The Parisian Woman NYC Reviews and Tickets

"In this era of oversaturation, when news becomes dated within hours, you need a really good reason to add your voice to the clamor. Mr. Willimon doesn't have one."
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"It’s peppered with lots of talk, including gross-generalization jokes about how 'Men are always like this' or 'Bankers do such and such.' Heavy-handedness seeps in...Fortunately, there’s also occasional insight into human (and political) nature, as a wisecrack reveals more than a facile observation...Tony winner Blair Brown adds verve as a powerful woman who becomes the object of some serious machinations, and the striking Thurman acts in a committed fashion."
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"A thin, slight work that doesn’t really accomplish much...Thurman, in her Broadway debut, seems shaky and occasionally ill at ease as the promiscuous, manipulative Chloe...What we end up with is a play that loses no opportunity to take shots at the current administration, from generic comments...to specific name-calling. You have to wonder if this would have been a more impactful piece of theater if Willimon had simply left the play alone."
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"At its most painful moments, an incredibly obvious political commentary void of any nuance...Fundamentally, this play seems like a bad piece of writing...The staging of the show was often awkward and incredibly unnatural...The men of the production were basically intolerable and miserable to watch. But in their defense, their characters were horribly written and had to contend with some of the most stilted dialogue to be heard on Broadway in the last decade."
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“This is expensive babbling at high Broadway ticket prices and it will be dated within four years hopefully...Directed with the usual leaden hand of MacKinnon...The one bright note in theatrical parlance is Blair Brown. She is a perfectionist and can make the most awful mundane lines seem plausible. Credit must also be given to Ms. Soo for adding some gravitas to her trite role. As for Ms. Thurman and Mr. Lucas, they have to settle for gorgeous.”
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“Willimon has a good sense of the political game-playing involved...But turning Becque’s Parisian lady into a Capitol Hill cynosure brings two problems. The first the work’s machinery depends on its power to shock...Second shortfall lies within MacKinnon’s rather lackluster production...The three secondary characters are supposedly fixated on the scintillating woman at the play’s core...Thurman is precise and appropriate in every moment of the role. But she is never more than that.”
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“This new—drama? comedy? mess?—manages to turn 90 minutes into eons. At least it feels that way...There is blackmail and some ‘shocking’ revelations and supposed passion, and very lame potshots at the current administration, guaranteed to make an audience of Manhattanites chuckle. But they’re cheap shots, and the laughs are scarce and forced...Nothing that happens in this long 90 minutes is based in anything credible.”
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“A parable of what it takes, particularly the sacrifices that have to be made, to attain political power and advancement...Thurman not only looks more glamorous than ever, she’s also a wonderful stage actress. Her nuanced, naturally commanding interpretation of the role lends gravitas to Willimon’s predictable, at times clichéd, play. The rest of the capable cast, as well as excellent director MacKinnon, do their best to save the handsome production from the writing’s surprising mediocrity.”
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