equus review By Ed Siegel, Boston Globe | July 21, 2005
"....as Alan Strang, the 17-year-old stable boy who inexplicably blinded six horses with a metal spike, the blond and beatific Harrison takes the production on a glorious ride. He clearly breaks down the adolescent obsession that makes unbridled devotion the most dangerous of drugs."
Equus Review- Variety Jul. 18, 2005 by Frank Rizzo
#16re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/3/06 at 2:50pm
I'm about to study the play in my Literature class and can't wait to familairize myself with the much spoken-of Amanda.
Blanche is such a dense role, I wonder how she'll compare to Amanda.
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird
C is for Company
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/16/05
#17re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/3/06 at 3:15pmOBVIOUSLY Whyayvee it seems that we need to be familiar with all of his work to appreciate his turn in Menagerie. No thanks
#18re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/3/06 at 4:09pm
I don't doubt he is a talented actor, but just like Cynthia Nixon and Blythe Danner learned this season, talent is not enough if you're miscast in a role. Like I said, I'd love to see this production because it has the potential to be an innovative, revealing take on the play. Plus, Harriet Harris as Amanda is genius casting.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#19re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/4/06 at 10:15amHello, whyavee aka Mark aka Randy Harrison's Biggest and I do mean Biggest fan.
#20re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/4/06 at 11:04amharriet will be a smashing amanda. i have no doubt that joe dowling will serve the play rather than serving himself as david leveaux did in the 2005 b'way production.
Mind is Mantra.
#21re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 12/4/06 at 11:08amHarriet will be an amazing Amanda. Her portrayal would be worth a trip. I am glad Randy Harrison's press agent is a poster on BWW. I was unaware of all that he had accomplished in theatre.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
whyayvee
Swing Joined: 6/30/06
#22re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 2/12/07 at 7:45pm
from Splash Magazine Worldwide
The Glass Menagerie Shines Once More at the Guthrie
By Keisha7
The strike of a match in complete darkness lights a cigarette.
A spotlight slowly fades up on Narrator, Tom Wingfield, age thirty-five, standing on a bare stage. His monologue paints a portrait of the hard times in which this "memory" will take place. Wooden skeletons of buildings, fire escapes of metal and neon signs shining pink, fly in weightless from the rafters. Thus begins the Guthrie Theater's latest production of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie."
Widely regarded as one of Williams' most autobiographical works, "The Glass Menagerie" is the tale of The Wingfield Family. Amanda Wingfield, played by Harriet Harris, is a dignified Southern Belle who has found herself up north, left by her husband 16 years prior, with her glory days of cotillions and handsome gentlemen callers well behind her. But that doesn't stop her from talking about it incessantly.
Tom, played by Randy Harrison, is the restless son who has become the reluctant breadwinner for his family, even though all he wants to do is follow in his father's footsteps and run off to find adventure or possibly become a writer. Laura, played by Tracey Maloney, is the strikingly shy daughter who spends all her time listening to old records and polishing her glass animals, because the very thought of socializing or working makes her violently ill.
In this particular winter, Amanda learns that her daughter has skipped out on typing school because "it gives her indigestion." Since learning a vocation is a hopeless option for Laura, Amanda embarks on the next logical step: to find her daughter a husband. She harasses Tom into asking a friend from the warehouse over for dinner. And it is this unwitting “gentleman caller” who suddenly becomes the potential answer to the entire family's prayers.
Director Joe Dowling's interpretation of the Tennessee Williams classic makes an interesting choice that is sure to have purists of the play up in arms. Dowling divides the role of the son Tom, into two parts. Tom is both the Narrator (Bill McCallum) that guides the audience through this memory and Young Tom himself (Harrison) within the memory. Someone who saw the play the same night as me actually said that "Tennessee Williams would roll over in his grave. Ok, maybe not, but he would certainly sit up."
However, as a storytelling device, it does works. Tom the Narrator preserves the illusion of the memory by being the only person to break the fourth wall. Moreover, it is an opportunity for the audience to see how Tom feels about what he did in his youth. It was wonderful to watch this character remember how hot his temper ran, and feel again his profound pity for his crippled sister and witness his persistent disdain for his mother. At the very least, splitting the character in two provides a fine example of how compelling an actor can be just in presence, without the luxury of actual dialogue.
Harriet Harris' Amanda is amazing with the constantly nagging and shaming and manipulating of her adult children. She needles Tom to "sit up straight", "don't drink too much", "Chew, chew!" For the better part of play, you want to strangle her for Tom. Just when the character becomes most irritating, Harris makes us believe it is all a manifestation of a desperate mother's love.
Randy Harrison's Tom has the good fortune to be the only character in the play that will actually challenge Amanda. Their scene work is remarkable. Together they create a mother-son relationship that is such a train wreck, peppered with animosity and ridicule, that you just can't look away. On contrast, during the middle of Act One, the two characters find themselves in a silent war of wills, in which Tom allows his mother to win by being the first to apologize. And for a brief moment, the audience sees the love that has been lost between them.
Williams anoints Jim, the Gentleman Caller, as the play's "symbol of what could be". As such, this production's Jim is a walking, talking platitude, cheerfully repeating phrases someone else told him to say and still trying to convince himself as he repeats them. Jim was a welcomed dose of comic relief in a play filled with tension. Jonas Goslow portrays Jim as a cross between the junior varsity jock and a love-hungry puppy. His scene work with Maloney in slowly bringing Laura out of her shell is truly well paced and well acted by both.
And after the wonderful mood set by the lights and music were over... After the great acting that had me rooting for a different character each scene... Once the play was done, my prevailing feeling was: It made me feel uncomfortable. But I count that as another success of the production.
Despite the many laugh-out-loud moments in the show, "The Glass Menagerie" is a story of family dysfunction that does not have a happy ending. The play serves as a timeless reminder that it's not that uncommon to wake up one morning and find that your family, your friends, your life have nailed you into a "two by four situation". So be careful to whom and for what you compromise your identity. Because what you should do for love and what you must do for self-preservation are often polar opposites.
"The Glass Menagerie" runs Tuesday through Sunday, January 20 - March 25, 2007, at The Guthrie Theater's McGuire Proscenium Stage, 818 South 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415
Call Box office for showtimes and ticket availability. 612-377-2224
http://www.guthrietheater.org
#23re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 2/12/07 at 7:59pmCan some mod just ban whyayvee for breaking copyright laws?
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#24re: Randy Harrison set for The Glass Menagerie
Posted: 2/12/07 at 8:01pm
All of the actors, including Harrison and Harris got good reviews, but Joe Dowling's production didn't. The Strib couldn't understand the need to do it with two Toms, and everyone I've talked to seems to be in agreement with him.
I haven't gone, because the last time the Guthrie did it, with Polly Holiday as Amanda, was so bad, I left after a half hour. It was an ugly production too. That was the same year the Joanne Woodward film came out and I couldn't sit through that either.
In 1979, Emily Mann, the current artistic director of the McCarter Theatre, directed a beautiful, poetic production. Barbara Bryne played Amanda, Jeffrey Alan Chandler was Tom, Cara Duff-MacCormick was Laura and John Spencer, of West Wing was the Gentleman Caller. The set was a blue-green gauzy design by Ming Cho Lee and the show was incredible. I saw it several times, and I just don't think I can see that play again.
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