A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur

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.

Also I went in w/low expectations and was (mostly) pleasantly surprised. Some of the material is overdone (Dotty has attacks of illness, she shares TMI about her old beau, etc) but some is fun. I liked Nielsen's big-hearted character and O'Toole's brittle one, but I didn't like Lichty's performance. Only she used a Southern accent (why?); her volume was low and her voice grating (had she strained it?) The set is lovely as are the costumes. I'd rather see lesser Tenn Wms than many new plays. He creates vivid characters, puts them in interesting situations, and resolves the tension in a satisfying way.... Read more Read less

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 you're a T Williams completist, willing to slog through clumsy staging to forage for the heart & poetry of the play amid awkward direction.

Don't see it if you'll be irked by uneven acting (Nielsen: on point; O'Toole: caricaturish; Lichty: garbled) & a design that forgets how walls work.

See it if It's Williams in a minor key yet still has moments of heartbraking poignancy All the women (while moving) feel like retreads of earlier work

Don't see it if Major disservice is Pendleton's slack direction of his women. Actors perform at a hysterical, feverish pitch that we are soon exhausted

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 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 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.

Also Did find it a little bit slow. Out of the four actresses I prefer the old lady who own the apartment and the girlfriend. The girl who lived in the apartment who washeadover heels with this guy Rodger whoever she had an affair with she annoyed me a lot. I think it was too long if they could have made it shorter I think it would have been more of a impact.... Read more Read less

See it if you like seeing rarely performed plays by famous playwrights. Good acting by four actresses. Nice set.

Don't see it if you dislike dated views and dialogue about women. I winced quite a lot during the action of the play.

Also St Clement's Theater has no elevator so if you have trouble with steps, you may wish to avoid this venue.... Read more Read less

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.

Also St. Clemens Theater is quite old, as is the air conditioning unit. It was very warm in the theater, which adversely affected my enjoyment of theater. Had the same problem with Babette's Feast.... Read more Read less

See it if You adore Wms & want to see a lesser, wisp of a play. It feels like his work, but production doesn't serve it well. Kristine Nielson shines.

Don't see it if You're like the fellow who said to his seat mate after the 1:45 intermissionless show, "Oh boy, life's too short for more of those."

Also I'm going to echo what others have said that Jean Lichty used a character voice which was strained and overly theatrical, and worse, was barely audible.

Pendleton did the cast no favors with many of his very odd staging choices. The overstuffed set was distracting and there were no interior walls. Pendleton ignored the obvious fact that walls would have existed in this old-style apartment, and had his characters seeing, walking, and talking through them with impunity. Utterly bizarre staging, wardrobe changes, use of the bed, entrances and exits.

Can't recommend it.... Read more Read less

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.

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 are a big Tennessee Williams fan. A rarely produced play with 4 female roles all exquisite actors.

Don't see it if The soul of a play is important to you. At least three of the characters do not have a foundation that the audience can build much on.

See it if You love Tennessee Williams plays; plays where women have great roles (all 4 characters are women); want to see K. Nielsen in anything

Don't see it if want a tragicomedy that is not so heavily comic; acting that is not uneven; want a play that moves quickly

Also K Nielsen was fun to see but not sure that any of the characters make the play as moving as it could be.
Hard to understand Ms. Lichty sometimes although it was better in the 2nd half.
The setting was confusing. Was it one room or two. If there were 2 rooms why were people talking over the dressers. It it was one room why didn't Dorothea get the phone?
The Miss Gluck role was a little over the top. Mostly written that way I think.... Read more Read less

See it if If you are a fan of Williams regardless of the fact that this is one of his lesser produced works.

Don't see it if If you are not a fan of Williams or have difficulty sitting through a lack luster 1 hour 45 min about depression era lives.

See it if you like Tennessee Williams' writing. Nielsen & O'Toole terrific. Set is chock full. Shades of Blanche can be felt. Sensitive yet funny.

Don't see it if you are bored by four women chatting about hopes and dreams that will probably never be. Think women would like more than men.

Also Sometimes heartbreaking. Worthwhile for the acting and the writing. Not his greatest play but good nonetheless.... Read more Read less

See it if you must see every Tennessee Williams work brought to life, including this lesser-produced work; like female-centric dramas & the actresses.

Don't see it if expecting the power of Williams’ more popular works; you can’t stand watching a bunch of women’s worlds revolve around men even when absent.

Also Despite datedness and unevenness, Tennessee Williams’ A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (1976) showcases his stellar ability to excavate the dangerous terrain of human complexity. Williams again reveals that people really are contradictory—large, containing multitudes. ALSfCC exposes the fragile world of four aged, single women. They are friend & foe; cats & canaries; they pat on the back while plunging in the knife. Frail and drug-addled; vain and ambitious; maternal yet misguided—each woman is broken yet impossibly hopeful. Maddeningly, though, men control them without even being present: the women stay home awaiting their calls; they prioritize brothers’ lives before their own. But maybe we’re meant to be infuriated. Yes, a datedness borders on misogyny, but Williams offers haunting poetry to the pedestrian in each work: this is no exception. The heart of ALSfCC, too, is that women are just as nurturing of one another as they are vain; sexual yet innocent. In short: they are human.... Read more Read less

See it if you need to see everything by T.W. The play is very wordy but a very interesting view of women's lives in 1930's.

Don't see it if you want an action play. Another wordy T.W. play. Predictable ending, and the journey wasn't that thrilling.

Also With no intermission, this low action/very wordy play drags a bit towards the end.... Read more Read less

See it if you know & enjoy T Williams' &/or A Pendleton's work. Book's both comedic & serious. Intense committed performances (no one breaks onstage).

Don't see it if you want an upbeat comedy or fluffy musical. It's NOT a happy play. Note: Lots of German is thrown @ you w/o translation. Very off-putting.

Also I prefer long shows. 90min is rarely enough.

But @ almost 2hrs, w/o intermission, plus an almost 30min late start last Friday nite, it took a lot out of most.

It's always something @ St Clements. Either the tkt booth line is out the door, or people can't get up the 3 sets of stairs it takes to get to your seat fast enough, or there's a tech issue (almost 30min late-start the afternoon we saw 'My Life on a Diet').

Kristine Nielsen ("Bodey") owns the stage: hysterical, cutting, intense, kind... an excellent performance. In love w/Jean Lichty ("Dorothea") since 'Traveling Lady'. Her drawl & deep husky scratchy voice mesmerizes me. Annette O'Toole ("Helena") is just ok; Polly McKie ("Miss Gluck") has the unenviable task of speaking in German. We feel for the loss of her mother, but not much else.

This is a well-worth seeing, well-written play, w/4 flawed strong-willed yet weak characters spewing humor, sadness, & venom, oftentimes heavy-handed, mean-spirited & harsh. Hello Tennessee.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see amazing performances from 4 actresses with superb direction. It's a play that is still with me after seeing it yesterday,

Don't see it if You like lighthearted comedies. This tends to be on the dark side.

See it if You find grumpy old ladies amusing. You love Tennessee Williams. Great staging of a great American play.

Don't see it if I don't really know. Somehow the score is not very good. I loved it.

See it if you like Tennessee Williams; want to see some good performances; enjoy plays about marginalized characters.

Don't see it if you dislike Tennessee Williams; you don't like somewhat dated plays; you prefer plays with lots of action. Yes, it is a little slow in parts

See it if you love prototype Williams and are a fan of seeing Kristine Nielsen.

Don't see it if you're not a fan of the usual "nervous woman complaining about the heat and a beau" trope.

Also The actresses all do a great job and look great, but there are too many lines about how a character, played by an actress in her 60s, is young enough to have babies. Moments like that took me out of the piece, no matter how amazing she looks.... Read more Read less

See it if If you like Austin Pendleton directed plays. Also rare Tennessee Williams play with a plot about a broken heart.

Don't see it if Slow plays with multiple scenes in the same room. Like more musical oriented fare or lighter topics

See it if Kristine Nielsen is a wonder (as usual) bouncing between pathos and hilarity; as close to a 1st class production as you will see

Don't see it if Awful acoustics mars the zippy dialogue typical of TW; at best and worst mirrors a bad Kardashians (assumed) episode; minor work