Back-blog

Oops, Mon is me. Apologies.

• Martha Plimpton responds to the Isherwood thing, which also caused a kerfuffle on the NY Times' letter to the editor page. (NB. To read Martha Plimpton's blog, you must be a Myspace friend of hers)
  
• Famous names continue flocking to the show, according to Rachel Glickman and usher Jeff Goldstein. They spotted Sally Field, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn and Lauren Bacall.
  
• Broadway Beat has video on Coast of Utopia with clips from Shipwreck and interviewage from Voyage's opening night. Ta for the tip, Pinky & Kate.
• Reminder about the LCT Platform Series Q&A with Tom Stoppard on Feb 14th. Note that the time and date have apparently been changed.

  Lincoln Center Theater’s Platform Series continues its 2006-2007 season on Wednesday, February 14, from 5:00 to 6:15 pm at the Kaplan Penthouse (10th floor of the Rose Building, 165 West 65 Street) with a pre-performance talk with the Tony, Olivier and Oscar winning playwright, Tom Stoppard. Admission is free and open to all; however, seating is limited. Admission passes will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, beginning at 4:00 at the entrance to the Rose Building.
  

• Ricky Patterson has mixed views on Voyage.
  
• Mike at Lunar Gemini reports on the whole trilogy. Quoth he:

  [...] The cast is consistently strong. Not surprisingly, O'Byrne has the gravitas to carry the show, but I would have gladly watched a show that centered on any of the supporting characters as well. Hawke is the perfect blend of angst and obnoxiousness as the moody, pushy Bakunin. Jennifer Ehle creates three great characters but particularly shines as Herzen's wife Natalie in the second part, "Shipwreck." Amy Irving, Martha Plimpton, Richard Easton, Billy Crudup, Patricia Conolly...all superb. [...]

• Michael Giltz of Popsurfing seems to be interviewing some of the Utopians (Tom Stoppard, Ethan Hawke). Watch that space, I guess.
• Bob Martin relates the "censorship > free press" issue from Utopia to the free-for-all internets.
  
• Jesse21 from All That Chat makes mention of Jennifer Ehle in Salvage:

  Yeah, and was not Jennifer Ehle just great when she circled that big stage in Act 1 as her power was being usurped.

  sabra_n is critical but notes that she plays the part with a German accent. Other Utopia discussion at ATC includes some love for Josh Hamilton.
  
• NYCriticsCorner has reviews of all three parts: Voyage, Shipwreck and Salvage. Mentions from the latter two respectively:

  [...] It is Bryan F. O'Byrne & Jennifer Ehle (Design for Living, The Real Thing) who deserve all the glory for their performances here. Much like Billy Crudup's (who is completely underused in this second installment) tour de force in VOYAGE; O'Byrne navigates through Stoppard's words as if he just passed the S.A.T.'s with a perfect score and knows it! Matching him bit for bit is Tony winner Jennifer Ehle as Herzen's wife. Any actress who is comfortable being fully naked on stage for ten minutes, automatically scores points - but this one is breathtaking and beguiling! [...]

  [...] And Jennifer Ehle and Martha Plimpton never ever disappoint as the trilogies female standouts. [...]

• At BroadwayWorld Yankeefan007 agrees:

  [...] Glad you liked them. I concurr whole-heartedly about the 1st 2 parts (seeing the 3rd in a week). O'Byrne and Ehle are delivering tour-de-force performances, as are Crudup and Hawke. I wonder how the actors will be ruled at the Tony Awards. They all seem like sure-shots. [...]

• Lastly and randomly, shoutout to us from The Beef. Merci!
  

You may have noticed that "bi-daily" has been dropped from the sub-heading. With three of us now on the job, in theory there should be posts every day except Tues, but we get muddled. Expect more scheduling changes later.

PS. There are cheap ($40-65) Salvage tix at All That Chat's Shoppin' section for Feb 14, 16 and 22.