Well, dear readers, I’m writing part one of these here notes directly after seeing the matinee of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. That way, I’ll only have to write the second half when I get home from our little post-theater partay at Angus McIndoe. I have to be up at four-thirty, so I’m simply not going to get very much sleep, so I’ve got to have as much done as possible so I can just hit the sack after I post the notes. I had a lovely day yesterday (today) – I slept until ten, I procured my ticket for Virginia Woolf, came back to the hotel and caught up on a few things (up is always on a few things and a few things is not so happy about it). New York, New York really is a helluva town and I always feel like I’m on the town whenever I leave my hotel. At one-thirty, I went to the Longacre and took my sixth row center seat (and I do mean center – I was smack in the middle of the row, which I don’t love – I’d rather be on the aisle so I can get out easily). The play began promptly at two. The curtain rose on a very standard-issue set by John Lee Beatty. I happen to like standard-issue sets so I thought it was fine and suited the play. Miss Kathleen Turner and Mr. Bill Irwin entered and I knew it was going to be a hit-and-miss afternoon, which it was. First of all, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is one of my favorite plays. I saw the touring production (see Kritzer Time) back in the early sixties, and I’ve seen it a few times since. The language of the play is extraordinary. And therein was part one of the problem. I felt that right off the bat that Mr. Irwin and Miss Turner were racing through their lines, and even mumbling them. And there was no heightened reality to their speech – it was all very “camera” oriented. Both of them lost several laughs by mis-accenting words in lines that are sure-fire laugh-getters. I find that very annoying. Still, they warmed up and the laughs started coming. I instantly did not like the actor who played Nick, but I did like Honey, even though at times it seemed like she was channeling Sandy Dennis from the film. Act One moved along, but I kept waiting for some variations in the two leading performances and they never came. The end of the act should build and build until George starts singing Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Honey runs off sick. There was no build at all and the act just limped to a close. It has to be dynamic and here it was simply anemic. Therein, problem two – the direction. Mr. Anthony Page has given the play no sense of pace or drama or urgency or build. It just ambles along. Parts of it are fine, but most of it just lies there like so much fish. And then, shockingly, I began to notice quite a few differences in the text. I’m no Virginia Woolf expert, but I know the play quite well, and there were a lot of things added to act two (which means other things were probably cut). I’ll know more when I get home tomorrow and can glance at the script. The end of Act Two, a great, great and chilling moment, has been changed, with the final lines cut. I thought it a huge mistake. And that’s problem three – Mr. Albee’s tinkering with his perfect play. I know he’s the author, but there ought to be a law against this sort of thing. Mr. Albee is seventy-eight and it’s time for him to leave it alone. His changes are all for the worse, and in a couple of instances just plain bad or harmful. Act Three was okay, except neither Mr. Irwin or Miss Turner are up to its demands. That is problem four, and it’s fatal – Mr. Irwin’s playing of the milquetoast aspects of George is fine, although his throwaway delivery is irksome. But, he gets his laughs. However, in the moments when George has to explode, when he becomes violent or monstrous, well, Mr. Irwin just doesn’t have the chops for it, and his director hasn’t helped him find those moments. They’re all weak. Miss Turner, though she looks like a Martha and has her moments, doesn’t have the vocal power the role requires. It’s got to be an all stops out performance – gut-wrenching, funny, loud, painful, braying, and Miss Turner doesn’t have the voice. Her performance ultimately ends up being one note. If you’ve ever heard Uta Hagen on the recording, you know what the role requires. It’s why she didn’t do matinees, because what she did on that stage acting and vocal-wise was not doable twice a day. The same thing with Arthur Hill. Mr. Irwin and Miss Turner are doing matinees and they can do them because they are not giving the kind of theatrical powerhouse performances that Virginia Woolf requires. It was great to see it again, but the production and the leading performances were disappointing, and Mr. Albee should restore the text to the way he wrote it originally. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Though it took awhile, the audience finally gave the show the obligatory standing ovation. And may I just say that I have a real problem with actors who look like they’ve just done us a big favor when they’re taking their bows? Both Mr. Irwin and Miss Turner are almost scowling. She finally smiled during the very last bow.
My goodness that was a long paragraph, wasn’t it? Perhaps one of the longest in our history. Why didn’t I at least break that fershluganah paragraph somewhere? Oh well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can tell you all about our wonderful night on the town.
I have to hurry and write the rest of these here notes, because we had such a night on the town and I must be leaving so early in the morning. We all had a splendidly splendid time at dear reader PennyO’s show. I commend PennyO for putting herself out there – I’m very proud of her. Her show was fun, and we all clapped quite vigorously. Jose did a fine job, too, and he even warbled. I told him he would not be doing a duet with Mr. Guy Haines because, frankly, he’s too good for Guy. Bravo to PennyO, and if you have friends in New York, New York, make sure they hie themselves over to 42nd Street to catch her this week.
We then went over to Angus McIndoe and had our partay. PennyO made a grand entrance and we all had great food and great conversation. The room was worked, let me tell you that. I’d already met most of the folks the previous night, but it was swell to meet vixmom and hubby, and Rodzinski’s beautiful and very sweet girlfriend. I was actually very surprised at how excellent the food was, and I’ll be going back there on a much more regular basis. I’ll have more anecdotes tomorrow after I’m back in the home environment.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, fly home, unpack, and then try to get some shut-eye, but only after catching up on things in the home environment. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to make with the snappy posts. So, those who were in New York, New York can talk about our partay, and others can do other topics. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we recuperate from our weekend on the town.