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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2018
THEATER: BERNHARDT! HAMLET! MCTEER!
AND TEARS!
BERNHARDT/HAMLET * 1/2 out of ****
AMERICAN AIRLINES THEATRE AT ROUNDABOUT
THEATRE COMPANY
The danger of quoting a masterpiece in your play is of course that the
audience will find the rest of the work wanting in comparison. TheresaRebeck's new play doesn't face that problem for the uncomfortablereason that you spend the entire night trying to figure out exactly what
story she's trying to tell. At first, it seems like a bracing reminder of
how women have struggled against artificial restraints for far too long.At the turn of the 20th century, men playing women on stage wasperfectly natural. But when the Divine Sarah Bernhardt, the greatest
actress of her age -- played here by Janet McTeer, who is certainly oneof the greatest in ours -- wants to play a man, why it's a travesty!
Then Bernhardt/Hamlet lingers on the romance between this legend
and the playwright Edmond Rostand (Jason Butler Harner); maybe
this light drama is about the tug of war between artistic impulse and
personal happiness? (Personal responsibility has nothing to do with it,not when we're talking about artists.) Or perhaps it's a valentine toacting? And yet, the few scenes with a little warmth and spark are thetoo-brief moments between Bernhardt and her son Maurice (a sweetNick Westrate), who is home from college to chide her behavior...and
perhaps borrow a little money.
In other words, Bernhardt/Hamlet does a lot of things poorly and
none of the technical elements overseen by director Moritz von
Stuelpnagel or the probably fine cast lorded over (in the nicest way) by
McTeer can do anything about it. I say probably fine, because withweak material, who can tell?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 (7)
▼ 2018 (34)
► December (7)
It's 1897 and the world famous and famously scandalous actress Sarah
Bernhardt is flat broke right after launching her own company andbuying a cavernous new theater. A commercial flop has Bernhardt
flailing but instead of wheeling out her cash cow of a vehicle "Camille,"
she makes the bold, unheard-of decision to star in Hamlet. Her lover
Edmond is worried. Critics snipe even before seeing it. Rehearsals arestrained. My gosh, even the dependable genius Alphonse -- who
usually turns out one iconic Art Nouveau masterpiece after another for
Bernhardt -- is uninspired when asked to cook up a poster to promotethe show. What's it about, he wonders? What is its essence? One mightask the same here.
None of the show's many threads are satisfyingly tied together. The
second act perks up a bit -- at least Bernhardt and Rostand fight alittle. But it becomes bewildering when we suddenly watch a scenefrom Cyrano de Bergerac. Wait, what show's genesis are we following
here? It doesn't help that a miscast Dylan Baker is not the grand sort
of actor who would seize the showy role of Cyrano and run with it.
Even more confusing is a final flourish in the show that bows tocinema, which captured Bernhardt in some silent footage late in herlife. That leaves this ode to live theater thoroughly discombobulated atthe end.
Far better to remember a scene in Act One. Bernhardt and fellow actor
Constant Coquelin (Baker) are rehearsing a scene from Hamlet, trying
to make it speak to the actress so she can bring the Dane to life.They're tackling a moment between Hamlet and the ghost of his father.
Why, she wonders, is Hamlet's father wearing armor when talking to
his son? Constant offhandedly says he's done the lead role four timesand never asked himself that question. They speak the lines and find apulse, a quiet moving pulse that brings it alive for them and allowsBernhardt to link Hamlet's missing connection with his father to her
own complicated familial history. (She's the daughter of a courtesan
and has no idea who her real father might be.)
The audience doesn't need to know this detail of her life; the scene just► November (4)
► October (6)
▼ September (1)
THEATER: BERNHARDT!
HAMLET! MCTEER! AND
TEARS!
► May (5)
► April (6)
► March (4)
► February (1)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (14)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (18)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
works. After all, we're watching two actors tackle a scene by
Shakespeare. But full credit to Rebeck; here she's made like Stoppard
and used the Bard to bring alive two characters and the enchantingworld of rehearsal. It doesn't happen often enough but for a momentat least it surely does.
NOTE: For a far more satisfying look at the life of Bernhardt, check
out the new dual biography "Playing To The Gods: Sarah Bernhardt,Eleonara Duse and the Rivalry That Changed Acting Forever" by Peter
Rader. You can find my full review for Broadway Direct here.
THEATER OF 2018
Homelife/The Zoo Story (at Signature) *** out of ****
Escape To Margaritaville **
Broadway By The Year: 1947 and 1966 ***
Lobby Hero ***
Frozen **
Rocktopia *
Angels in America ** 1/2
Mean Girls ** 1/2
The Sting **
Mlima's Tale ** 1/2
Children Of A Lesser God ** 1/2
Sancho: An Act Of Remembrance ** 1/2
The Metromaniacs ***
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical *
The Seafarer **
Henry V (Public Mobile Unit w Zenzi Williams) * 1/2
Saint Joan **
Travesties *** 1/2
Summer and Smoke ** 1/2My Fair Lady ** 1/2
Broadway By The Year: 1956 and 1975 ** 1/2
Bernhard/Hamlet * 1/2
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of
BookFilter, a book lover’s
to BookFilter! Need a smart and easy gift? Head to BookFilter ! Wondering wh
categories, like cookbooks and mystery and more? Head to BookFilter! It’s a w
you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases e
personal recommendations every step of the way. It’s like a fall book preview
category. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podc
of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It’s available for
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called P
Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understan
are in New York City unless otherwise indicated.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 12:40 AM
NO COMMENTS:
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2018
THEATER: BERNHARDT! HAMLET! MCTEER!
AND TEARS!
BERNHARDT/HAMLET * 1/2 out of ****
AMERICAN AIRLINES THEATRE AT ROUNDABOUT
THEATRE COMPANY
The danger of quoting a masterpiece in your play is of course that the
audience will find the rest of the work wanting in comparison. TheresaRebeck's new play doesn't face that problem for the uncomfortablereason that you spend the entire night trying to figure out exactly what
story she's trying to tell. At first, it seems like a bracing reminder of
how women have struggled against artificial restraints for far too long.At the turn of the 20th century, men playing women on stage wasperfectly natural. But when the Divine Sarah Bernhardt, the greatest
actress of her age -- played here by Janet McTeer, who is certainly oneof the greatest in ours -- wants to play a man, why it's a travesty!
Then Bernhardt/Hamlet lingers on the romance between this legend
and the playwright Edmond Rostand (Jason Butler Harner); maybe
this light drama is about the tug of war between artistic impulse and
personal happiness? (Personal responsibility has nothing to do with it,not when we're talking about artists.) Or perhaps it's a valentine toacting? And yet, the few scenes with a little warmth and spark are thetoo-brief moments between Bernhardt and her son Maurice (a sweetNick Westrate), who is home from college to chide her behavior...and
perhaps borrow a little money.
In other words, Bernhardt/Hamlet does a lot of things poorly and
none of the technical elements overseen by director Moritz von
Stuelpnagel or the probably fine cast lorded over (in the nicest way) by
McTeer can do anything about it. I say probably fine, because withweak material, who can tell?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 (7)
▼ 2018 (34)
► December (7)
It's 1897 and the world famous and famously scandalous actress Sarah
Bernhardt is flat broke right after launching her own company andbuying a cavernous new theater. A commercial flop has Bernhardt
flailing but instead of wheeling out her cash cow of a vehicle "Camille,"
she makes the bold, unheard-of decision to star in Hamlet. Her lover
Edmond is worried. Critics snipe even before seeing it. Rehearsals arestrained. My gosh, even the dependable genius Alphonse -- who
usually turns out one iconic Art Nouveau masterpiece after another for
Bernhardt -- is uninspired when asked to cook up a poster to promotethe show. What's it about, he wonders? What is its essence? One mightask the same here.
None of the show's many threads are satisfyingly tied together. The
second act perks up a bit -- at least Bernhardt and Rostand fight alittle. But it becomes bewildering when we suddenly watch a scenefrom Cyrano de Bergerac. Wait, what show's genesis are we following
here? It doesn't help that a miscast Dylan Baker is not the grand sort
of actor who would seize the showy role of Cyrano and run with it.
Even more confusing is a final flourish in the show that bows tocinema, which captured Bernhardt in some silent footage late in herlife. That leaves this ode to live theater thoroughly discombobulated atthe end.
Far better to remember a scene in Act One. Bernhardt and fellow actor
Constant Coquelin (Baker) are rehearsing a scene from Hamlet, trying
to make it speak to the actress so she can bring the Dane to life.They're tackling a moment between Hamlet and the ghost of his father.
Why, she wonders, is Hamlet's father wearing armor when talking to
his son? Constant offhandedly says he's done the lead role four timesand never asked himself that question. They speak the lines and find apulse, a quiet moving pulse that brings it alive for them and allowsBernhardt to link Hamlet's missing connection with his father to her
own complicated familial history. (She's the daughter of a courtesan
and has no idea who her real father might be.)
The audience doesn't need to know this detail of her life; the scene just► November (4)
► October (6)
▼ September (1)
THEATER: BERNHARDT!
HAMLET! MCTEER! AND
TEARS!
► May (5)
► April (6)
► March (4)
► February (1)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (14)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (18)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
works. After all, we're watching two actors tackle a scene by
Shakespeare. But full credit to Rebeck; here she's made like Stoppard
and used the Bard to bring alive two characters and the enchantingworld of rehearsal. It doesn't happen often enough but for a momentat least it surely does.
NOTE: For a far more satisfying look at the life of Bernhardt, check
out the new dual biography "Playing To The Gods: Sarah Bernhardt,Eleonara Duse and the Rivalry That Changed Acting Forever" by Peter
Rader. You can find my full review for Broadway Direct here.
THEATER OF 2018
Homelife/The Zoo Story (at Signature) *** out of ****
Escape To Margaritaville **
Broadway By The Year: 1947 and 1966 ***
Lobby Hero ***
Frozen **
Rocktopia *
Angels in America ** 1/2
Mean Girls ** 1/2
The Sting **
Mlima's Tale ** 1/2
Children Of A Lesser God ** 1/2
Sancho: An Act Of Remembrance ** 1/2
The Metromaniacs ***
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical *
The Seafarer **
Henry V (Public Mobile Unit w Zenzi Williams) * 1/2
Saint Joan **
Travesties *** 1/2
Summer and Smoke ** 1/2My Fair Lady ** 1/2
Broadway By The Year: 1956 and 1975 ** 1/2
Bernhard/Hamlet * 1/2
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of
BookFilter, a book lover’s
to BookFilter! Need a smart and easy gift? Head to BookFilter ! Wondering wh
categories, like cookbooks and mystery and more? Head to BookFilter! It’s a w
you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases e
personal recommendations every step of the way. It’s like a fall book preview
category. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podc
of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It’s available for
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called P
Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understan
are in New York City unless otherwise indicated.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 12:40 AM
NO COMMENTS:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)Newer Post Older Post Home