Monthly Archives: October 2012

Wednesday, October 17th 2012 James Baldassano

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Wednesday, October 17th, 2012 James Baldassano

In today’s seminar class, we had another one of our privileged opportunities to see a professional production in the city. Instead of an opera, however, this time we got to see a broadway productions of “The Heiress”, which is basically a version of “Washington Square”.

The actual production was very interesting. Being that I have attended many broadway shows, I knew what to expect, and that was excellence. I liked the way that they portrayed the characters with exaggerated characteristics, such as the dullness of Catherine Sloper, or the romantic side of Aunt Penniman, or perhaps even the bluntness of Austin when speaking of Catherine. Another factor that I enjoyed was the comedy thrown into the play. It wasn’t enough comedy to take over the story line and say that the plot was meant to be funny, but it was enough silly little jokes, and side gags to leave the audience satisfied.

What really got my attention was the twist ending, which differed from the book. When Catherine led on Morris after he returned, only to return the favor to him, it was a much more satisfying ending, with a case of poetic justice. Morris got was was coming to him rather than as in the book, in which case Catherine is no more than a hollow shell that does nothing other than deny Morris. This ending was more emotionally satisfying to me.

All in all, I much prefer to see the Broadway production, or any live production, than read the book, for reasons other than laziness. They allow me to visualize what is happening and how things are meant to look, and usually it is easy to infer what is going on in a characters mind based on his/her movements or actions.

The Heiress 10/17/12

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On wednesday, my classmates and I went into New York City for a second time to see another great performance. This time, we went to go see a  broadway show called The Heiress. Professor Kahan chose a great show to see because it correlated to our reading and writing assignment on the novel Washington Square.

I fully enjoyed this broadway show. I thought that it was very similar to the novel and the characters in the play were just as I interpreted them to be in the novel. I loved the humor in the play as well. Just as the irony and humor was incorporated into the novel, it was also incorporated in the play. Even though I thought all the characters did a fantastic job with their specific roles, I thought that Jessica Chastain played Catherine Sloper’s role perfectly. She was very awkward, ungraceful, and unsocial just as we read in the novel. I even felt that her appearance in the play was very similar to what I have read in the novel.

One particular part of the play that I really enjoyed was the final scene. In the novel, when Morris Townsend came over Catherine’s house after a few years without seeing her, Catherine told Morris that she does not even want to be friends with him and to leave her house immediately. I thought that exact scene would also occur in the play. However, I was greatly mistaken. In the play, Catherine tricked Morris to believe that she agreed to marry him that night. However, just like he did to her a few years ago, she completely ignored him when he came to pick her up. She got her revenge on him. I thought this scene made the play much more enjoyable and exciting. I liked the final scene in the play much more than I did in the novel.

I was ver happy to see this play with my classmates. It was a great way to visualize what I have read in the novel. It was a great night with great people that I will never forget.

Ariana Z. 10/17 The Heiress

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Wednesday night our class traveled to the “Walter Kerr Theatre” to see the Broadway production, “The Heiress.” Since I was aware of the plot before attending the play, I assumed that there was little about the play that would shock me. I must admit, however, after witnessing the end of the play I was completely awestruck.

What stood out to me about the theatre itself was its small size, small that is, when compared to the immense size of The Metropolitan Opera House. Once the play began, I noticed that it had almost no set changes. The only things I saw change were the placement of the tables and the different hues of lighting at the windows to signify the moments of day and night in the play. In fact, the lighting could arguably be its own character in the play. In many instances it dictated when the audience should laugh or feel sympathy for Catherine. And ultimately it served for a chilling and captivating ending. The end of this play was what truly dumbfounded me. It paved the way for such mixed reactions I had to Catherine’s actions. At first I believed that she yet again fell for Morris (as Professor Kahan warned us that the play had a shocking ending) which led me to exclaim “What a stupid girl!,” then a few moments later I assumed she was going to kill Morris or perhaps even herself!

A few complaints I had about the plays portrayal were that Morris was more likable than I would have preferred. I would rather I dislike the villain than actually accept him. Also, the lack of the party for Miriam, though not a major issue, was in my opinion missed. One last complaint, was how little time they allowed to pass between Catherine and Morris’ break up.

My favorite moment would have to be the tension that was built as Morris stood outside her door and became increasingly violent and impatient as Catherine would not answer. Her independence and new found wisdom was personified as Jessica Chastain, who portrayed Catherine beautifully, shut the lights off slowly, one by one. This coupled with the shrills of Dan Steven’s (Morris) voice calling for Catherine left the audience speechless.

Ultimately, what I took from this play is that despite how amazing a book is, seeing it in a different medium can lead you to truly ask, which is better the book, or the play?

The Heiress

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On Wednesday night, we ventured out into the city again to see The Heiress. This wasn’t my first experience with seeing a play, but it was my first with my new Macaulay friends, and like the opera experience, it is one that I will never forget. I had a lot of fun being with my friends and I was able to see a great play.

I’m going to avoid comparing the play to the book, as I mentioned in my last post, I’ve come to accept that a play, or a movie, will be different from the book. All I would like to say in regards to that is that I liked the way that the creators of the show put the story of the play together. I felt that the story was a little rushed, but it was necessary in order to not drag out the play too much.

Overall, the play had a lot of humor in it and I enjoyed that. All of the characters had a humorous part to contribute to the play. I enjoyed a lot of Catherines awkward movements and responses. One in particular movement and response was when she would just curtsey slowly when she would see someone or when she would just answer someone who asked a long winded question with a peculiar “Yes.”

So, I want to start by saying that I enjoyed all of the actor’s performances. My favorite performance has to be by Judith Ivey, who played Mrs. Penniman. The way that she played Mrs. Penniman was pretty close to how to my image on what imagined her being like when I was reading the book. If I were to rewrite the part of my paper again when I had to choose actors to play the parts of the characters, I would have chosen her instead of my original selection of Kathy Bates. Many parts of the play that involved her had a lot of humor that I enjoyed.

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10.17.12

Tonight’s play was so amazing! I really enjoyed how the play was different from the novel but, in a way so that it kept true to the novel even though it took some liberties. I think that the important things that make the story Washington Square were there which is the important thing but, less important things were changed and this made it so that even a person who didn’t read the novel could understand the play.

The actors and actresses did a fantastic job! Judith Ivey who played Aunt Penniman was so hilarious and I was always smiling when she came on stage. Virginia Kull who played Catherine was wonderful as well. She was shy and uncomfortable in the beginning without being annoying. The audience loved how she bowed and sat down very slowly trying to be graceful. I’m happy that they were able to tone down the actress without her losing too much of her beauty, she was simple yet, striking, the way many people including myself envisioned Catherine. I loved David Strathairn who played Dr. Sloper. He was stern but he wasn’t too stern so that the audience didn’t like him. I think the writers gave him funny lines and the way he acted made it so that we couldn’t like Dr. Sloper nor could we hate him. Dan Stevens who played Morris played him very well.

The ending, the ending, the ending! The whole play had me laughing or in shock at what was just said but the ending was the only time I felt the feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was so nervous that Catherine was going to marry him, when she told him to get ready and gave him the buttons I thought to myself, “This isn’t supposed to happen! This is going to ruin the whole play for me!” The way Catherine just ignored Morris made up for my momentary worry. The way Morris called for Catherine pulled at my heartstrings.

-Amber G

10/17/12 Christian Siason

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On Wednesday, October 17th, we went to see The Heiress on Broadway, starring Jessica Chastain as Catherine Sloper, David Strathairn as Dr. Austin Sloper, Dan Stevens as Morris Townsend, and Judith Ivey as Lavinia Penniman.

I thoroughly enjoyed Strathairn and Ivey’s performances as Austin and Lavinia; they really embodied the characters from the book, in my opinion. However, I didn’t really like Stevens’ work as Morris. He seemed far too sincere throughout the play and I actually felt bad for him, unlike in the book. I also disliked Chastain’s portrayal of Catherine – until the end, at least. I know that Catherine was a dull and simple girl in the novel, Washington Square, but I just found her to be mind-numbingly boring in the play. Her voice was monotone pretty much all the way through, and I just found it annoying after a certain point.

The end of the play was different from the ending in the story, and in my opinion, it was much more dramatic and entertaining. As boring as I found Catherine to be for the majority of the play, I definitely thought that she made up for it in the end. In the book, Catherine simply asked Morris to leave. In the play, she led him on. She promised, once again, to marry him, and he ran off to pack his bags. When he came back, she had closed the curtains and turned off the lights and had gone upstairs to her room, totally ignoring him. As I said earlier, I actually felt bad for Morris because in the play he seemed so sincere, but if this had been the ending in the book, I would have really enjoyed it and supported Catherine’s decision. I honestly think it would have been the perfect ending in the book.

Being able to watch this play was a fulfilling experience for me. Reading the book, I couldn’t see everything unfolding in front of me, though I was able to visualize scenes in my head. Going to Broadway to watch The Heiress allowed me to see these scenes acted out in front of me, and it really added to my appreciation of the story.

Stephanie Solanki, 10/17/12

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Yesterday, we went to the play The Heiress. It was my first Broadway in very long time.

My first impression was of the theatre itself. It was very grandiose, “magnificent, opulent, and sumptuous.” I thought that the gaudy and over-the-top decorations of the theatre added to the experience of the play. The play is set in the Victorian era, which is also very gaudy and opulent. I was very impressed, also, with the set. It was beautifully done! The columns and rich-looking furniture helped to bring the story to life. I found the lighting so interesting. To transition to a morning scene, the lighting in the windows became gradually brighter to give the effect that the sun was coming up. During night scenes, the windows were not completely black, but gave off a blue light to show that the moon was outside. I found that little things like these really made the set of the play into a very realistic world.

I am really glad that I had to thoroughly analyze the book before I went to the play. This way, I was able to appreciate the story and how the actors portrayed the roles they were given. I really loved Jessica Chastain’s Catherine Sloper. I appreciated how her voice was very timid and monotone in the beginning, but as Catherine found herself, Chastain made her voice louder and she expressed her feelings through the tone of her voice more. I felt that Austin Sloper was not portrayed as witty and sarcastic as he should have been. He seemed a little lazy and tired. Mrs. Penniman’s voice was so on point with her character! In the book, she is the overly emotional character, and her wavering, high-pitched voice was perfectly in tune with her character. I thought that Morris Townsend seemed too sincere and too little of a sleaze in the play. He seemed at times to actually love Catherine.

I loved the ending of the play very much. It was perfect for a theatre performance of this story. It was more dramatic than the ending in the book, which is fitting for theatre. Even though the ending was drawn out, it didn’t skew the author’s intentions of the characters. It actually helped to better express how Catherine felt at the end.

Overall, I was very impressed with The Heiress. I was most impressed with the technicalities and the details that go into a play of this kind. I was impressed at how the set and lighting design created a whole new world on stage, one in which the actors were able to express their characters freely how they wished.

Seminar 10/15 Christian Siason

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In class on Monday, October 15th, we discussed the novel, Washington Square. Henry James wrote the book in 1880, but it was set in the 1850’s. The reasoning behind this, we learned, was that the 1850’s were a much more calm and prosperous period in American history. The economy was stable and the country was at peace. If he had set the story in the 1860’s or 1870’s, James would have had to incorporate the Civil War and Reconstruction periods. In order to save himself the trouble, he rolled back the clock a few decades to a better time in the country’s history, allowing him to focus solely on the relationships between the characters in the book.

Later on in class, we compared the two films based off of the novel: The Heiress and Washington Square. In some ways, The Heiress seemed that it was more true to the novel than the more recent film, Washington Square. In The Heiress, Dr. Sloper used more direct quotes from the book than in Washington Square. I also thought that Morris Townsend’s character in The Heiress was more like the character in the novel than in the newer film. He seemed much more outgoing and at times even arrogant. He was more subdued and awkward in the new movie. Catherine was also portrayed differently in the two films. In the older one, she was seen as a very quiet and dull girl, much like she was in the story. But in the newer one, she was more of a tomboy – a romp, which was how she was described at one point in the novel.

I just found it rather interesting how two films could be based off of the same book and have the characters played totally differently, due to the different actors and actresses and the different directors. One person’s take on a role can be totally different from another’s, and the results can be clearly seen by the viewers.

Monday 10/15 Andrew Garafalo

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In class on Monday we began our discussion of Washington Square  by Henry James, along with the play based on it, and two film adaptations. We discussed the time period in which the author wrote the novel, and the time in which the novel takes place. We concluded that the play was able to take place in 1850 because the civil war had not yet  began. This was an interesting point about the novel that I had never considered before.

“The Heiress” is the 1949 film version of Washington Square. We learned the name of the film was changed because the producers considered “The Heiress” to be a more understandable and relatable title than “Washington Square”. I preferred the portrayal of characters in this version rather than those in the more recent film. I thought the actor who played Morris Townsend in this version was more true to his characteristics in the novel. He brought out a better portrayal of cleverness. With the addition of color in the newer film, it was easier to notice details such as the color of Catherine’s dress. The character who played Catherine in the black and white version seemed more socially awkward and timid compared to the other film. I imagined that the play would be more similar to the 1949  version.

10/15/2012 – Shumaila

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We began class on Monday by discussing Sunday’s concert called Culture in Harmony. Dr. Kahan introduced us to the works of Felix Mendelssohn, a man whose contributions I had never heard before. Although his music was very popular at the time, Mendelssohn took a “Grand Tour” around Europe, where he was introduced to many aspects of society such as culture and history. He was able to take his experiences around the different countries of Europe, and turn them into great musical works. The work that we heard at the concert was called “Scottish” which was a composition of what Mendelssohn viewed Scottish lifestyle as.

We also discussed how the novel “Washington Square” was written in in 1880 but it was set to take place in 1850. I had not paid attention to this fact until Dr. Kahan pointed it out.  The society in 1880 varied vastly to that of the 1850’s. During 1880, there were a lot of post-war problems. Society was reformed from the serene extravagant lifestyles that people were accustomed to. In order to evoke the tranquil feeling behind the title of the novel, it was necessary to match the time frame to the lifestyle that James was aiming for.

In the latter segment of our class we compared the two movies that were based off of “Washington Square”. The two versions, “The Heiress” and “Washington Square” both portrayed Catherine differently, each with a different approach on her behavior. In “Washington Square”, Catherine meets Morris through her cousin Marian. She seems like an awkward girl who manages to even make the viewers feel uncomfortable. In the older movie, however, she met Morris through her aunt Penniman. Personally, I liked the older adaptation better because I felt as though it more accurately painted a picture of the way I viewed Catherine while reading the novel.