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THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019
THEATER: "ALL MY SONS" LACKS A FAMILY
ALL MY SONS * 1/2 out of ****
ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY AT AMERICAN
AIRLINES THEATRE
The marvelous director Jack O'Brien comes a cropper on this deeply
miscast revival of a lesser Arthur Miller tragedy. Every major role isplayed by an actor ill-suited to it, the show seems to have no sense ofthe play's conspiracy of silence or complicity and O'Brien evenbizarrely places actors nearly out of sight behind an arbor when
delivering a few lines. When two characters head to a car, they exit in
the direction of a neighbor's backyard rather than going past the frontof the main house. Don't they even know where the driveway should
be? This All My Sons lacks a sense of direction in every sense of the
word.
The play must have been a thunderbolt back in 1947. With the US
flourishing after World War II, Miller dared to write a drama aboutmanufacturers who knowingly deliver defective airplane parts,
dooming dozens of young American men to their deaths. Two people
ran the company, but only one of them went to jail. Joe, the other
partner, convinced the courts he was innocent and is making more
money than ever. Still, a shadow hangs over his home. Joe (TracyLetts) had two sons and one of them was lost in the war. His wife Kate
(Annette Bening) refuses to admit that child is dead, even after three
years have passed and all hope is lost. Now his remaining son Chris(Benjamin Walker) plans to marry Ann, the sweetheart of his deadbrother and the daughter of Joe's business partner now rotting in jail.
Ann's arrival carries many dangers. If Kate approves of the marriage,
she'll finally have to accept her other son is dead. And if Ann marries
Chris, will his loyalties remain with Joe or is it possible he might startto see the dreadful truth about his father?MICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
▼ 2019 (31)
► June (1)
► May (9)
Done right, All My Sons should have a cheerful surface and a dark,
dark heart. Everyone is desperate to maintain the facade of a happy
country, a happy neighborhood and a happy family. Everyone knowseither directly or in their heart that Joe was just as guilty as his
partner. But Joe is here and the partner is in jail, Joe is making money
and employing people, Joe is a good neighbor and a good father andwho wants to admit the roof over their head, the clothes on their back,the cheerful world they inhabit is a lie?
Each revelation by Joe's wife or his neighbors and finally himself that
it's all a lie should be shocking. But you feel no frantic desire to denythe truth. Everyone is in on the secret, it seems and it all feels somatter-of-fact you wonder why they bother.
The central problem is casting. Good actors of course can play anyrole. And they can certainly surprise. I never imagined William Hurtcould play a person who wasn't bright -- his innate intelligence alwaysshone through. But there he is in Broadcast News playing a news
anchor who is just smart enough to realize he's not that smart. Yet thetruth is that actors often have a core characteristic and they wiselychoose parts that suit them in some way. They don't deliver the same
performance again and again, but they do know their wheelhouse.
Barbara Stanwyck didn't play dumb broads who could be manipulated.Cary Grant didn't play losers. You get the idea.
Tracy Letts has a conniving aura about him and that turns Joe from a
weak, desperate man into a Machiavellian figure. Instead of a man
frightened his mask will drop and his son will learn the truth, you
figure Letts set his partner up from the start and probably cackled withglee when he pulled it off. Annette Bening has tackled a vast array ofwomen, but her best work is playing women with an iron core, or at
least women who discover that strength in them. The ghost of a wife
who denies the terrible reality in her life is not for her. I'm not sureyet what defines Walker as an actor, but a son who might collapseunder the truth doesn't suit this towering oak of a man either. They're▼ April (10)
THEATER: "INK" STAINED
WRETCHES GET THEIR
DUE
THEATER: "TOOTSIE" IS A
DRAG
THEATER: "ALL MY SONS"
LACKS A FAMILY
THEATER: 'HADESTOWN"
FINDS HEAVEN ONBROADWAY
THEATER: "BURN THIS"
BARELY SMOLDERS
THEATER: THE PAIN OF "THE
PAIN OF MYBELLIGERENCE"...
THEATER: QUESTIONING
"SOCRATES"
THEATER: "OKLAHOMA!" IS
OK THE SECOND TIMEAROUND!...
THEATER: LESS IS MORE AT
"MRS. MURRAY'SMENAGERIE"...
THEATER: "THE CRADLE
WILL ROCK" PUTS YOU TO
SLEEP
► March (5)
► February (1)
► January (5)
► 2018 (33)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (17)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
unsuited to these characters and never for a moment seem like a real
family.
Scene after scene simply doesn't work. For example, Ann's brother
shows up spitting fire. After years of refusing to speak to his shamefulfather, George pays a visit to his dad in jail, has a dramatic change ofheart and takes the train to Ann so he can stop her impending
engagement. He's ferocious and determined to tell the truth...until
Kate offers him grape juice and Joe drops some reminders of their
dad's weak nature. Suddenly George is giggling and smiling again as ifall is forgiven or worse forgotten. What happened to the avenger whowalked onstage just a minute ago?
We don't need this example of weak plotting by Miller (trumped by the
even hoarier device of an unread letter) to know the show won't gosmoothly. This All My Sons actually begins with the sounds of a storm
and perhaps warfare. Did they worry saying the play was set in 1947
wasn't enough to remind people it takes place right after WW II?
That's followed by footage of a plane falling from the skies, as if theaudience might not be able to imagine the end result of installingdefective parts. And then, lightning strikes. It flashes on the curtainonstage and then cheesily flashes all over the theater, with white lightsbursting on and off and the lightning streaking over the ceiling and
balcony and walls, like something you'd see in Harry Potter. It's the
only moment in the show that truly smacks of desperation.
THEATER OF 2019
Frankenstein: Under The Radar Fest at the Public ** 1/2
Minor Character: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ***
Ink: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ** 1/2
Choir Boy ** 1/2
White Noise ** 1/2
Kiss Me, Kate ***
Ain't No Mo' *** 1/2
Ain't Too Proud **
The Cradle Will Rock * 1/2
Mrs. Murray's Menagerie *** 1/2
Oklahoma! (on Broadway) ** 1/2
Socrates **
The Pain Of My Belligerence *
Burn This **
Hadestown *** 1/2
All My Sons * 1/2
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new
releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal
recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz
Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on ► 2005 (5)
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as
guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called
Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 1:40 AM
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THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019
THEATER: "ALL MY SONS" LACKS A FAMILY
ALL MY SONS * 1/2 out of ****
ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY AT AMERICAN
AIRLINES THEATRE
The marvelous director Jack O'Brien comes a cropper on this deeply
miscast revival of a lesser Arthur Miller tragedy. Every major role isplayed by an actor ill-suited to it, the show seems to have no sense ofthe play's conspiracy of silence or complicity and O'Brien evenbizarrely places actors nearly out of sight behind an arbor when
delivering a few lines. When two characters head to a car, they exit in
the direction of a neighbor's backyard rather than going past the frontof the main house. Don't they even know where the driveway should
be? This All My Sons lacks a sense of direction in every sense of the
word.
The play must have been a thunderbolt back in 1947. With the US
flourishing after World War II, Miller dared to write a drama aboutmanufacturers who knowingly deliver defective airplane parts,
dooming dozens of young American men to their deaths. Two people
ran the company, but only one of them went to jail. Joe, the other
partner, convinced the courts he was innocent and is making more
money than ever. Still, a shadow hangs over his home. Joe (TracyLetts) had two sons and one of them was lost in the war. His wife Kate
(Annette Bening) refuses to admit that child is dead, even after three
years have passed and all hope is lost. Now his remaining son Chris(Benjamin Walker) plans to marry Ann, the sweetheart of his deadbrother and the daughter of Joe's business partner now rotting in jail.
Ann's arrival carries many dangers. If Kate approves of the marriage,
she'll finally have to accept her other son is dead. And if Ann marries
Chris, will his loyalties remain with Joe or is it possible he might startto see the dreadful truth about his father?MICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
▼ 2019 (31)
► June (1)
► May (9)
Done right, All My Sons should have a cheerful surface and a dark,
dark heart. Everyone is desperate to maintain the facade of a happy
country, a happy neighborhood and a happy family. Everyone knowseither directly or in their heart that Joe was just as guilty as his
partner. But Joe is here and the partner is in jail, Joe is making money
and employing people, Joe is a good neighbor and a good father andwho wants to admit the roof over their head, the clothes on their back,the cheerful world they inhabit is a lie?
Each revelation by Joe's wife or his neighbors and finally himself that
it's all a lie should be shocking. But you feel no frantic desire to denythe truth. Everyone is in on the secret, it seems and it all feels somatter-of-fact you wonder why they bother.
The central problem is casting. Good actors of course can play anyrole. And they can certainly surprise. I never imagined William Hurtcould play a person who wasn't bright -- his innate intelligence alwaysshone through. But there he is in Broadcast News playing a news
anchor who is just smart enough to realize he's not that smart. Yet thetruth is that actors often have a core characteristic and they wiselychoose parts that suit them in some way. They don't deliver the same
performance again and again, but they do know their wheelhouse.
Barbara Stanwyck didn't play dumb broads who could be manipulated.Cary Grant didn't play losers. You get the idea.
Tracy Letts has a conniving aura about him and that turns Joe from a
weak, desperate man into a Machiavellian figure. Instead of a man
frightened his mask will drop and his son will learn the truth, you
figure Letts set his partner up from the start and probably cackled withglee when he pulled it off. Annette Bening has tackled a vast array ofwomen, but her best work is playing women with an iron core, or at
least women who discover that strength in them. The ghost of a wife
who denies the terrible reality in her life is not for her. I'm not sureyet what defines Walker as an actor, but a son who might collapseunder the truth doesn't suit this towering oak of a man either. They're▼ April (10)
THEATER: "INK" STAINED
WRETCHES GET THEIR
DUE
THEATER: "TOOTSIE" IS A
DRAG
THEATER: "ALL MY SONS"
LACKS A FAMILY
THEATER: 'HADESTOWN"
FINDS HEAVEN ONBROADWAY
THEATER: "BURN THIS"
BARELY SMOLDERS
THEATER: THE PAIN OF "THE
PAIN OF MYBELLIGERENCE"...
THEATER: QUESTIONING
"SOCRATES"
THEATER: "OKLAHOMA!" IS
OK THE SECOND TIMEAROUND!...
THEATER: LESS IS MORE AT
"MRS. MURRAY'SMENAGERIE"...
THEATER: "THE CRADLE
WILL ROCK" PUTS YOU TO
SLEEP
► March (5)
► February (1)
► January (5)
► 2018 (33)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (17)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
unsuited to these characters and never for a moment seem like a real
family.
Scene after scene simply doesn't work. For example, Ann's brother
shows up spitting fire. After years of refusing to speak to his shamefulfather, George pays a visit to his dad in jail, has a dramatic change ofheart and takes the train to Ann so he can stop her impending
engagement. He's ferocious and determined to tell the truth...until
Kate offers him grape juice and Joe drops some reminders of their
dad's weak nature. Suddenly George is giggling and smiling again as ifall is forgiven or worse forgotten. What happened to the avenger whowalked onstage just a minute ago?
We don't need this example of weak plotting by Miller (trumped by the
even hoarier device of an unread letter) to know the show won't gosmoothly. This All My Sons actually begins with the sounds of a storm
and perhaps warfare. Did they worry saying the play was set in 1947
wasn't enough to remind people it takes place right after WW II?
That's followed by footage of a plane falling from the skies, as if theaudience might not be able to imagine the end result of installingdefective parts. And then, lightning strikes. It flashes on the curtainonstage and then cheesily flashes all over the theater, with white lightsbursting on and off and the lightning streaking over the ceiling and
balcony and walls, like something you'd see in Harry Potter. It's the
only moment in the show that truly smacks of desperation.
THEATER OF 2019
Frankenstein: Under The Radar Fest at the Public ** 1/2
Minor Character: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ***
Ink: Under The Radar Festival at the Public ** 1/2
Choir Boy ** 1/2
White Noise ** 1/2
Kiss Me, Kate ***
Ain't No Mo' *** 1/2
Ain't Too Proud **
The Cradle Will Rock * 1/2
Mrs. Murray's Menagerie *** 1/2
Oklahoma! (on Broadway) ** 1/2
Socrates **
The Pain Of My Belligerence *
Burn This **
Hadestown *** 1/2
All My Sons * 1/2
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new
releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal
recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz
Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on ► 2005 (5)
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as
guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called
Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 1:40 AM
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