Waiting...

[don]

Half a century after he first appeared on Broadway, which is also how long it’s been since he last appeared on Broadway, the old tramp still can’t deliver a simple song. Heck, Vladimir can’t even get the tune right as he wanders through the graveyard ditty that begins the second act of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” which opened on Thursday night at Studio 54.

Yet by the time he’s finished struggling through his number — and moods that dance between defeat and defiance — Vladimir the hobo (played by Bill Irwin) is more inspirational than a dozen Susan Boyles belting beat-the-odds renditions of dream-dreaming anthems.

Ms. Boyle’s closely watched performance in a British talent contest may capture show-biz fantasies of the ordinary transfigured. Vladimir’s clumsy musical stylings follow how ordinary life really plays out. His making it through his song, step by faltering step, is like anybody making it through a single day. And the next day, and the next day, and all the next days to come. If he isn’t some sort of hero, then none of us are.

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2009/05/...1godo.html?hpw

[santafe2]

Re: Waiting...

Half a century after he first appeared on Broadway, which is also how long it’s been since he last appeared on Broadway, the old tramp still can’t deliver a simple song. Heck, Vladimir can’t even get the tune right as he wanders through the graveyard ditty that begins the second act of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” which opened on Thursday night at Studio 54.

Yet by the time he’s finished struggling through his number — and moods that dance between defeat and defiance — Vladimir the hobo (played by Bill Irwin) is more inspirational than a dozen Susan Boyles belting beat-the-odds renditions of dream-dreaming anthems.

Ms. Boyle’s closely watched performance in a British talent contest may capture show-biz fantasies of the ordinary transfigured. Vladimir’s clumsy musical stylings follow how ordinary life really plays out. His making it through his song, step by faltering step, is like anybody making it through a single day. And the next day, and the next day, and all the next days to come. If he isn’t some sort of hero, then none of us are.

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2009/05/...1godo.html?hpw

The ridiculously effete never tire if their Joyce and Beckett. As if either matter in the post modernist world they failed to understand. And the author can't make his case without demonizing a lonely Scottish woman with a nice voice. Who would take the time to defend Joyce let alone his little groupie, Beckett in the 21st Century.

[jk]

Re: Waiting...

The ridiculously effete never tire if their Joyce and Beckett. As if either matter in the post modernist world they failed to understand. And the author can't make his case without demonizing a lonely Scottish woman with a nice voice. Who would take the time to defend Joyce let alone his little groupie, Beckett in the 21st Century.

why the venom? i never could get past the first page of ulysses, myself, but kind of like waiting for godot. the mention of susan blake was unpleasant in its condescension, i agree, but hardly "demonizing."

[santafe2]

Re: Waiting...

why the venom? i never could get past the first page of ulysses, myself, but kind of like waiting for godot. the mention of susan blake was unpleasant in its condescension, i agree, but hardly "demonizing."

The post-apocalyptic bleakness of stage and attitude with Godot is understandable if not forgivable, given Beckett's experience in Europe but I find his point of view without merit. For me, life is not a trap or trickery, it is a thing to be cherished. It has intrinsic value and requires no external affirmation. I understand more about humanity in one note from Boyle than two acts of Godot.

[don]

Re: Waiting...

The effete production, Waiting for Godot, has been extended in New York, led by lead actor, the effete John Goodman, of Roseanne fame. The production continues, despite not having the multi-billion dollar backing of the corporate oligopoly, that propagates mis-direction television entities like American Idol and its offshoots, propagating the "just be happy, anyone can win the lottery, without even trying" narcotic to the masses. Tickets available for both. :cool: