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gwynGot back from New York Monday, but it's taken me a while to get back to normal, and I have so much work and so many fannish obligations (and a con this weekend! OMG) that it's been hard to find time to sit and post. I had a good time in some respects, not so good in others. My friend who I was meeting up with to see Chris Evans in Lobby Hero, and who had bought the tickets, brought her friend from work, and…that did not go well, at least for me.
I really enjoyed the play--I thought Chris was fantastic, and the whole cast was uniformly great. I had this moment of embarrassment squick when Chris first came on stage, because you could tell the audience was swarming with fangirls and I was afraid there would be applause or squealing or something, and I did hear one or two people start to clap, but fortunately it didn't happen. Michael Cera is not someone I am particularly fond of but he did an amazing job as Jeff, the central character around whom everyone else revolves. The actress who plays the partner of Chris's character was excellent and she really held her own against everyone, and I was shocked to find out she is English because her New York accent was pretty damn good. I give Chris credit too--I have heard his horrifying attempt at a Southern accent and I know this isn't his strong suit, but he pulled it off. The actor who played William was the one who impressed me the most, Brian Tyree Henry; he's definitely someone I plan to watch for in the future (I haven't watched Atlanta, but I think I will check it out for him). He wasn't always great at projecting and I sometimes wondered if people in the balcony could hear him, because even in the second row I had trouble with his quieter lines, but damn he was good.
The play is definitely a Kenneth Lonergan piece--super tight focus on a smallish number of characters, often a feckless sort of protagonist--usually but not always male, trying to drill down into why people do the things they do, lots of self-doubting, not particularly cheerful, crackling dialogue when characters do speak and lines that make you laugh out loud. There was one line that Chris has that made me laugh so hard that I had to jam my hand over my mouth to stop laughing so I wouldn't make a spectacle of myself. (I…am not going to get into my feelings about Lonergan and his defense of Casey Affleck right now, but suffice to say it lowered my opinion of him.) And I was really impressed with how well Chris handled being such a vile, manipulative bastard, because while he's played assholes and less than savory dudes before, this is very far off brand for him, and I'm glad he took on the challenge. He really does melt into the role of that particular type of NYPD cop--my friend works in the field and she mentioned how he has the cop lean, the hands on belt stance used to intimidate, all the little nuances down. He switches from charming and smarmy in his manipulations to hostile and frightening in a heartbeat, and it's a side of him as an actor I hadn't seen before, really.
Everyone talks about the mustache, and I have to say it's perfect for the role (the play's set in '99) with the brush cut. I had a theory that when you saw him in motion, in costume, it wouldn't be quite so noticeably terrible and Mario Brothersy, and I was right. Especially when he's wearing the hat, or just preening or strutting on stage, you forget it's Chris Evans with a terrible 'stache. He used his physicality well--he seems like a normal, tall guy who's appropriately fit until he goes into threatening mode and then he draws himself up to his full height, chest out, looming over his partner, Dawn, or leaning into Jeff's space and scaring him. He's actually off stage a lot of the time--I knew he wasn't really the lead but I was surprised by how much he was missing from the story (there's a reason for that). And you know, because I'm shallow, when he was six feet away from me I was noticing that even with the heavy belt and the baggy pants, you cannot hide that ass. (And also, just how amazingly, truly pale his skin is, which, like, I knew but when you see it in real life you're like wow, he's maybe even paler than I am!)
So all in all, it was totally worth building a trip around, I loved the play and the performances, and if you have the chance to see him in it before it's gone, I'd definitely recommend it. The updates they've made to the Helen Hayes theatre, too, were really nice--there aren't any real obstructions and it's quite small, so if you're there for the 'stache, you shouldn't be disappointed.
Getting out of the theatre after was insane--I knew there was a barricade for people wanting to wait at the stage door, but I had no idea it would be that bananas, not helped by being next door to Frozen. I was afraid my friend would want to wait, but it was bone-breaking cold out and I was woefully underdressed (I…really did not plan well for such unseasonably cold weather and outside of a nice Friday, I was always frozen myself), so I was super happy when she said she just wanted to go to Junior's for her traditional post-theatre eats. That place was nuts, too, but I've always wanted to go so was glad to do it. I have to admit, it's so nice to be in a city that you can eat dinner at midnight in. I'm a night owl, and even in the hipster disctricts in Seattle, stuff closes down so early.
Other highlights: got to have fangirl dinner with friends (thank you again, cesperanza, for organizing that!) at a lovely restaurant, finally made it to the Met after being thwarted for years, and went down to DUMBO in Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Historical Society's new location there. Found some lovely little details I want to work into Stucky fic. Also met up with anoel on Sunday at my hotel and ordered in Thai food, which made a nice decompression end to the trip. I'll probably write more about those things later. I've been posting a few pics here and there on my instagram account (teatotally).
I really enjoyed the play--I thought Chris was fantastic, and the whole cast was uniformly great. I had this moment of embarrassment squick when Chris first came on stage, because you could tell the audience was swarming with fangirls and I was afraid there would be applause or squealing or something, and I did hear one or two people start to clap, but fortunately it didn't happen. Michael Cera is not someone I am particularly fond of but he did an amazing job as Jeff, the central character around whom everyone else revolves. The actress who plays the partner of Chris's character was excellent and she really held her own against everyone, and I was shocked to find out she is English because her New York accent was pretty damn good. I give Chris credit too--I have heard his horrifying attempt at a Southern accent and I know this isn't his strong suit, but he pulled it off. The actor who played William was the one who impressed me the most, Brian Tyree Henry; he's definitely someone I plan to watch for in the future (I haven't watched Atlanta, but I think I will check it out for him). He wasn't always great at projecting and I sometimes wondered if people in the balcony could hear him, because even in the second row I had trouble with his quieter lines, but damn he was good.
The play is definitely a Kenneth Lonergan piece--super tight focus on a smallish number of characters, often a feckless sort of protagonist--usually but not always male, trying to drill down into why people do the things they do, lots of self-doubting, not particularly cheerful, crackling dialogue when characters do speak and lines that make you laugh out loud. There was one line that Chris has that made me laugh so hard that I had to jam my hand over my mouth to stop laughing so I wouldn't make a spectacle of myself. (I…am not going to get into my feelings about Lonergan and his defense of Casey Affleck right now, but suffice to say it lowered my opinion of him.) And I was really impressed with how well Chris handled being such a vile, manipulative bastard, because while he's played assholes and less than savory dudes before, this is very far off brand for him, and I'm glad he took on the challenge. He really does melt into the role of that particular type of NYPD cop--my friend works in the field and she mentioned how he has the cop lean, the hands on belt stance used to intimidate, all the little nuances down. He switches from charming and smarmy in his manipulations to hostile and frightening in a heartbeat, and it's a side of him as an actor I hadn't seen before, really.
Everyone talks about the mustache, and I have to say it's perfect for the role (the play's set in '99) with the brush cut. I had a theory that when you saw him in motion, in costume, it wouldn't be quite so noticeably terrible and Mario Brothersy, and I was right. Especially when he's wearing the hat, or just preening or strutting on stage, you forget it's Chris Evans with a terrible 'stache. He used his physicality well--he seems like a normal, tall guy who's appropriately fit until he goes into threatening mode and then he draws himself up to his full height, chest out, looming over his partner, Dawn, or leaning into Jeff's space and scaring him. He's actually off stage a lot of the time--I knew he wasn't really the lead but I was surprised by how much he was missing from the story (there's a reason for that). And you know, because I'm shallow, when he was six feet away from me I was noticing that even with the heavy belt and the baggy pants, you cannot hide that ass. (And also, just how amazingly, truly pale his skin is, which, like, I knew but when you see it in real life you're like wow, he's maybe even paler than I am!)
So all in all, it was totally worth building a trip around, I loved the play and the performances, and if you have the chance to see him in it before it's gone, I'd definitely recommend it. The updates they've made to the Helen Hayes theatre, too, were really nice--there aren't any real obstructions and it's quite small, so if you're there for the 'stache, you shouldn't be disappointed.
Getting out of the theatre after was insane--I knew there was a barricade for people wanting to wait at the stage door, but I had no idea it would be that bananas, not helped by being next door to Frozen. I was afraid my friend would want to wait, but it was bone-breaking cold out and I was woefully underdressed (I…really did not plan well for such unseasonably cold weather and outside of a nice Friday, I was always frozen myself), so I was super happy when she said she just wanted to go to Junior's for her traditional post-theatre eats. That place was nuts, too, but I've always wanted to go so was glad to do it. I have to admit, it's so nice to be in a city that you can eat dinner at midnight in. I'm a night owl, and even in the hipster disctricts in Seattle, stuff closes down so early.
Other highlights: got to have fangirl dinner with friends (thank you again, cesperanza, for organizing that!) at a lovely restaurant, finally made it to the Met after being thwarted for years, and went down to DUMBO in Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Historical Society's new location there. Found some lovely little details I want to work into Stucky fic. Also met up with anoel on Sunday at my hotel and ordered in Thai food, which made a nice decompression end to the trip. I'll probably write more about those things later. I've been posting a few pics here and there on my instagram account (teatotally).
