First's

"Il faut un début à tout!"



"There's a beginning to everything", that's what we say in France to give courage to someone new to something...so here I am, Ceci, a French girl who'll assist Janet in pleasing every fan of the great actress we all love. Please accept all my apologies in advance if some language mistakes should worm their way into my posts, for English is not my native language...but I'll try and be alert!



Back to the essentials, this week is a particular one for Jennifer Ehle as well, for the previews of Mr & Mrs Fitch have started and, with them, the first reactions of the audience. Readers, prepare yourselves for some controversy, for, if the general impression is so far favourable - especially concerning the two actors performance - the play in itself arouses more contrasted opinions.



Rachel from the Opiniatedbitch offers us an extensive and interesting review, and reckons that:

In a play that only features two characters, it's imperative that the
two actors cast are able to carry the entire performance. Luckily for Mr
& Mrs Fitch, John Lithgow and Jennifer Ehle are. [...] While the
set and the actors are stellar, Mr & Mrs Fitch falls a little
flat with the play itself...

Read the entire review if you want to know more about the reasons for this judgement, but be aware of the many spoilers it contains.



Shorter reviews and opinions will be found at Goldstar and BroadwayWorld, where pros-cons discussions go on nicely. I particularly liked Paul's one, who mentioned that, given the nature of the play - two arrogant gossip columnists threatened in their jobs and willing to do anything to stay in the game - "if you disliked the characters, it's all the more reason the play was brilliant". Indeed !



In occasions such as these, the only sound advice to give would be to go see the play and judge by yourselves - good news is that NYC & Company offers on the house 2 tickets for 1, and that Mr and Mrs Fitch is on the programme! The offer is valid from the 8th to the 28th of February, so don't wait too much! As Director Scott Ellis said himself in an AmericanTheatreWing interview, it's a rare opportunity to see Jennifer Ehle's great skills in comedy...



Last but not least, congratulations to John Lithgow for his Golden Globe won thanks to his performance in Dexter. The great man has accepted to answer fan questions, but you have until tomorrow (8th of February) to submit yours, so don't take too much time...



Another congratulation to Colin Firth for his nomination to the Oscar 2010 as best actor for his performance in A Single Man. The least we can say is that Ms Ehle knows how to choose her co-workers!