A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (113)
See it if you love TW. Imperfect, but likable. Moving story of 4 lonely women. Some humor/heart/poetic lang. Uneven acting styles, Nielsen shines.
Don't see it if you want the best of TW. ALS needs cuts; it's too long, rambling, repetitive. But it has strong characters and an interesting conflict. Read more
See it if If you like Tennessee Williams and his genre of writing. Well acted. Nice theater for this play. If you want a nice set and good story
Don't see it if If your not a fan of Tennessee Williams or want a musical.
See it if want to see a rare Williams play, fan of some of the cast, enjoy all-women cast in story about female friendship, interesting acting choices
Don't see it if you're not a fan of Williams--esp. a play not received positively, have difficulty keeping your attention focused, don't like sad plots
See it if Austin Pendleton. All female cast. Tennessee Williams Three scenes all on one set. Scenic Design and Prop person deserve credit
Don't see it if Reminder.The St.. Clements site is steps and more steps and even more steps no matter the destination. Not my favorite Williams play but.. .
See it if Like Tennessee Williams about 4 different women going through disappointments in life.
Don't see it if If you don't like Tennessee Williams or understand his style of how he does his writing you might not like this. Read more
See it if you're interested in experiencing feelings of sadness & lonliness; you enjoy lesser known plays by famous playwrights; good acting.
Don't see it if you are expecting a more evolved TW play, this story meanders slowly and at times sleepily. I found Lichty's voice annoying. Read more
See it if A late Williams play about a fading beauty trapped in a St. Louis apt. like Amanda Wingfield and almost as deluded. Single women before lib.
Don't see it if you want to avoid a play about frumpy women in a shabby apt. As usual, Kristine Nielsen steals the show as the frantic, chatty spinster.
See it if You’re a Williams fan and want a well produced title gem.
Don't see it if You’re not a fan of Saint Clement’s theatre and all of its steps.
Critic Reviews (19)
“None of the performances from the ensemble here seems to match up with any of the others in terms of style, temperament, scale or audibility...O’Toole looks perfect for the part. Yet her performance is strangely spasmodic...Nielsen isn’t a natural fit for a Williams play. But her extravagantly eccentric performance does manage to hint at the wounded center of a boisterous character...Though indubitably a lesser Williams work, 'Creve Coeur' does sparkle now and then."
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"Pendleton understands that great comedy is always grounded in real stakes and truthful performances. Executing knee-bends for dear life, Lichty is every bit the Williams Southern belle...Pendleton wisely presents 'Creve Coeur' in 105 uninterrupted minutes, revealing the play to be one brilliantly constructed and completely continuous scene. The comedy and drama build in equal measure, often feeding off each other. All of that springs from the truth at the heart of Williams's writing."
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"Very fine La Femme Theatre production of the lesser-known Tennessee Williams drama...Excellent work by Nielsen and O'Toole makes Bodey and Helena's conflict a comical highlight...Expanded to and hour and forty-five minutes (Pendleton has removed the intermission) the play does seem a bit slow and overstuffed. Still, this is a fine opportunity to see a well-mounted rarity by one of the great masters performed by an exceptional company."
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“Everything about this revival is busy...The action is nonstop...And yet, the play is, from the first line to the last, stuck in idle...Watching each of these actresses go her own stylistic way, one wonders exactly what sort of oversight the director, Austin Pendleton exercised over this production. If there is a workable play here this company is incapable of delivering it...A better, more nuanced approach would have allowed one to enjoy the script's occasional beauties.”
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"'Creve Coeur' did escape the scorn that met some of Williams’ other later works, leaving it ripe for a safe, sensitive revival, which is what director Austin Pendleton and his accomplished cast deliver here...There’s little to cackle at in this production, though the players gently stoke the piquant comedy Williams could always inject into the bleakest of circumstances."
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"A handsome if uneven revival...The chief pleasures of this production are the always terrific Kristine Nielsen and Annette O’Toole...A very funny play...But there’s an undeniable undercurrent of tragedy...It’s a delicate tonal balance, and this production almost strikes it. The main problem is Lichty. She has the precise look—beautiful, thin, wispy, high-strung—that her character requires, but her speech is strained, almost manic, and, unfortunately, barely audible."
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“Even a cast led by…stalwarts…can do little to make this comedy splashed with pathos bring mild laughter to your lips or moisture to your eyes...Too little of the acting reveals the hearts, broken or otherwise, of these potentially interesting characters…[The] repetitive emphasis on the same basic conflicts comes to seem, over…an intermission-less hour and 45 minutes, increasingly artificial…Fails to convince that, other than because of its author's name, it's a treasure waiting to be found.”
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"I jumped at the chance to see this rarity by the great dramatist...Unquestionably, Williams' fortunes, both personal and professional, had peaked by the time this play appeared. But genius will out and in this instance shows him as remarkably perceptive...Williams lovers will delight in the contentiousness of the brittle and baiting conversations/confrontations. That he is able to make us laugh and feel deeply at the same time is a credit to his genius."
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