David Mamet hasn't got much to shout about on Broadway at the moment, unlike the much-praised star of one of his two flops
The world is divided into two types of people: diehard Al Pacino fans, and the rest of us. Both were in attendance at a half-empty matinee performance this week of the Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet's Pulitzer prize-winning 1982 depiction of a crooked Chicago real-estate office.
The faithful dutifully applauded as the curtain rose on the faded figure of the 70s superstar. As he began to speak, they leaned forward enthusiastically.
The rest of us leaned forward too. But that was only to try to grasp what Pacino was saying. At best he mumbled and muttered his opening lines, at worst the lines didn't even leave his mouth but seemed to give up the fight somewhere between his Adam's apple and his lips, before drifting off inaudibly into the scenery.
The play doesn't officially open for another two nights â€" halfway through its 10-week run. This delayed opening (it has so far been playing to audiences in preview) gave rise to an irritated piece by the New York Times critic Charles Isherwood a couple of days ago.
"Critics have not been invited to attend until later this week, more than six weeks after the show began previews," Isherwood wrote. "By that late date, you may reasonably ask, who will care what the critics have to say?"
Well quite, but there was nothing stopping Isherwood or one of the other Times reviewers from buying a ticket and going earlier. Jon Landman, the culture editor of the Times, confirms that the paper does not have an official policy of waiting until opening night.
"There's no policy, really," he said in an email. "Just common practice, which is to honor the preview period for the familiar reasons. Occasionally, in egregious cases in which the preview is clearly being extended for reasons we consider cynical or otherwise illegitimate, we make an exception."
Isherwood called the delay an "egregious attempt to avoid critical scrutiny for mercenary reasons". Perhaps it wasn't egregious enough to merit a break in convention by Times critics. No matter. On Wednesday, I went their place.
Ticket sales are, supposedly, brisk. "We have a full house," an usher told me a minute before curtain-up, when I asked to change my seat. "A lot of people are in the bar and the tour buses are always late."
Well, a lot of people must have stayed in the bar and maybe the tour buses got lost because the empty seats never filled. This is not good news for Mamet, who has already had to deal with one disaster this week â€" the early closing of his latest play, The Anarchist, starring Patti LuPone and Debra Winger. Trashed by critics, it will close after 17 performances.
As for Glengarry Glen Ross, I completely understand the reason for the delayed opening. That is not to say it is a completely wretched production. There are some fine performances on the drab set of the Schoenfeld Theatre, most notably from the TV stars in the cast. Bobby Cannavale (Will and Grace, Boardwalk Empire, Nurse Jackie) is outstanding as Ricky Roma, the part Pacino played in the 1992 movie version of the play. John C McGinley (Scrubs) steals the show in the first act, as Dave Moss. And Richard Schiff (Toby in the West Wing) does a solid version of Toby in the West Wing.
But Pacino' s performance in the first half, as the washed-up salesman Shelley Levene, was just dreadful.
"Why does he always play Jews?" the woman next to me complained as the curtain went up for the intermission, after a brisk 45 minutes. "He's an Italian."
She had a point. Pacino's last big Broadway role was as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, also directed by Daniel Sullivan. At least then he tried to look the part, wearing a yarmulke and peyos. In Glengarry Glen Ross, with his graying hair trimmed in the typical Hollywood dude layered look, he didn't look or sound remotely Jewish. In fact some of his scenes with Cannavale seemed straight out of The Sopranos.
When he's not mumbling, Pacino is a shouter. At least then you can hear him. But when he starts, the shouting is endless. I felt like shouting back: "Enough! Stop!" But apparently shouting is stagecraft for passion, so there was no stopping Pacino as the part called for his character to return to the office bubbling over with the news that he had closed a deal.
The diehards didn't mind. As the curtain fell they leaped to give Pacino a standing ovation. The rest of us leaped to our feet too â€" and rushed for the exit.
David MametAl PacinoBroadwayNew York TimesTheatreUnited StatesEmma G Kellerguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/us-news-blog/2012/dec/06/al-pacino-glengarry-glenn-ross-david-mamet
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