| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | Duke1979 04:52 pm EST 11/22/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? ... - AlanScott 04:16 pm EST 11/22/14 |
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| I will never forget the 1996 production because entirely apart from the outstanding performances (Stritch in particular), a cell phone went off during George Grizzard's big speech. It was in the era where cell phones were not as omnipresent. Grizzard told the lady to shut the f----ing thing off. Stritch was speechless but then it all resumed. A magnificent production and I am looking forward to the current version. | |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 04:58 pm EST 11/22/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - Duke1979 04:52 pm EST 11/22/14 |
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| Slight spoiler about the current production below. Good for Grizzard. He was probably the best thing about that production, although I felt he struggled a bit, as does Lithgow, with the big aria in act three. As I recall it, Grizzard played it very differently than Lithgow is doing. My memory is that Grizzard kept it low while Lithgow is treating it as a sort of breakdown. | |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | whereismikeyfl 05:01 pm EST 11/22/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - AlanScott 04:58 pm EST 11/22/14 |
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| I saw the first performance after Grizzard won the Tony and he went up on his lines in the dog speech. Stritch helped him get back on track, but I could feel the effort the play cost him for the rest of the night. | |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | theaterguy 05:51 pm EST 11/22/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - whereismikeyfl 05:01 pm EST 11/22/14 |
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| It's refreshing to hear about Stritch helping someone ELSE who went up on their lines, lol. | |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 05:09 pm EST 11/22/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - whereismikeyfl 05:01 pm EST 11/22/14 |
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| Do you mean the cat speech? The best performance I ever saw from Grizzard was in the last thing I saw him do, Seascape. I thought that was the performance for which he deserved awards. (Not saying that he didn't also deserve awards for A Delicate Balance.) And he didn't even receive a Tony nomination. That's the kind of thing that makes me feel so strongly that awards are incredibly silly. When I'm asked about the greatest performances I've seen onstage, most of the ones I cite will be before 1990. One of the few more recent ones that I might cite is Grizzard in Seascape. A heroic performance that made a problematic play work as well as I suspect it ever will (though I know Albee had reservations on the production). | |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | TheOtherOne 10:05 am EST 11/23/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - AlanScott 05:09 pm EST 11/22/14 |
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| "When I'm asked about the greatest performances I've seen onstage, most of the ones I cite will be before 1990." Ditto, Alan, although in my case that has as much to do with how much more impressionable (or how much less jaded, depending on how you look at it) I was than with any deterioration of NY stage acting that might have occurred over time. I often cite Alan Bates in "Fortune's Fool" as my favorite performance by an actor. I was over 40 when I saw him, and I didn't think it was possible for anyone to have such an effect on me anymore. | |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 05:05 pm EST 11/23/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - TheOtherOne 10:05 am EST 11/23/14 |
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| I agree. When we're younger, we have less to compare with. If you're a frequent theatregoer, all those early performances that floored you when you were young (or at least younger than you are now) loom larger and larger over the years. It's tough (though not impossible) for later performances to equal the impact of what you remember. Of course, this does not seem to be true for everyone. Some people do think that there are fewer great stage actors today, and I sometimes do wonder a bit if that's true. But then I don't want to be like Shamraev in The Seagull. Bates was quite wonderful, I agree. | |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | TheOtherOne 11:18 am EST 11/23/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - TheOtherOne 10:05 am EST 11/23/14 |
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| Just adding that I loved George Grizzard in both "Seascape" and "A Delicate Balance." | |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | garyd 07:53 pm EST 11/22/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - AlanScott 05:09 pm EST 11/22/14 |
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| Agree about Grizzard in "Seascape" though I enjoyed the entire production. Did not know, or don't remember, Albee's reservations. What were they? And, I dunno, I bet I can come up with a fairly decent post 1990 list of excellent performances…well maybe not greatest. | |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 05:28 pm EST 11/23/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - garyd 07:53 pm EST 11/22/14 |
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| I'm linking an excerpt from the interview in which Albee discussed it. Unfortunately, it seems that you now have to pay to access the complete interview. I could come up with a list of great post-1990 performances, but for whatever reason few if any floored me in the way that I remember earlier performances affecting me. It may simply be that for some of us the stuff we see earlier makes a greater impression because we have less to compare it with. | |
| Link | Albee on his threatening lizards |
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| re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade | |
| Posted by: | whereismikeyfl 05:55 pm EST 11/22/14 |
| In reply to: | re: My recent 12 Shows in 7 Days, ... briefly? .../George Grizzard tirade - AlanScott 05:09 pm EST 11/22/14 |
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| Sorry. Yes it was the cat speech. It did not get along with the dog speech so the dog speech left. | |
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