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| I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: ryhog 10:17 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
| In reply to: BUYER & CELLAR live reading w/Michael Urie ABOUT TO START - Chazwaza 08:05 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| Excellent play. Bravo Michael and everyone involved. I hope we get to see more plays this well suited to live streaming. (And yes I know that likely means a lot of solo works.) |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: stevemr 09:31 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - ryhog 10:17 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| One reason this was so much better than many of the other quarantined plays, of course, is that Urie was completely off book. This left him free to roam around the room, and not have to glance at a script. Even the best readings are constrained by the need to read. Was anyone else impressed by Urie's ability to do this non-stop from memory. I know he did it hundreds and hundreds of times, but that was many years ago. (Some of the #starsinthehouse can't remember song lyrics they performed in productions only a year or so ago. |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: ryhog 10:47 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - stevemr 09:31 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| Some actors retain lines better than others, and it would not surprise me if Urie is one of them. Also, this performance seemed more directed and rehearsed than many/most, including all of the starsinthehouse ones. But yes, whatever the combination of factors, this was definitely of higher quality. (And it also doesn't hurt that the play lends itself well to being performed in a living room.) | |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 02:55 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - ryhog 10:47 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| Yeah it's quite a bit easier to rehearse virtually when it's a cast of one, even if it's just with himself only or doing runs with his boyfriend watching (who is also an actor) and on book for him. He's known he was doing this for at least a week, and as an actor he likely has more time than usual to prepare if he wanted to. He clearly wanted to. I doubt he just had the entire play correctly in his head - probably 70% but I've got to assume he spent some time re-memorizing and running it with someone (the director or his bf for example) on book for him. I think this being a chance for thousands of people to see a defining role in his theater career, and him being such a committed professional, would inspire him to be as good as possible. It was just him the whole time, after all. A daunting task for any actor! |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: ryhog 03:37 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - Chazwaza 02:55 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| I always forget, and then re-remember, that he was the second choice for this role. | |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 04:30 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - ryhog 03:37 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| Wasn't Jesse Tyler Ferguson originally supposed to do it? | |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: whereismikeyfl 04:41 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - BroadwayTonyJ 04:30 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| It was written for Ferguson, but I do not know why he did not do it. All the business about Alex's hair color would have made more sense with him. |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 04:23 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - ryhog 03:37 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| Ha. Who was the first? Joe Jonas? | |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: ryhog 05:42 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - Chazwaza 04:23 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| you got your answer in the other post but Urie did go into How to Succeed with a Jonas. | |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: Quicheo 11:57 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - ryhog 10:47 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| Not to diminish his accomplishment at all, but Urie has done this play on a few additional occasions, so he not only learned it for the original run and also the tour, but a couple of times sense. From a memory-theory perspective, that increases the likelihood of being retained. That said, I think you are quite right. I remember an interview with Judi Dench a few years ago where she and a fellow RSC actor commented on having entire Shakespeare plays ready to go at a moment's notice and a third actor responded that he couldn't even remember a line from the previous week of filming. Different skill sets, different approaches, and in some cases, different training. | |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Last Edit: KingSpeed 08:39 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 08:36 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - Quicheo 11:57 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| Well with TV/film, you only need to know the scene for a few hours and then you let it go. I personally never put it in my long term memory and if you asked me to run the scene a couple hours later, I wouldn’t be able to. Also- you don’t even to get the scene right at all in the first place because if you mess up a line, you just back up a line and say it again. I’ve had scenes where we never did a perfect take but it was edited so well, you’d never know. | |
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| re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic | |
| Posted by: mikem 01:25 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - Quicheo 11:57 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| I went to the final performance of August: Osage County on Broadway. Rondi Reed had last played the part in London about 6 months earlier, and had been performing as Madame Morrible in Wicked on Broadway. When I entered the lobby, I was confused yet elated to see on the understudy board that Rondi Reed was playing her Tony-winning role for that final performance. I later found out that Elizabeth Ashley, who had taken over the role, was sick, and the producers asked Reed to do that final performance that morning. Reed, of course, had done the show for a couple of years in several venues by that point, but she did not miss a beat as far as I could tell throughout the 3.5 hour long show. I was extremely impressed. |
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| Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 10:52 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
| In reply to: I loved it on stage but this was fantastic - ryhog 10:17 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| nm | |
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| Love letters would work. Also the Gin Game | |
| Posted by: dramedy 11:50 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) - Chazwaza 10:52 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| Nm | |
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| WIT and CONSTITUTION aren't solo plays | |
| Posted by: AC126748 08:04 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) - Chazwaza 10:52 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| Not sure why they're grouped in here. Also, CONSTITUTION was filmed before this all went down, and I can't imagine whoever holds the distribution rights would want to be scooped. Plus, Heidi Schreck is currently on the verge of giving birth, so I expect she's going to be busy for a while. ;-) | |
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| re: WIT and CONSTITUTION aren't solo plays | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 02:47 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 02:46 pm EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: WIT and CONSTITUTION aren't solo plays - AC126748 08:04 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| They basically are... I'm aware there are a few other people in those plays that have small but integral roles... but they would present no challenge for executing a great quarantine broadcast reading. But for the record, I did not categorize them as solo plays I just asked if we might get those, as they are obviously plays that would be MUCH easier to execute in this format than most. |
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| re: Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) | |
| Posted by: ryhog 11:25 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
| In reply to: Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) - Chazwaza 10:52 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| Wit may be too unwelcome right now. I also think there are a number of two-handers that would work well. One other point here is that while Urie deserves major accolades, there was a LOT of direction in this (whether from the credited director, Urie, or someone else) and it makes a huge difference. |
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| re: Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 12:23 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 12:07 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) - ryhog 11:25 pm EDT 04/19/20 | |
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| I'm going to guess that Urie handled the direction for his acting, having done it SOOO many times for so long, and that Paul Wontorek (the credited broadcast director) did the camera direction between the two cameras Urie had set up. Paul is a Broadway.com reporter, editor, producer (and founder I believe) and host of their "Show People" interview series (he's basically Broadway.com's Andy Cohen) but not, as far I've ever heard or read, a director or known as one. Other quarantine readings have had their original director return to direct the actors and little bits of staging... so I'm not sure why Urie would depend on someone with no professional directing experience to direct him in this ... which is why I assume he handled it himself. Or perhaps the original stage director did work with him on this (even if just to watch him do a few runs, maybe even with Paul directing the cameras but only broadcast to the original stage director)? I'd be curious to know more about how it worked. And of course I dont' want to shortchange Paul if he did actually directed Urie's acting beyond just "cross to this camera at this point", but even those crosses seemed cued entirely by text and performance needs, but who knows! |
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| re: Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) | |
| Posted by: ryhog 12:20 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) - Chazwaza 12:07 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| there was a director, Nic Cory, who was not the original director (I assume Brackett was not available for whatever reason) and I think there was more than just directing Urie's acting involved because there was a lot of angles, closeups, staging, etc., and someone has to make that happen and I agree it was not Wontorek (who, I think, was just flipping switches). | |
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| bravo director Nic Cory! | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 12:33 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Will we get Wit? I Am My Own Wife? Thomas Pain? Constitution? or group monologue plays? (nm) - ryhog 12:20 am EDT 04/20/20 | |
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| Ah yes, pardon for not looking that up. Extremely good work, Nic Cory! This has so far set a new standard for the visuals of these live play readings. | |
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