Saw The River today at Circle in the Square Theater, with Hugh Jackman, Cush Jumbo and Laura Connelly. By Jez Butterworth I have never been a Hugh Jackman fan, as in, I have to see this --Hugh Jackman is in it --OMG! And I hadnt even heard he was doing this play, but I was volunteering the other day at Circle for their childrens theater programs and I saw the posters for it and there was something about the energy of it that I liked. I was curious what someone like HF, with his star power, was doing in this little theater in a 3 person ensemble that was flying under the radar that stood in stark contrast to the buzz around Bradley Cooper over in The Elephant Man. I had to see it. As it turns out, you can get same day rush tickets for $35. The lines were small, on the days I was volunteering, I would see only ten people showing up for the same-day tickets. **FYI, on Mondays only, you can purchase a rush ticket for any day of the week, any performance. I recommend getting a bench seat. I love the space at Circle, beautiful theater in the round, wide open floor level stage with stadium seating. For this production, they created special seats and raised the stage level, adding a back wall that cut off one end of the circle. I was fortunate to have a bench seat, which put me about arms length from the stage. The actors were very protective of their space and demanded the audience show respect. A note from the actors about silence was included in the program, and one of the understudies came out at the top of the show to physically instruct the audience on how to turn off their cell phones. I think this was necessary for it was a strange crowd, I dont know if they were regular theater goers, or if they were a crowd who had ever seen anything that wasnt a Disney musical. I noticed when waiting in line for the bathroom, which snaked around the lower lobby and up the staircase, that the women were all about the same age and same look and all talking exciting about seeing wolverine. The energy was one that I thought to myself, do they know they are here to see a play? Are they in the right place? So there were two spaces overlapping, one of the play, and the other of Hugh jackman. I have to admit, it took me awhile to take my eyes off Hugh Jackman. I mean, gosh, hes massive. Legs up to his ears, muscles, just a big specimine of a man. Who knew? Apparently all the other slightly older middle aged women from suburbia who were all vibrating at the energy of 13 yr old girls. His physicality is such a big part of who he is on stage. Hes very grounded and focused, and serious about what hes doing, but hes also very aware of himself and his body, how he stands, sits, moves. On the one hand, hes very comfortable with himself and on the other, you can tell hes very aware of the audience. Hes magnetic. It was such an intimate space and you just wanted to hang out all day. Cush and Laura were terrific. Good play, well written, good performances, tight ensemble. Really well done. At the end, ensemble curtain call...but then they had HJ come back on and all the women jumped on their feet and gave him a standing ovation, clapping wildly. Seriously? It was good but its not Angels in America. Today was Broadway Cares fundraiser, where all the theaters with performances would talk to the audience and ask for donations. With this performance, Hugh Jackman said he would shamelessly exploit his celebrity status and auction off the shirt he wore during the show. The bidding started at $1000, and wound its way up to 6,000 with two women battling it out. the one lost out to the other, but HJ said, I had a costume change if you would match the 6,000 the other shirt is yours. She did. Now thats star power. $12,000 in ten minutes for a t-shirt. For 2,000 you could go backstage and have your picture taken with him. There was a group of women in the front row who all yelled out at once, only if its on the bed refering to the stage bed. Its an interesting balancing act, isnt it, being the actor and being the fantasy, hes a showman, thats for sure. He values theater, he values the profession, he does the work, hes grounded in it, and he likes being the star. it was interesting to see that.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 01:58:43 +0000
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