Lee Pace, Ellen Barkin, Wayne Alan Wilcox, Patrick Breen, Jim Parsons, Joe Mantello, John Benjamin Hickey, Luke Macfarlane, Richard Topol and Mark Harelik. (Production Photos: Joan Marcus) |
Ellen Barkin |
Set in 1981 New York City,
the play focuses on the early years of the AIDS plague and the criminal silence
of the political and media powers in addressing the issue. A tight-knit group
of friends refuses to let doctors, politicians and the media dismiss the truth
of an unspoken epidemic behind a wall of silence.
Joe Mantello |
The performances by Barkin
and Mantello are a contrast of portrayals. Both are equally loud and unwavering
in their convictions. Barkin’s portrayal feels passionate and enlightening as
in the scene where she expresses her outrage when she is refused a research
grant for the disease. Not once throughout the evening is her confinement to a wheelchair because of
polio is addressed for sympathy. Mantello’s Weeks is constantly abrasive in his efforts
that he alienates the powers as well as the volunteers of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis
center which he started and from which he is ousted. His unwillingness to be calm in the face of the adversity reveals a
frustration on stage and in the audience. Both Barkin and Mantello
deliver individual, bitter and sharp speeches criticizing the apathy towards their
efforts and receive the kind of show-stopping applause usually more common for
the big number in musicals.
Jim Parsons and Lee Pace |
Joe Mantello and John Benjamin Hickey |
John Benjamin Hickey |
The simple set design by David Rockwell and
lighting by David Weiner assist to emphasize the story with their starkness. Textured bare white
walls progressively come into clearer perspective as projections reveal a short list of those who fell victim to the disease until the full set and
proscenium are flooded with the names of the dead.
Yes, the play has not lost
its importance and after twenty-five years we realize and are made to remember
how much the AIDS crisis and the fight for its support and cure have changed
the way many of us think and in the many ways it has impacted our lives.
‘The Normal Heart’ is at the
tail-end of a strictly limited 12-week run. Unspectacular initial audience
reception is now a near sell-out after its three Tony Award wins including best
revival of a play and acting awards for Barkin and Hickey. A percentage of the
production’s weekly profits will be donated to a group of dedicated nonprofit
organizations.
The DETAILS
Lee Pace, Jim Parsons, Joe Mantello and Patrick Breen |
The DETAILS
Website: thenormalheartonbroadway.com
Where: John Golden Theatre
Location: 252 West 45th Street, New York City
When: Tue 7pm; Wed-Fri 8pm; Sat 2pm & 8pm; Sun 2pm & 7pm
Running Time: 2 hrs 35 min (one intermission)
Ticket Prices: $26.50-$126.50
Opening: Apr 27, 2011 (previews from Apr 19, 2011)
Closing: July 10, 2011
Book Online: telecharge.com
Book by Phone: 1-800-432-7250
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