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| re: As Is had three Tony nominations. | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 10:20 pm EST 02/18/21 | |
| In reply to: As Is had three Tony nominations. - portenopete 11:57 am EST 02/18/21 | |
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| I think of As Is and The Normal Heart as very different kinds of plays--the former more a domestic drama, with the public world in briefer interludes, but the focus on the couple; the latter more overtly and didactically political. As Is had more grace and nuanced emotion; The Normal Heart more sound and fury, signifying much. I am eternally grateful we had both. I think the Showtime version of As Is shows up for sale (used) on VHS from time to time. I think it would hold up perfectly fine, though, of course, some of the specific details would be limited by what was known and experienced by the time it was written. I wrote the playwright one of my only fan letters after I read it (it was published quickly), and he responded with a lovely note. I believe Hoffman became an academic and died just a few years ago. There are all kinds of ways of doing activism--his is, to me, as admirable as Kramer's (and I came top admire Kramer deeply--THINK what drama he would have made of all we are living through!) | |
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| re: As Is had three Tony nominations. | |
| Posted by: portenopete 08:11 am EST 02/19/21 | |
| In reply to: re: As Is had three Tony nominations. - BruceinIthaca 10:20 pm EST 02/18/21 | |
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| I think you are exactly right. I have only seen The Normal Heart in adulthood so I don't know how my 19-year old self would have processed it, but As Is felt like a very traditional, well-made play about a subject that had never been discussed in that way. I remember both Hogan and Hadary being wonderful and I left with a terrible crush on Lou Liberatore! (It was also my first time inside the exquisite Lyceum Theatre.) And in those days seeing anything about gay life- even something very tragic- was exciting for me. I also had the published script. Did you have the same one as I did? It was a tiny little hardcover, I seem to remember. Almost like the sides that actors get on film and TV sets every day. It's too bad The Normal Heart eclipsed As Is so completely. Mainly because Larry Kramer was such a high=profile activist, I guess. Getting that revival brought it to a whole new generation and it might have gotten extra glow from Angels' success, as it seemed to be a direct antecedent to Kushner's masterpiece. (Which then spawned another epic The Inheritance.) Didn't Hoffman write opera libretti after As Is? |
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| re: As Is had three Tony nominations. | |
| Posted by: larry13 10:32 am EST 02/19/21 | |
| In reply to: re: As Is had three Tony nominations. - portenopete 08:11 am EST 02/19/21 | |
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| Hoffman did write the libretto for John Corigliano's opera "Ghosts of Versailles," commissioned by the Met. | |
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