Monday, January 15, 2007

The Heidi Chronicles

Profile Theatre
Posted by Frenchglen January 13, 2007; closes February 11, 2007

Solid performance of 80’s period piece. Nonstop parade of witty zingers and buzz of upper echelon East Coast name dropping at times limit seriousness of Wasserstein’s underlying subjects. Several touching moments and conundrums effectively rendered. Time travel elements not always clear. Music and story create pronounced “Big Chill” nostalgia effect.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thought it was just terrific! Beautifully done on every level by everyone involved.

One note for the notes section in the program...The Berlin Wall came down in 1989. 1987 was when Reagan said "Mr. Gorbachov tear down this wall." That may have been specified and if so I apologize....but I remember saying to myslef --"hey the wall didn't come down in 87'."

Anonymous said...

My gosh this site can really be condescending....yes it is set during the sixties thru the eighties BUT far more than a "period piece" it is about the journey of an individual and the intricate relationships which make up her experience. Funny I don't hear "Three" being referred to as a period piece and yet it's set MUCH later than this....hmmmm. The show was superbly done regardless of the time period...as was 'Three'... I don't know what you have against Wasserstein but the same biased tripe was coming out here during 'An American Daughter' as well...Profile Theatre is on a role during their tenth season and Portland should be proud that there is yet another excellent Theatre company calling Portland home....

Which brings me to another point...the self-hatred about "small town" Portland is absurd here...I've never been to a town so willing to sell itself short and feel inferior..

I lived in MYC and Chicago and L.A and have done theatre and film in all of those places for more than 20 years... I came to Portland by choice..and I can tell you that the theatre being done here is just as fine as anything I have ever seen in NY or Chicago (anyone can do better theatre than L.A)

There is just as much garbage in NYC as there is here in fact MORE b/c there are more theatres...actually the audiences here in Portland or JUST as sophisticated as any in NYC and what theatre practioners can do here can only be done in THE MOST PROGRESSIVE of cities....

Lighten up on yourself Portland this is a magnificent Theatre Town...of course it can improve but that could be said for any town.

That was a little unexpected..but neccessary.

Anonymous said...

My gosh this site can really be condescending....yes it is set during the sixties thru the eighties

Huh? I believe followspot meant that it was a play written in the 80's and, even if that's not what was meant, how is simplifying it to an era condescending? Or did you mean the "Big Chill" reference?

And where in the 2 prior posts did you get that Portland was being minimized or self-hating?

Anonymous said...

Loved it! Well done. It's great to see Profile quietly and elegantly putting together such a fine season. They'll need to be getting a larger space here before too long....

Go see it. It's very high quality theatre.