Saw it and this is shaping up to be a very well-recieved production. To begin with, it's gorgeously mounted...you can probably mark it down for the Best Costume Design for a Play Tony and probably Lighting Design as well. The eerie Sound Design has a good shot too.

Rufus Norris has directed it with an eye for the play's inner solitude and isolation, adding haunting interludes from two singers--a soprano and a tenor, and staging it so that characters not present in a scene sometimes appear onstage in a different space, as if to accentuate their importance to the action...

Laura Linney and Ben Daniels are both excellent, but I doubt either has much of a chance of beating Amy Morton (Osage) or Patrick Stewart (Macbeth). Nevertheless I do think they'll be nominated and possibly also a Featured Actress nod for Sian Phillips (Rosemonde) or Jessica Collins (Torvald).

With the benchmark production of "The Homecoming" closing today, and the recent arrival of this production and "Macbeth", the latter two could really make this a very close three-way race. An exciting one to watch!

I had high hopes for this production, good to hear that it's shaping up well...

A host of people were also at the first preview and chimed in on another board.....EWWWWWWW! Not a single one like it, and noted that many people left at intermission and throughout...a major disappointment (especially for Linney)...i hope they get better as time goes by.

If you're referring to the super-judgemental Broadway World board, I'm also a poster there, and in general nobody knows anything. It's an un fortunate arrangement...the boards are generally white hot over there, but full of troglodytes, whereas generally over here people know what they're saying but say very little. Talkin' Broadway I have even less patience for.

I saw this the first night it opened (April 12th), and while it wasn't BAD, I expected more.

I thought that Laura Linney was quite stiff and not totally plausible as an 18th century French noblewoman. I was sad over that fact, given how much I love her.

Ben Daniels was strong, though.

Interesting fact -- even though it was the first night of previews, when the cast did their curtain call, the audience stayed firmly planted in their seats.

To me, that was kind of telling.

Maybe it will get better. I say that because I saw "The Homecoming" while it was still in previews, and people, it was BORING BORING BORING. And I really listen to hear people's comments, and they were saying similar things.

NOW, however, ppl seem to have really jumped on its bandwagon. I heard it was tweaked from the previews (which it REALLY needed b/c it was so SLOW). Raul Esparza was great though.

Back on topic, maybe "LLD" will have the same luck. What a year Laura Linney is having....

~Morgan

I saw "Homecoming" after it opened and I can assure it was definitely not boring. That's not even a matter of personal taste - it's really not debatable - the show may be cold, distancing, strange, sadistic and disturbing - but there's no way it could be construed as boring. It must have come a long way since previews...but that is what previews are for.

As I've already said, I had a positive reaction to this revival of Les Liaisons; can't say if it will get raves, but from what I saw, which was early in previews, this was a very thoughtful production of a play that sort of challenges its stereotypes.

quote:

Originally posted by R2684:
I saw "Homecoming" after it opened and I can assure it was definitely not boring. That's not even a matter of personal taste - it's really not debatable - the show may be cold, distancing, strange, sadistic and disturbing - but there's no way it could be construed as boring. It must have come a long way since previews...but that is what previews are for.

As I've already said, I had a positive reaction to this revival of Les Liaisons; can't say if it will get raves, but from what I saw, which was early in previews, this was a very thoughtful production of a play that sort of challenges its stereotypes.

Dude, you're a 4-time Oscar winner so I'm going with your opinion.