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re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end?

Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 08:48 am EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - AlanScott 04:57 am EST 12/06/13

Do they think he's a good director of plays, or are they just impressed by his productions because they feature major stars? I haven't read the reviews, but I'll try to look up some of them.


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re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end?

Posted by: AlanScott 04:30 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Michael_Portantiere 08:48 am EST 12/06/13

I'm not feeling like looking up the reviews over there of his Streetcar, Cat and Anna Christie, although you certainly may, but my memory is that they were really excellent. And the critics gave him credit. Just putting stars in a classic play is not going to impress the critics.


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re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end?

Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 04:40 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - AlanScott 04:30 pm EST 12/06/13

"Just putting stars in a classic play is not going to impress the critics."

It's not ALWAYS going to impress the critics, as evidenced by the reception of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF on Broadway. But maybe Brit crits are more impressed by movie stars on stage per se?


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re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end?

Posted by: sf 05:04 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Michael_Portantiere 04:40 pm EST 12/06/13

If anything, they're possibly *less* impressed by "movie stars". It is hardly unusual here for an actor, even a top-level "star", to move, routinely, between theatre and film. It's not a novelty, and our major critics are unlikely to give anyone a pass simply for deigning to appear in a play, however famous they are.


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re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end?

Posted by: AlanScott 05:02 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Michael_Portantiere 04:40 pm EST 12/06/13

I would tend to guess that they're less impressed than our critics are, but perhaps I'm wrong. In any case, the fact that they seem to have been impressed with Ashford's productions does suggest that you may be right. ;)

Of course, I haven't seen his London productions. Perhaps he has for some reason done better work in London than he has here.


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re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end?

Posted by: sf 12:54 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: When will Rob Ashford's reign of terror end? - Michael_Portantiere 08:48 am EST 12/06/13

He got good reviews for "Macbeth" at the Manchester International Festival (OK, co-directed with Kenneth Branagh).

As far as musicals go, I had some quibbles with his production of "Parade", but I thought he did a really terrific job on "Finding Neverland" - better than the very mixed reviews might suggest (the critics seemed to review it as a finished product, rather than as a tryout run, and there was clearly still work to be done on the book and score; there was no problem at all, though, with Ashford's contribution).


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