Broadway Bob's Theater Reviews
Welcome to a world where imagination takes center stage. In this column, I explore the artistry, emotion, and elegance that define today’s theater—where each performance is not merely entertainment, but an experience to be savored. From the dazzling lights of Broadway to the intimate charm of off-Broadway gems, I’ll uncover the stories, talents, and moments that keep New York’s stages alive and endlessly captivating.
Blackbird
Blackbird" three times, once on Broadway, which starred Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams, another time off off Broadway starring Scott MC Cord at the 17th Street Theater, and last night I saw this Blackbird at Theatre 4 at Theatre Row.
"Blackbird" is a play that you will either like or hate. There is no in-between, and a lot has to do with the subject matter. The shows two character banter is 90 minutes long, and the direction is on the slowish side, with the two rehashing something that happened many years ago.
Playwright David Harrower has two actors trying to re-live the past and what happened to their lives since. The problem with this performance is two-fold: the direction by Tara Brown never has the two in sync, and both actors are weak in their respective roles. Where Scott McCord was very believable as a once handsome young man whom Una could fall for, Miguel Perez is shlumpy and too withdrawn. He is never believable as a dashing, vibrant person.
In all three performances I have seen over the years, the writer never gives us a great detail about what has really happened to Ray. Even his position at the company he now works for is unclear. We know vaguely that he did jail time for his crimes, but the writing never goes in-depth as to his feelings about what he went through in jail; he only dabbles in it. The other thing missing is his life in general; why did he do what he did? Who was he before the incident? Even after jail, the writing doesn't tell us how he picked up the pieces.
As with Ray, we never get to know Una (Melina Farahani). Again, we get snippets of what she has done since her relationship with Ray. We get no idea of what she has been up to, how she deals with what happened to her. The writer only gives us small insights as to how she was ridiculed and slapped in public over what happened, but it is never emotional enough to make us interested.
"Blackbird" has been widely produced over the years in many different countries. Where the show could tug on many more emotional cords, it doesn't. The play is always directed at a slow pace, and coupled with slow writing, the 90 minutes of intermission, less rhetoric is just that, words; words that go nowhere.