Newer PostOlder PostM O N D AY, O C TO B E R 1 6 , 2 0 0 6"The Coast Of Utopia" Begins PreviewsTom Stoppard's epic three play story of 19th century Russia beginspreviews at Lincoln Center.</p><p> The NYT has a story just about the logisticsof the damn thing and how difficult it is to arrange rehearsal times andmaking sure understudies for one part don't appear onstage withthemselves in another role and on and on.</p><p> Even the NY Post is talkingabout the show's epic scope.</p><p> I saw the entire thing in one gulp inLondon (it was one VERY long day) and enjoyed it immensely.</p><p> But I'ma bit worried about their decision to treat each play individually andmake it impossible for anyone to see all three in short order except forabout 6 weeks at the end of its run early next year.</p><p> I don't think you canENJOY them until seeing all three, though the first does sort of standon its own.</p><p> More significantly, one of the great joys of the Londonproduction was watching one lead actor (who I think tackled the samerole as Ethan Hawke will).</p><p> In the first play, I thought he was merelygood.</p><p> But when I saw the second and third pieces, I realized he wasbuilding his character's story over all three plays.</p><p> He was willing to riskhaving someone who just saw the first play think he wasn't doing verymuch and really hitting just one note because he knew what wascoming in the second and third plays.</p><p> Holding back like that made hisgrowth all the more moving and memorable when it came.</p><p> And whendoes an actor get a chance to build a performance over three differentplays and almost 9 hours of performance? If they take the same tack inthis production, no one will know what he's doing until the whole thingis almost over.POSTED BY MICHAEL IN NEW YORK AT 12:00 PM 0 C O M M E N T S :Post a CommentL I N K S T O T H I S P O S TCreate a LinkHomeSubscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)Next Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: "The Coast Of Utopia" Begins Previewshttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/10/coast-of-utopia-begins-... 1 of 37/28/09 5:16 PMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SBiboyMichael in New YorkAaron POPSURFING.COM: "The Coast Of Utopia" Begins Previewshttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/10/coast-of-utopia-begins-... 2 of 37/28/09 5:16 PMPOPSURFING.COM: "The Coast Of Utopia" Begins Previewshttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/10/coast-of-utopia-begins-... 3 of 37/28/09 5:16 PM
