I thought I would take a moment to voice my thoughts on the stage play of NOTLD I caught in DC which was put on by the LANDLESS theater group. Now this was a very small playhouse seating about 75 people, maybe less, but it helped set a claustrophobic tone for the play, which in and of itself is fantastic since Night was a very claustrophobic film to start with.
My first issue was the choice of people to play Johnny. Actor Joe Angel Babb gave a flat out horrible performance of Johnny because he was just not right for the part. Joe has a very feminine way about him and he filled to rolls, 1 being Johnny and two being the main news reporter. He was so horrible in both rolls and his male feminine lisp as both characters made me grind my teeth to the point of actually feeling pieces of enamel swirling in my mouth. He made me cringe so bad I felt like lashing out and saying "JOHNNY IS NOT GAY!" This was supposed to be a stage version of a classic and I don't mind certain liberties being taken, but when you start messing with the so called masculinity of a character I have issues with it.
His vocal performance as the newcaster on TV was so bad, especially when mentioning the Venus PROBE (emphasize PROBE) was laughable and huge dis-credit to the production. The guy was just flat out annoying.
Ben, Well Ben was played by David Harrel, a very large black man, I mean large, but was passable. His little interjections of present day urban slang humor was quite interesting at times and his facial expressions were quite comical. Did he have what it took to pull off Ben on a real level like Duane Jones, and Tony Todd before him... Maybe, but Ben was hammed up quite a but. However, David did make it enjoyable and memorable, right down to Ben needing an inhaler because he was so overweight he could do anything without taking a hit off the puffer. This had me in stitches, but not in a bad way... still too much liberty taken with Ben... However, not as far as NOTLD 3D has by making Ben a young teenager.
Barbara - Now I have a hardtime writing this because the actress playing Barbara, Cindy Marie Martin, and I have worked together on two films. 1 being Under The Bed (a short film I was 1st AC on) and of course my zed flick DEADLANDS. I will say this. Cindy did Barbara just as Judith O'Dea did Barbara. I mean nearly identical as to how it was in the movie. The whole monologue of her talking about her and Johnny's trip to the cemetary was word for word, emotion for emotion and was just fantastic. Cindy can act and I am not just saying that because I worked with her before but she nailed it head on.
Harry Cooper, Played by Maurice McKnight was a more modern version of Cooper, but was an awesome performance. His anger, and emotion was effectively conveyed and you couldn't have asked for a better performance. He played it so well I was like WOW... even though it didn't feel like previous versions of Harry, it worked ona fantastic level.
Helen - Actress Kelley Slagle played an acholoic Version of Helen and it was ok, she spent way to much time over dramatizing Helen that it kind of put her in the same category as Harry. She seemed disconnected from what Helen Cooper was, and it was just not able to stand-up or even compete with Harry. it was bad, and ok at the same time. Personally they should have cast someone else.
The actor and actress whom played Tom and Judy were ok. Because this was a stage play you don't get to see certain moments like what happened when they went for gas, but the scene when Tom asks judy for that smile she has and their kiss was heart warming to say the least. However, they were easily forgotten because the stage play is limited to sets and moments they could have shined were passed by too fast.
Actor/Director Lonnie Martin took on the dual roll of zombie and news reporter. Lonnie played the roll similar to Bill Chilly Billy Cardille, but under a different character name. Lonnie ran with it as modern day sensationalist reporter, and it worked, but made it distracting. Since I was not behind the scenes I wasn't sure if this was Lonnie's idea or Director Melissa Cruz. I worked with Lonnie on Under The Bed and DEADLANDS (he plays my throat rip zombie) and since his roll was brief I will just say it should have been toned down, but he did remind of those type of reporters trying to over-do a story in hopes of making it to the big network news type programs.
All the other roles, were played abnout the same as they were in the original film with a lot of liberty taken on the posse, especially the guy who shoots ben. Dressed int ypical redneck garb which was a nod to the racist times, and it almost went that way, but it just didn't have the same effect.
All in all it wasn't a waste of my time or money, but I hope of it does get put on next year they not take so many liberties. According to the program this is a stage version of the George A. Romero film... guess what, you guys were WAY off base. Maybe they should find another director.
Overall I would give the play about a C+ average rating and this is being generous.
|
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks