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GODOT - Why this production is the best I've seen

Posted by: Major 04:39 pm EDT 03/31/14

First of all, thank you to the people here who urged me to attend GODOT.

I've seen many productions over the years, including the Lincoln Center production with Robin Williams and Steve Martin.

I've always admired the show but never felt en emotional connection to the piece - until now.

The key for me - Age. Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart work so well in this because they are of a certain age. The weariness of McKellan in particular gave a weight to this show that prior productions lacked. Consequently the evening felt like watching two long time friends share the mundane activities of life in all its absurdities. Yes, it's hysterically funny. But in the end it's the connection of these two men, the lives they've shared and their love for each other (reminiscent of a marriage yet not quite exactly one) that made me see this play for the masterpiece so many have declared but that was previously merely an intellectual exercise.

No more. For me, Godot finally arrived!


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re: GODOT - Why this production is the best I've seen

Posted by: Teacher64 09:02 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to: GODOT - Why this production is the best I've seen - Major 04:39 pm EDT 03/31/14

I agree. I have seen two productions of GODOT on TV and I have seen the movie version in addition to seeing the Nathan Lane production a few years ago. But this was the first time that it actually moved me to tears. That part at the end when the little boy comes again, and Patrick Stewart says, "Tell him (Godot) THAT YOU SAW ME!" And they did some echo sound with the sound system to make that line stand out. That really got to me this time, and it never has before.
I am SO glad I saw this production!!


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re: GODOT - Why this production is the best I've seen

Posted by: lowwriter 10:53 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to: re: GODOT - Why this production is the best I've seen - Teacher64 09:02 pm EDT 03/31/14

McKellen and Stewart were wonderful together and this is certainly the funniest Godot I've ever seen. But Shuler Hensley was much too broad in his acting for me. Crudup on the other hand was fascinating and really made me uncomfortable which I think was the point.


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re: GODOT - Why this production is the best I've seen

Posted by: BruceinIthaca 12:01 am EDT 04/01/14
In reply to: re: GODOT - Why this production is the best I've seen - lowwriter 10:53 pm EDT 03/31/14

Hensley is a very good actor--but the decision to have him use a Foghorn Leghorn dialect voice took me out of the world of the play. I realize the play is famously set on "a road. a tree." but still...particularly as Didi and Gogo play it as such British musical hall clowns (and I never expect to see a better playing of those two roles).


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re: GODOT - Did anyone else love John Goodman in that role?

Posted by: aprilpix 01:13 am EDT 04/01/14
In reply to: re: GODOT - Why this production is the best I've seen - BruceinIthaca 12:01 am EDT 04/01/14

I did, in the recent Roundabout revival...much more than I liked Hensley in this one.


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re: GODOT - Did anyone else love John Goodman in that role?

Posted by: schauspieler 10:04 am EDT 04/01/14
In reply to: re: GODOT - Did anyone else love John Goodman in that role? - aprilpix 01:13 am EDT 04/01/14

I thought he was fantastic, as was John Glover's utterly grotesque and pathetic creature.


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re: GODOT - Did anyone else love John Goodman in that role?

Posted by: TheOtherOne 12:45 pm EDT 04/01/14
In reply to: re: GODOT - Did anyone else love John Goodman in that role? - schauspieler 10:04 am EDT 04/01/14

I did as well. That was a wonderful production all around.


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re: GODOT - Did anyone else love John Goodman in that role?

Posted by: davei2000 01:07 pm EDT 04/01/14
In reply to: re: GODOT - Did anyone else love John Goodman in that role? - TheOtherOne 12:45 pm EDT 04/01/14

I agree. I preferred that production to the one that just closed. Maybe it was just...brighter, and I didn't care for the post-apocalypse music-hall setting of this one.


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Related ? Was there any acknowledgment of closing yesterday? n/m

Posted by: Charlie_Baker 06:58 pm EDT 03/31/14
In reply to: GODOT - Why this production is the best I've seen - Major 04:39 pm EDT 03/31/14

n/m


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