tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post1021460553501066937..comments2023-12-05T07:50:19.855-05:00Comments on No Oil for Pacifists: The Play's The Thing@nooil4pacifistshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16688417615117569825noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-44064615761279864202016-07-09T19:28:24.515-04:002016-07-09T19:28:24.515-04:00I think I should watch the DVD of the 2008 London ...I think I should watch the DVD of the 2008 London concert performance of <i>Chess.</i> Thanks for your comments on the different versions.<br /><br />Regarding <i>Democracy,</i> I liked its dramatization of a curious period in modern West German history, when an East German agent worked in chancellor Willy Brandt's office. It worked well for me onstageāI saw a National Theatre production that came to New York. But if you read some of it and didn't care for it, I doubt a second go-round would fare any better.John Branchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12323569021826786444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-34115638700592923842016-07-09T17:09:34.135-04:002016-07-09T17:09:34.135-04:00I loved Chess, obviously. But I was lucky enough ...I loved Chess, obviously. But I was lucky enough to see it a month after it opened in London, with original cast. Was the most expensive play ever staged (to that time). I was mesmerized--both as a cold-war junkie and an ex-chess player. By the time it made it to America, the Cold War was ending, so the completely re-wrote it (dumbing it down, etc.). Awful. And there's third version that swept around small theaters in the States about three years ago. That one's even worse; I'll just say this: it has a happy ending that made me want to vomit.<br /><br />You ask about the recordings. The ORIGINAL recording, the one with Murray Head singing "One Night in Bangkok", was recorded before the play opened in London. I doubt anyone realized they'd recorded an international smash hit, but the revenue from the one song funded the risky show. Yet that album was NOT what I heard in London; they'd added and re-arranged songs (and shifted scenes from Act 1 to Act 2). Used to annoy the heck out of me--for example, "Embassy Lament" is not on that on that album, although it's the best comic relief in the play. <br /><br />The American cast album accurately reflected the American version--I trashed it years ago.<br /><br />Not until the 2008 live concert you mention was the original London performance restored: all the songs, and in the right order. The problem is that although no one can doubt that the "Bobby Fischer" character on the 2008 album has a better voice, I'm used to Murray Head warning me of the dangers of Thailand. And two of the other three vocalists are manifestly inferior to the London version. Plus there's a half-dozen spots where the brass or woodwinds make obvious flubs (ok, it was a live performance). But, damn it, there's many a time I want to re-live that experience (1985 I think; ah, youth), and just play the 2008 album straight through. <br /><br />Re "Democracy", to be honest, I tried to read the script and quit. Should I try again?<br /><br />Btw, I almost never look at this Blog's comments anymore; stick to Goodreads.<br /><br />NOfPAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-74717064272595489152016-07-09T11:36:47.787-04:002016-07-09T11:36:47.787-04:00Two sets of questions.
One: What did you think ab...Two sets of questions.<br /><br />One: What did you think about <i>Chess</i>? Do you know whether the 2008 DVD of a London concert performance presents the British or the American version?<br /><br />Two: You clearly appreciate two of Michael Frayn's other works, so I wonder whether you've seen or read <i>Democracy.</i> I might find out by searching your blog, but it seems easier just to ask.John Branchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12323569021826786444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-75498355634861672902008-05-18T06:36:00.000-04:002008-05-18T06:36:00.000-04:00> I didn't see any of the other Whitmore plays--s...> I didn't see any of the other Whitmore plays--should I?<BR/><BR/>Well, I've never heard anyone that did not like <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073053/" REL="nofollow">Give Em Hell, Harry</A>... I have less respect for him as a result of current knowledge of how he failed in regard to communist spies, but Whitmore does give an engaging performance of him, akin to the one as Rogers.<BR/><BR/>I also recall Robert Vaughn's performance as <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162836/" REL="nofollow">FDR</A>, as being fairly good, too. Even though I don't agree with everything he did, the movie, like GEHH, does a great job of collecting anecdotes and creating an engagin picture of the men.<BR/><BR/>Although it's more movie-in-a-movie, I assume you've also seen <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120202/" REL="nofollow">State And Main</A>.OBloodyHellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09992539380115488567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-20015942548186047222008-05-16T23:36:00.000-04:002008-05-16T23:36:00.000-04:00OBH:I found Deathtrap a bit contrived (though Denn...OBH:<BR/><BR/>I found <I>Deathtrap</I> a bit contrived (though Dennis Potter swiped its plot as one storyline in <I>Singing Detective</I>. I loved <I>Will Rogers' USA</I>, though mostly because I like Will Rogers. I didn't see any of the other Whitmore plays--should I?<BR/><BR/>AVI:<BR/><BR/><I>Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead</I> was twelfth on my list, and I loved <I>Shakespeare in Love</I> (he co-wrote the script). <I>The Real Thing</I> was interesting (also play-within-a-play). I wasn't crazy about <I>Enigma</I> or <I>Empire of the Sun</I>. And I, too, briefly was a film major.@nooil4pacifistshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688417615117569825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-33095656758683079202008-05-16T22:01:00.000-04:002008-05-16T22:01:00.000-04:00I was a theater major at William and Mary. I got ...I was a theater major at William and Mary. I got so fed up with the people that I seldom see anything anymore. I do like to read Tom Stoppard and a few earlier playwrights, but nothing live.<BR/><BR/>This frustrates my brother, a theater prof at ECU, and my filmmaker brother and filmmaker son. Tough noogies.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427940.post-89423716740690927172008-05-16T18:25:00.000-04:002008-05-16T18:25:00.000-04:00So, then, what did you think of Deathtrap? I assum...So, then, what did you think of <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083806/" REL="nofollow">Deathtrap</A>? I assume it was a play first.<BR/><BR/>I'm also curious what you thought of the films of Whitmore's one-man shows (along with Robert Vaughan's) back in the 70s. Those were essentially plays.OBloodyHellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09992539380115488567noreply@blogger.com