The final production in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2011-2012, and one of the final two productions of the Broadway season overall (with Leap of Faith, which also opened last night), the Broadway production of Don't Dress for Dinner, a French farce by the author of Boeing-Boeing opened last night at the American Airlines Theatre. The reviews are in and they are mixed. Variety Magazine's Marilyn Stasio thoroughly enjoyed the show while Charles Isherwood of the New York Times thoroughly did not.
Ms. Stasio commented that, "After working up this high-gloss version of Robin Howdon's crafty adaptation at Chicago's Royal George Theatre a few years ago, veteran helmer John Tillinger brings it in with an A-list design team and a cast that knows how to negotiate the sublimely silly conventions of classic farce." Mr. Isherwood, taking the opposite view, writes, "Can I blame Mark Rylance? You see, if it were not for the alchemical magic of Mr. Rylance's Tony-winning performance in Mr. Camoletti's Boeing-Boeing, revived to popular acclaim on Broadway and in the West End a couple of years ago, I doubt I would have had to endure the creaking mechanics of Don't Dress for Dinner. Instead of feeling whipped up from a classic recipe, this Roundabout Theatre Company production has the stale flavor of an old TV dinner defrosted and microwaved."
Let's see how it fares at Tuesday's Tony nominations announcement.
Ms. Stasio commented that, "After working up this high-gloss version of Robin Howdon's crafty adaptation at Chicago's Royal George Theatre a few years ago, veteran helmer John Tillinger brings it in with an A-list design team and a cast that knows how to negotiate the sublimely silly conventions of classic farce." Mr. Isherwood, taking the opposite view, writes, "Can I blame Mark Rylance? You see, if it were not for the alchemical magic of Mr. Rylance's Tony-winning performance in Mr. Camoletti's Boeing-Boeing, revived to popular acclaim on Broadway and in the West End a couple of years ago, I doubt I would have had to endure the creaking mechanics of Don't Dress for Dinner. Instead of feeling whipped up from a classic recipe, this Roundabout Theatre Company production has the stale flavor of an old TV dinner defrosted and microwaved."
Let's see how it fares at Tuesday's Tony nominations announcement.
No comments:
Post a Comment