Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare in the Park)

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 5/21/19 at 4:08pm

The production starts tonight!!! Shakespeare in the Park is one of my favorite things about NYC in the summer. Reports on the production and arrival time for tickets is appreciated

Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (American Son, A Raisin in the Sun) directs a bold new take on Shakespeares cherished comedy of romantic retribution and miscommunication, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. In this modern production, we find the community of Messina celebrating a break from an ongoing war. But not all is peaceful amid the revelry, as old rivals engage in a battle of wits, unexpected foes plot revenge, and young lovers are caught in a tumultuous courtship until love proves the ultimate trickster, and undoes them all.

[abbagirl]

Posted: 5/21/19 at 4:25pm

I'll be there! Won the TodayTix lotto. :)

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 5/22/19 at 1:35am

How was it?

[Exitstageleft]

Posted: 5/22/19 at 3:44pm

Totally new at this and would like to see Much Ado. If I want to get tickets at the Delacorte, how early do people start lining up during the week, like a Wednesday? And how late is too late that you’ll probably miss out? Thanks and so sorry if this has been asked a zillion times before.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 5/22/19 at 3:58pm

The earlier in a run you can go, the easier it is to get tickets -- especially if the cast doesn't have any big names in it. If you can go sometime in the next two weeks, you can usually get there a little before noon and be fine on weekdays. Weekends are usually busier. Also, if you can go on a day when the weather forecast isn't great, those are usually less crowded.

Updated On: 5/22/19 at 03:58 PM

[Exitstageleft]

Posted: 5/22/19 at 4:27pm

Thanks so much. And we are trying to go within the next week, on a weekday so that is encouraging.

[Chuckieroy]

Posted: 5/22/19 at 5:51pm

Got here today expecting a line. No line. Still tickets at the box office. Walked up around 545 and picked up two tickets.

[ahhrealmonsters]

Posted: 5/22/19 at 6:44pm

Saw it last night - it's long. The first act was 2 hours, and the whole thing ended after 11 (the second act was about 45 minutes). I saw Much Ado with Lily Rabe & Hamish Linklater ~5 years ago at the Delacorte, and the pacing was a lot better in that production. Granted this was the first preview, but I don't think they can do that much restructuring.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/22/19 at 10:26pm

Exitstageleft said: "Totally new at this and would like to see Much Ado. If I want to get tickets at the Delacorte, how early do people start lining up during the week, like a Wednesday? And how late is too late that you’ll probably miss out? Thanks and so sorry if this has been asked a zillion times before."

Later in the run if it gets popular you might have to be there when they open... like 6am. But for now, 10am is probably already on the safe side. Bring something comfortable to sit on, a snack, a drink, and something to do and enjoy a nice hour or two in the park. 

How are the performances and staging? I saw the Lily Rabe/Hamish Linklater production too and I don't especially need to see this one if it's just average. I watched the video about how the play is apparently reset to Georgia in 2020. 

[VotePeron]

Posted: 5/23/19 at 12:07am

A Shakespeare play, directed by Kenny Leon, starring Danielle Brooks, and featuring an all-black cast celebrating 2019 black culture is an amazing concept on paper. But *wow*, is Much Ado About Nothing the wrong play for this.

It just doesn't work. At all.

I've never seen or read MAAN before, and was shocked to read in the Playbill that it is regarded as one of Shakespeares funniest comedies? What I saw tonight was not a comedy - it is played very much like a high drama. Act 1 clocks in at a near infuriating hour and forty-five minutes, and then the second act has approx nothing happen in it. The pacing is atrocious. 

The actors are doing the best they can, but shoe-horning this concept into this text seemed pointless and fell completely flat for me. Danielle Brooks is stellar, as is the majority of the cast. The dancing is also very good. The music is fine but it is endless and moves the plot zero. I'm sure it'll be spruced up in previews, but this is the first real miss for me at Shakespeare in the Park in recent years.

If you have a free evening, I'd still probably recommend it, since it is free and world-class entertainment in the middle of Central Park, but it's certainly nowhere as good as Othello, Twelfth Night, or Midsummer from recent years.

[Emmaloucbway]

Posted: 5/23/19 at 12:13am

VotePeron said: "and then the second act has approxnothing happen in it."

I mean... the title of the play promises that...  

 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/23/19 at 7:48am

VotePeron hit the nail on the head. Fascinating concept, but this is the WRONG play for it. I also found the entire evening to be way too long and drawn out. The pacing is unbearable. Also, I really did not care for the added music and singing. After such great productions of Midsummer and Othello the past couple of summers, this one is definitely a letdown. 

[Kad]

Posted: 5/23/19 at 10:26am

The thing about Much Ado is that everyone only remembers Beatrice and Benedick, and their plotline is a lot of fun and they're the roles that draw big name actors. But their plot is only half the show. The Claudio and Hero stuff is the other half and is... not as fun. 

[macnyc]

Posted: 5/23/19 at 10:50am

I saw the show last night (second preview) and I have more positive feelings than Vote Peron. And I think Kad's point is well taken.

Yes, the show needs tightening up, but I think the music and dancing are good additions, and the performances wow!

Danielle Brooks is a force of nature and is really reveling in the role already. You can't take your eyes off her. You just want to see what she'll do next. Chuck Cooper brings his brand of amused detachment, and he's always fun to watch. I thought the acting in general was top-notch.

What I loved about this production is that all the actors spoke their lines so well, emphasizing the right words consistently so that the Bard's meaning is clear. The production might be a tad overmiked, but I guess that's needed when helicopter pilots decide they want to view the play from up above. (So annoying!)

What dragged for me were the exits and entrances, and those could be tightened up. Also the whole scenes with the constable and the watchmen. I didn't get them at all. They really seem like filler. I wonder if it's possible to trim those? Those characters are necessary for the plot, so they can't be eliminated, I don't think.

As far as the plot, I made the mistakeof not reading the one-page summary in the program before the show. I found myself getting confused by who was doing what to whom and why. I had seen the 2014 Much Ado in the park, and I think the plot lines were teased out better in that production.

There were empty seats last night, so if you're around this weekend, I bet you can get in easily.

 

 

 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 5/23/19 at 8:19pm

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 5/23/19 at 11:58pm

My feelings about this production are somewhere in the middle of the opinions voiced here. The acting is fabulous across the board. Danielle Brooks is a standout; she's perfect as Beatrice. The dancing was also wonderful. The pacing dragged a bit at times, but overall it didn't feel overly long to me. 

VotePeron said: "I've never seen or read MAAN before, and was shocked to read in the Playbill that it is regarded as one of Shakespeares funniest comedies? What I saw tonight was not a comedy - it is played very much like a high drama. "

This was my biggest problem; they couldn't settle on a tone. At times it was very funny, but it sometimes took itself way too seriously. 

**MINOR SPOILERS I SUPPOSE?** I didn't like the ending at all. This play is supposed to be a comedy. I would have liked it to end on the fun, upbeat note of the weddings, rather than trying to connect with current social issues that the production didn't actually address but just threw in at the end to try to convey a message and create a more somber mood. It didn't work for me. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/24/19 at 11:44pm

I kind of concur with what was said. I loved the “blackified” treatment by the actors. It made it current and fresh, but still told the story. Brooks is just incredible. And the acting is great. The direction is great. The singing, while great, needs to go. This is suppose to be a comedy. But there are so many heavy handed moments. I didn’t mind the ending. I liked that it made such a point without having to say anything and it would have been more of a shock and meaningful without the prior singing, etc.

Either way it’s a long show, but worth it for the performances.

[LaneBryant]

Posted: 5/27/19 at 11:53pm

RippedMan said: "I kind of concur with what was said. I loved the “blackified” treatment by the actors. It made it current and fresh, but still told the story. 

Hello -

As a representative of the Blacks, I have a favor to ask. Please take the word "blackify" out of your vocabulary, and throw it in thee NEAREST trash can. That's disgusting. You cannot be serious. That is not a thing. We're just walking and breathing and being great...not "blackifying". When white people suck all the rhythm and soul out of a piece of work, we don't call it "white-ification". It's just another show on Broadway. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 8:07am

I felt kind of mixed on the show, and my feelings are in line with a lot of the posts above. Much Ado is my favorite Shakespeare comedy, and I actually DO think it’s Shakespeare’s funniest play. And there were lots of moments I really enjoyed with this production, particularly Danielle Brooks and Grantham Coleman, who are excellent both as individuals, and as an onstage pair.

But yeah, they REALLY lean into the serious moments, and it throws off the tone of the evening. Many directors have shown that it’s possible to hit the play’s serious notes without sinking deep into them, but Leon took that deep dive, and the production did not benefit from it.

I think most disappointing for me was the lazy implementation of the concept. I was really excited to learn that they would be setting it in a super specific time and place, because that can lead to some really fascinating directorial decisions that shed new light on the play, and hopefully, on the setting they choose. But at the end of the day, it just felt like a design choice. It never seemed to inform their interpretation of the text in any significant way.

And I should say that I still had a good time. The play is still one of my favorites, and IMO they didn’t screw it up so much as they just fell short of their potential. And anyway it was worth it for the two leads alone.

[BJR]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 9:58am

LaneBryant said: "As a representative of the Blacks, I have a favor to ask. Please take the word "blackify" out of your vocabulary, and throw it in thee NEAREST trash can. That's disgusting. You cannot be serious. That is not a thing. We're just walking and breathing and being great...not "blackifying".Whenwhite people suck all the rhythm and soul out of a piece of work, we don't call it "white-ification". It's just another show on Broadway."

Um THIS. 

What does that even mean? Does it mean to simply cast black actors? Is it behaving in a "black" way? And yes, these are rhetorical.

[DianaD3]

Posted: 5/29/19 at 4:49pm

I have tickets for tonight's show. Does anyone know where to find info on if tonight's show will be cancelled due to expected thunderstorm?

Updated On: 5/29/19 at 04:49 PM

[supersam1026]

Posted: 5/29/19 at 5:20pm

They never cancel before showtime. Your best bet is to go, bring a poncho (no umbrellas allowed!) and hope they get the show in! If they cancel, that's that and you'll have to try and go another day, however, they do not give vouchers or anything like that.

[DianaD3]

Posted: 5/29/19 at 5:26pm

Thanks! I think I'll sit this one out and try the lottery another day. It started to rain and it's dark outside.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/29/19 at 10:39pm

Lordy. Y'all love to jump down people's throats. It wasn't even meant as an insult. They brought their own flavor to the piece instead of the usual Shakespearean interpretation, and I thought it was refreshing and totally fit. 

Just as when someone said Andrew Garfield "played Gay" in Angels... it's not a biggie unless you make it a biggie..

Updated On: 5/29/19 at 10:39 PM

[Bwaydreamer3]

Posted: 5/29/19 at 11:25pm

RippedMan said: "Lordy. Y'all love to jump down people's throats. It wasn't even meant as an insult. They brought their own flavor to the piece instead of the usual Shakespearean interpretation, and I thought it was refreshing and totally fit.

Just as when someone said Andrew Garfield "played Gay" in Angels... it's not a biggie unless you make it a biggie.."

But it is a "biggie". And its very telling of your character the fact that you have multiple poc (including me) telling you what you said was wrong, yet you still refuse to acknowledge that... No one asked what your black writer pulitzer prize winner playwright friend said, we're talking about what you said. And frankly just because they said it, doesn't mean you can. Don't say anyone is jumping down your throat when we're actually just calling out your bias