connielane (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
connielane) wrote2008-09-05 11:04 pm
connielane) wrote2008-09-05 11:04 pm
EQUUS - Opening Night on Broadway
Thanks to a generous fairy godmother, I was able to attend the opening night of Equus at the Broadhurst Theater. Most of what follows is for people who have already seen the play, and it may not make sense if you haven't. If you want to read some more review-y type comments of mine about the play, I posted a pretty lengthy review here. It's part of a larger post in a larger series about my trip to London last year, so just scroll down until you get to the scan of the program. :)
The short version of my perspective on tonight is that it was incredible opening night. There were glitches, obviously, as it's the first performance, but everyone I heard on the way out was completely wowed. There was a standing ovation - a very loud one, but perhaps that was because the theater is relatively small.
A few caveats:
* It has been over a year since I saw Equus at the Gielgud, so my memory of details you might want to know are less than stirling.
* I tried to look for things that I remember were important to people, but there are going to be things I forgot to look for or forgot to include here. Still, if there's something you're curious about that I haven't detailed, leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer.
* This was a first performance of several 'preview' performances, and there will probably be some tweaks before the play officially opens in a few weeks. So some of what I observed might be obsolete by that time.
* There was an article/interview with Dan and Richard in the Playbill. I am not near my scanner right now, but I will scan and upload it as soon as possible. There's not much that we haven't heard, but there is SOME new stuff - like Richard saying that Alan is oddly the one person Dysart feels he could take to Greece who would understand.
* The stage is set up exactly as it was at the Gielgud in London. No curtain, the cross-shaped stage on the circle, the blocks, the 'stables' at the back, the horse heads hanging on the wall, and the arc of seats above the stage.
* The audience was well-behaved. No giggles or anything when Dan came out.
* The music is, I think, exactly the same as it was in London. I remember stifling a giggle when I first saw it last year, because there was this 'choir of angels' moment when Alan came out. I think they've staged it slightly different, though, so it feels less like a cherubim cry for Dan. And of course I was pleased that the generic porn music was kept in for the 'skin flick' scene.
* No changes that I could perceive to the play itself. There were some things that I couldn't remember, but I will have to look at the text again (which is at home, not here where I'm posting from) to be more sure, though.
* Okay, here's a bugaboo (for me, but perhaps it will grow on me). The choreography for the horses, particularly in the first scene at Dalton's, is different, and I was not too fond of it. It seemed a little too showy and ... dance-y.
* I can see what Dan meant by drawing from Alex in Clockwork Orange, but it's not something you'd pick up on if you didn't know he'd said that. It really just affects those initial scenes between him and Dysart, where he's shouting the jingles.
* Speaking of Dan ... I can't wait for you all to see how he's grown with this part and where he's taking Alan. It's not wildly different, but if you saw it in London, you'll definitely see a difference.
* Dysart is Griffith's Dysart from the West End. Lurking in the shadows during the climaxes and not all animated like Simon Callow apparently was in the tour.
* The climax of the play is presented just as it was last spring. Shown, not just told.
* Kate Mulgrew was a *touch* overdramatic at first, but she seemed to realize it and backed off a bit. I like her Hesther better than both Jenny Agutter and Eileen Atkins (the only two Hesthers I've seen). She is definitely more tactile and far less stand-offish than Jenny Agutter was. Mulgrew plays her kind of like a Sexy Broad, which suits Mulgrew, of course. I'm pretty certain it's not in the original version, but she even swears at one point in Act 2. She has a great chemistry with Griffiths, and I really felt like their characters were close friends, which I didn't feel with either Agutter or Atkins. Well, maybe Atkins a bit, but definitely not Agutter.
* The choreography during the blinding scene *is* a bit different, but not much. My recollection of the scene (which, again, is now over a year old and very possibly wrong) is that Alan was standing and facing the back of the stage as he was shouting "Find me! Kill me!" and the horses surrounded him before he broke down in Dysart's arms. Now, he does stand, but when he gets to "Find me! Kill me!" he's curled up in a ball, lying on his side, on the four blocks while the horses surround him. So he actually sits up when he breaks down in Dysart's arms. I think this ended up being more effective than the West End version, in no small part because someone figured out that with all the 'Equus noise' at the end, you couldn't hear what Alan was screaming. So either the sound cuts out sooner, or Dan yells a little longer. Either way, you can actually hear what he's saying, and it works a little better, I think.
* I liked Frank. Dora, I felt, was a little overdone. Like Mulgrew, she got better as the play went on, but she was borderline hysterical for almost all of Act One. Lots of great tactile stuff with them. In the beach scene, when Frank and Dora are splashing each other, Frank is much more playful with Alan, play-tussling with him at the front of the stage. They really feel like they're his parents (partially because they seem older than the West End Strangs) and that they were happy, once upon a time.
* Griffiths was, once again, a great ring-leader. He did the best at reading the audience. There was a LOT of audience response throughout, especially at funny lines, and it took a bit for everyone to get the hang of waiting for it to die down.
* There were a few technical difficulties, mostly to do with sound. There were a handful of occasions when you'd hear ... I don't know what it's called, but it's the Morse-code-sounding beep-be-beep-be-eeeep that happens when something is wrong with the electronics. Most of the times it happened it was just a passing annoyance, but it had some rather unfortunate timing in Act 2 and inserted itself into one of Alan's and Jill's kisses, which caused the audience to giggle during what should have been a fairly intimate moment.
* OH! I know all of you West End attendees will wonder, and I made a point to look for it. Now ... don't kill me, because I'm not 100% certain, but I'm ALMOST positive that Alan doesn't breath in Nugget's breath. I *could* have just missed it, because it should have happened when I was a bit distracted by the new horse movements that I didn't really care for. But I'm pretty sure it didn't happen.
* Another thing I was disappointed not to see: at the very beginning of the play, when Alan brings Nugget out and the two of them nuzzle together at center stage, Nugget doesn't really nuzzle back. I loved the way Will Kemp turned his head in the mask in the West End production, and the new Nugget doesn't really move at all. At least, not in that moment. There's a bit more movement at the beginning of Act 2, but I missed it in the beginning.
* Also - and I could kick myself for not bringing the play with me so that I could check as I posted this - but I certainly don't *remember* this from when I saw it in London. When Alan is doing the whole "It was sexy" speech, he brings Nugget out to the center of the stage and strokes him. I could be wrong and that was in there the whole time, but I didn't remember it, and it certainly gives a lot more tangibility to what he's telling Dysart in that moment.
* The, err, disrobing just before the climax took WAY too long, and I suspect they'll fix that over the next couple of weeks. Jill was the one who took a long time, because she had a tank top on under the checkered shirt, in addition to the bra. So Dan was just kind of standing there in his boxers for a while until she got further along. :P
* And as for the Maple Memorial Scratch ... he was a tad itchy tonight, mostly due to facial hair. And there was one occasion where he scratched his left leg through his jeans. If you'd like more detail, errr, comment and I'll do my best. ;-)
Okay,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shocolate, you can breathe now. :)
The short version of my perspective on tonight is that it was incredible opening night. There were glitches, obviously, as it's the first performance, but everyone I heard on the way out was completely wowed. There was a standing ovation - a very loud one, but perhaps that was because the theater is relatively small.
A few caveats:
* It has been over a year since I saw Equus at the Gielgud, so my memory of details you might want to know are less than stirling.
* I tried to look for things that I remember were important to people, but there are going to be things I forgot to look for or forgot to include here. Still, if there's something you're curious about that I haven't detailed, leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer.
* This was a first performance of several 'preview' performances, and there will probably be some tweaks before the play officially opens in a few weeks. So some of what I observed might be obsolete by that time.
* There was an article/interview with Dan and Richard in the Playbill. I am not near my scanner right now, but I will scan and upload it as soon as possible. There's not much that we haven't heard, but there is SOME new stuff - like Richard saying that Alan is oddly the one person Dysart feels he could take to Greece who would understand.
* The stage is set up exactly as it was at the Gielgud in London. No curtain, the cross-shaped stage on the circle, the blocks, the 'stables' at the back, the horse heads hanging on the wall, and the arc of seats above the stage.
* The audience was well-behaved. No giggles or anything when Dan came out.
* The music is, I think, exactly the same as it was in London. I remember stifling a giggle when I first saw it last year, because there was this 'choir of angels' moment when Alan came out. I think they've staged it slightly different, though, so it feels less like a cherubim cry for Dan. And of course I was pleased that the generic porn music was kept in for the 'skin flick' scene.
* No changes that I could perceive to the play itself. There were some things that I couldn't remember, but I will have to look at the text again (which is at home, not here where I'm posting from) to be more sure, though.
* Okay, here's a bugaboo (for me, but perhaps it will grow on me). The choreography for the horses, particularly in the first scene at Dalton's, is different, and I was not too fond of it. It seemed a little too showy and ... dance-y.
* I can see what Dan meant by drawing from Alex in Clockwork Orange, but it's not something you'd pick up on if you didn't know he'd said that. It really just affects those initial scenes between him and Dysart, where he's shouting the jingles.
* Speaking of Dan ... I can't wait for you all to see how he's grown with this part and where he's taking Alan. It's not wildly different, but if you saw it in London, you'll definitely see a difference.
* Dysart is Griffith's Dysart from the West End. Lurking in the shadows during the climaxes and not all animated like Simon Callow apparently was in the tour.
* The climax of the play is presented just as it was last spring. Shown, not just told.
* Kate Mulgrew was a *touch* overdramatic at first, but she seemed to realize it and backed off a bit. I like her Hesther better than both Jenny Agutter and Eileen Atkins (the only two Hesthers I've seen). She is definitely more tactile and far less stand-offish than Jenny Agutter was. Mulgrew plays her kind of like a Sexy Broad, which suits Mulgrew, of course. I'm pretty certain it's not in the original version, but she even swears at one point in Act 2. She has a great chemistry with Griffiths, and I really felt like their characters were close friends, which I didn't feel with either Agutter or Atkins. Well, maybe Atkins a bit, but definitely not Agutter.
* The choreography during the blinding scene *is* a bit different, but not much. My recollection of the scene (which, again, is now over a year old and very possibly wrong) is that Alan was standing and facing the back of the stage as he was shouting "Find me! Kill me!" and the horses surrounded him before he broke down in Dysart's arms. Now, he does stand, but when he gets to "Find me! Kill me!" he's curled up in a ball, lying on his side, on the four blocks while the horses surround him. So he actually sits up when he breaks down in Dysart's arms. I think this ended up being more effective than the West End version, in no small part because someone figured out that with all the 'Equus noise' at the end, you couldn't hear what Alan was screaming. So either the sound cuts out sooner, or Dan yells a little longer. Either way, you can actually hear what he's saying, and it works a little better, I think.
* I liked Frank. Dora, I felt, was a little overdone. Like Mulgrew, she got better as the play went on, but she was borderline hysterical for almost all of Act One. Lots of great tactile stuff with them. In the beach scene, when Frank and Dora are splashing each other, Frank is much more playful with Alan, play-tussling with him at the front of the stage. They really feel like they're his parents (partially because they seem older than the West End Strangs) and that they were happy, once upon a time.
* Griffiths was, once again, a great ring-leader. He did the best at reading the audience. There was a LOT of audience response throughout, especially at funny lines, and it took a bit for everyone to get the hang of waiting for it to die down.
* There were a few technical difficulties, mostly to do with sound. There were a handful of occasions when you'd hear ... I don't know what it's called, but it's the Morse-code-sounding beep-be-beep-be-eeeep that happens when something is wrong with the electronics. Most of the times it happened it was just a passing annoyance, but it had some rather unfortunate timing in Act 2 and inserted itself into one of Alan's and Jill's kisses, which caused the audience to giggle during what should have been a fairly intimate moment.
* OH! I know all of you West End attendees will wonder, and I made a point to look for it. Now ... don't kill me, because I'm not 100% certain, but I'm ALMOST positive that Alan doesn't breath in Nugget's breath. I *could* have just missed it, because it should have happened when I was a bit distracted by the new horse movements that I didn't really care for. But I'm pretty sure it didn't happen.
* Another thing I was disappointed not to see: at the very beginning of the play, when Alan brings Nugget out and the two of them nuzzle together at center stage, Nugget doesn't really nuzzle back. I loved the way Will Kemp turned his head in the mask in the West End production, and the new Nugget doesn't really move at all. At least, not in that moment. There's a bit more movement at the beginning of Act 2, but I missed it in the beginning.
* Also - and I could kick myself for not bringing the play with me so that I could check as I posted this - but I certainly don't *remember* this from when I saw it in London. When Alan is doing the whole "It was sexy" speech, he brings Nugget out to the center of the stage and strokes him. I could be wrong and that was in there the whole time, but I didn't remember it, and it certainly gives a lot more tangibility to what he's telling Dysart in that moment.
* The, err, disrobing just before the climax took WAY too long, and I suspect they'll fix that over the next couple of weeks. Jill was the one who took a long time, because she had a tank top on under the checkered shirt, in addition to the bra. So Dan was just kind of standing there in his boxers for a while until she got further along. :P
* And as for the Maple Memorial Scratch ... he was a tad itchy tonight, mostly due to facial hair. And there was one occasion where he scratched his left leg through his jeans. If you'd like more detail, errr, comment and I'll do my best. ;-)
Okay,
shocolate, you can breathe now. :)