What's Wrong With Terry Teachout?

[+ Lucky]

Remember when Frank Rich was theater critic for the NY Times? He told it like it is, at least as he saw it, and earned the nickname the Butcher of Broadway.

Now the theater critic for the Wall Street journal seems determined to earn himself a title. I suggest "The Bitch of Broadway."

http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/Images/teachout_240.jpg

 

Why? Well, most every review of the End of the Rainbow lauded Tracie Bennet's performance, with stunning being a common adjective. Yet Mr. Teachout seems to making a point of being dismissive:

 

"Tracie Bennett can sing like Judy Garland, more or less, and if you have any interest in hearing her do so, go see Peter Quilter's "End of the Rainbow," a play about the last pathetic months of the drug-sodden Garland's life, in which Ms. Bennett gives what amounts to a miniconcert of Judy's Greatest Hits. Be forewarned, however, that Mr. Quilter's script is heavy on bitchy one-liners and light on insight, and that Ms. Bennett's portrayal of Garland-at-the-End-of-Her-Rope is a heavily shellacked impersonation that slops over into shameless caricature. (Not so Michael Cumpsty's performance as the singer's gay piano player, which is an estimable piece of capital-A acting.) Immune as I am to the in-your-face charms of the later Garland, I found the whole thing to be a yawn-making exercise in theatrical taxidermy, but fanboys and fangirls need not hesitate."

 

I couldn't disagree more. This is the same critic lauding The Best Man, yet, more or less, he doesn't like End of the Rainbow. Not a single performance in The Best Man comes close to matching Ms. Bennett's, yet he calls it a heavily shellacked impersonation that slops over into shameless caricature. Frankly, my dear, he seems to be the one doing the shameless impersonation of a theater critic!

 

Most real critics liked her. Huff Post says: Tracie Bennett, the woman tasked with filling Garland's ruby slippers, is so stunning that she manages to raise the dead.

Entertainment Weekly says: It's a brave, bravura performance without a single false note. When it comes to this year's Tony Award for best actress in a play — you have to hand it to Tracie Bennett.

The NY Times says she is "electrifying" and "sensational."

Backstage.com says she is "amazing" and "This is the kind of star turn for which the phrase “tour de force” was invented."

thearmania.com says: "Indeed, it's hard to say what's more impressive about Bennett's crowd-thrilling work: her extraordinary commitment to the role of Garland or her unbelievable stamina."

Variety says she is "astonishing" and "startling."

 

And the gays. One of them says "a stunning, firecracker performance by Tracie Bennett." gaysocialites.com

 

Now, mind you, not all of these reviews say that End of the Rainbow is a great play. But they sure do like Tracie Bennet. So, what's wrong with Terry Teachout?

[+ WilliamM]

Garland on "What's My Line" 1967

 

I did not realize that Lucky had posted that review. But, maybe my link to Judy Garland's appearance as the mystery guest on "What's My Line" in 1967 is still appropriate. It was the evening of the day her daughter, Liza Minnelli, was married. After the panel guessed who she was, Garland mentioned a forthcoming appearance in the film The Valley of the Dolls, by saying "I am the only character in the movie who doesn't take pills."

 

Unsurprising, Garland was fired from the film. Still it's interesting to see her as herself, not a character in a movie.

 

[operalover21]

Wow. What a piece really junk that post was, Lucky. Terry Teachout is, by far, the best theater critic out there since my friend Howard Kissel retired (he recently died). Talk about telling it like it is. He does that in spades. Seems to me you disagree with him and, therefore, he's a bitch. Give me a break. I completely disagreed with him about The Best Man but thought he was spot on about the Judy Garland play. Bennet's performanced seemed, to me, like an impersonation like Jamie Foxx's Ray Charles. Just because others don't see it that doesn't make it wrong. It's just a different opinion.

 

Calling him "not a real critic" because you disagree with him is the very definition of immaturity. I like your reviews, even when I disagree with them, but this kind of polemic is sad, immature, and beneath someone who claims to love the theater. Sounds like you need a break.

[+ Lucky]

Thanks for sharing your opinion. You do bring some life to the forum!

[+ WilliamM]

Another Opinion

 

Terry Teachout is, by far, the best theater critic out there. .. Give me a break. I completely disagreed with him about The Best Man but thought he was spot on about the Judy Garland play. Bennet's performanced seemed, to me, like an impersonation like Jamie Foxx's Ray Charles.

 

I have not seen End of the Rainbow. But my educated guess is the opinions break down between those who saw Garland perform live and/or saw her 1963-1964 CBS Sunday night variety show either when it was broadcast or on DVD (all 26 episodes were released on DVD), and those who did not.

 

I admit that I do not have a wide research base on this, but I believe the same would occur with any (gay, not gay) icon with a vivid personality and a unique once-in-a-liftime singing style. Sinatra would be as good an example as Garland. Sinatra's last years were somewhat bleak (with strong conflict between his wife and his children), but no where close to Garland's.

[+ Lucky]

As I mentioned before, I know little about Judy Garland. That left me free to enjoy the performance of Tracie Bennet without any need to compare her to Judy. I simply saw an amazing performer.

Yesterday I watched the What's My Line video of Garland, and damned if I didn't see Tracie Bennet!

 

Theater-goers often disagree with each other on the merit's of a show. I find that part of the fun. But Teachout's review was condescending and dismissive.

[operalover21]

As I mentioned before, I know little about Judy Garland. That left me free to enjoy the performance of Tracie Bennet without any need to compare her to Judy. I simply saw an amazing performer.

Yesterday I watched the What's My Line video of Garland, and damned if I didn't see Tracie Bennet!

 

Theater-goers often disagree with each other on the merit's of a show. I find that part of the fun. But Teachout's review was condescending and dismissive.

 

It probably was but it was also spot on.

[Diverdan]

I have yet to meet any critic that was not "full of himself" or have an ego that was not bigger than most of the stars.... I no longer read any reviews, as most of them don't add any meaning to the performance that I saw, whether I enjoyed it or not.... I am not even sure why newspapers even bother to pay for reviewers any more... IMHO. I frankly enjoy discussing a performance with friends who are usually much more perceptive than the critics, regardless of what city they are in. I travel a lot and enjoy seeing shows all over the country, so am no longer enamored by the "new york scene" or the "new york ciritics"..

DD

[+ Lucky]

Speaking of bitchy critics, shoplifter/critic Rex Reed had a field day with Evita, saying in the New York Observer:

 

Can nothing be done, once and for all, to get rid of Evita?Here it is again, worse than ever and revived on Broadway for no logical reason except to cash in on Ricky Martin’s fame as a pop star, just as the 1996 movie cashed in (without much success) on Madonna’s celebrity as a prehistoric Lady Gaga. Haven’t we outgrown this bloated extravaganza? Evita is not much of a show, and Eva Duarte Peron, in retrospect, isn’t exactly an original one-woman success story. Today the press sells Evitas for a dime a dozen. They keep the New York Post in business."

 

Reed is one of the few critics who liked Elena Rogers: "Whatever else one might gripe about in the sprawling, overproduced, clumsily directed and strangely emotionless Broadway revival currently on view at the cavernous Marquis Theatre in the Marriot(sic) Hotel, Argentine-born Elena Roger brings to the deadly score her own authenticity and sings like the clarion call of a jazz trumpet. I have no idea if she can act, because this is not a show about acting, but the girl can carry a tune. The rest of the show is an ordeal."

 

Read more: http://www.observer.com/2012/04/evita-broadway-ricky-martin-rex-reed-elena-roger/

[operalover21]

I'll take bitchy and full of themselves any day over what passes for criticism in the Times: boring, predictable, and dull. Brantley is really the worst. I find him unreadable. And, like Frank Rich, you can predict before the show even opens EXACTLY what they are going to think.