Artists Repertory Theatre
Closes July 1, 2007
Visceral battle of bygone egos. Uniformly strong cast. Van Voris is a brooding, wounded giant with a voice that can wake the dead. In second act, same note (Olivier and Welles don’t agree!) hit a few too many times. Vulgarities feel out of era. Shadow when it arrives is striking.
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3 comments:
I saw the Wednesday preview some weeks ago, and it was solid. Van Voris was indeed fantastic, Michael Mendelson no less so; both are at least the equals of the out-of-towners. Ms. Maginn gets much less stage time, but makes the most of it. The play is unfair to Olivier, I think, which makes it hard for the actor: I could see Welles’s magnificence as well as his warts, but I had a hard time believing this overly vain, henpecked sniveler was the greatest actor of his time. I’m very tempted to see it again to see how the characters and play matured. Even without its manifold other pleasures, this production is worth it just to see Todd’s Orson.
Words words words...the play itself is kind of exhausting to watch, but most of the performances were notable. Was that Todd Van Voris or was that ACTUALLY Orson Welles?! Good sound design as well.
I was astounded with the performance of the actress playing Vivian. She was captivating and powerful, without for a moment losing herself in the traps the role inherently has. She never stopped listening. A very strong cast for a problem show. Micheal Mendelson is so much fun to watch, as always, sparkling and attentive. David Carey Foster pulls off a lot of charm for such a challenging role. Tod was fantastic as well. The script had some great ideas that hadn't taken flight.
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