Leighton Meester - Curley's wife | Of Mice and Men on Broadway S&S #2: I am so incredibly humbled and inspired to help bring his world to life. ~ LM - Page 17

Rachel Leigh · 04-16-2014, 03:41 PM

Love this review for Leighton. The times UK...

Quote:

By Tom Wicker11:15PM BST 16 Apr 2014
Chris O’Dowd and James Franco share lovely, unforced chemistry in this adaptation of Steinbeck’s classic novella, says Tom Wicker

Chris O’Dowd has come a long way from resignedly telling people to turn their computers on and off again as Roy in Channel 4 comedy The IT Crowd.

Post-Bridesmaids, here he is, sharing top billing with mega-star James Franco as they both make their Broadway debut, in this revival of John Steinbeck’s own stage adaptation of his classic Great Depression-era novella. And he’s one of the best things about it.

The relationship between migrant ranch workers Lennie (O’Dowd) and George (Franco) is the bruised heart of Steinbeck’s vivid portrait-in-miniature of a parched 1930s California, where money has drained away and kindness is a luxury. It’s a fragile constant in a world where dreams are as easily crushed as the mice Lennie accidentally kills with clumsy affection.

Loose-limbed and lumbering, O’Dowd is a revelation as Lennie - a giant of a man left childlike and painfully innocent by a head injury suffered in his youth. As Lennie faithfully repeats and then immediately forgets George’s instructions before they reach their latest ranch, O’Dowd neither patronises nor makes light of the character. His American accent is pretty good, too.

READ: REVIEW OF CHRIS O'DOWD IN 'CALVARY'

O’Dowd slides more easily into Steinbeck’s rhythm than Franco, who crackles with intensity in some scenes but who initially gives a strained, over-exerted performance. It isn’t until the pair settle at the ranch that the tangled knot of emotions binding them together feels real. There’s some lovely, unforced chemistry when, with affectionate playfulness, Franco’s George tells a rapt Lennie (yet again) about the plot of land they’ll buy in the future.

Director Anna Shapiro also cultivates some well-judged moments of cautious camaraderie between the jumble of characters George and Lennie encounter. A talented ensemble cast nicely shade in this broadly sketched crowd, with Ron Cephas Jones and Jim Norton standing out as wry black stable-hand Crooks and aged ranch-worker Candy.

Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester impresses as the only woman on the ranch, unhappily married to the owner’s son. She navigates around the stereotype of “****ty desperate housewife” to become more complex - a fragile and misunderstood catalyst for the play’s final-act tragedy.

To its credit, in spite of its star wattage, this production doesn’t aim for fireworks: it’s an affectingly quieter, lower key affair. Reflected in Todd Rosenthal’s detail-packed set - a ranch bolted together from the discarded scraps of working life - it brings us up close to the patchwork of emotions, hopes and fears that compel Steinbeck’s characters onwards, however doomed their journey.

At Longacre Theatre, New York, to July 27; ofmiceandmenonbroadway.com
READ - CHRIS O'DOWD: WHY FAME HASN'T CHANGED ME

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/...ndMen2014.html
Review by Matthew Murray

Quote:

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro. Scenic design by Todd Rosenthal. Costume design by Suttirat Larlarb. Lighting design by Japhy Weideman. Sound design by Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen. Original music by David Singer. Fight direction by Thomas Schall. Hair & wig design by Charles G. Lapointe. Cast: James Franco, Chris O'Dowd, Leighton Meester, with Ron Cephas Jones, Alex Morf, Joel Marsh Garland, James McMenamin, Jim Ortlieb, Jim Parrack, Michael Dempsey, Kevin Jackson, Erica Lutz, Stephen Payne, and Jim Norton.
Theatre: Longacre Theatre, 220 West 48th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue
Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes, with one intermission
Schedule: Tues 8 pm, Wed 2 pm, Wed 8 pm, Th 7 pm, Fri 8 pm, Sat 2 pm, Sat 8 pm, Sun 3 pm
Audience : May be inappropriate for 12 and under. Children under the age of 4 are not permitted in the theatre.
Tickets: Telecharge

Chris O'Dowd and James Franco
Photo by Richard Phibbs
Dreams can be magical, uplifting, portentous, or oppressive — or, sometimes, all four at once. The capacity of our hopes and aspirations to not just guide and elevate but also destroy radiates violently from the exquisitely rendered revival of Of Mice and Men that just opened at the Longacre. From the first moment to the last, you're drawn into the terrifying but magnetic pall under which the characters, and seemingly the entire United States, is operating: one that simultaneously obscures and reveals humanity in all its messy glory.

John Steinbeck's own stage treatment of his sobering novel (both of which appeared for the first time in 1937) could scarcely be better presented under present-day circumstances than it is here. Director Anna D. Shapiro, who's made a recent career in New York of charting the negative and positive shades of gloom in August: Osage County, Domesticated, The Pain and the Itch, and more, is precisely in tune with Steinbeck, showing how both his Great Depression and our own era today are afflicted with a parched society that fosters parched souls.

Steinbeck proved this primarily through his central duo of George and Lennie, the former an energetic and enterprising man and the latter his mentally challenged friend blessed (cursed?) with immense strength, who arrive at a California ranch trying to make their meager livings in pursuit of their fantasy of a quiet farm and a quieter life together far from the pain they know. But it's every bit as evident in the others they meet, from the aging but kindly Candy, who has nothing left but his ancient dog, to the black stable-hand named Crooks to the boss's fight-picking son Curley and Curley's new wife, who, so she claims, is just looking for a man to talk to. Deprived of financially and spiritual profitability for their industry, they're all forced to fashion a rough-hewn society together and hope everything sorts itself out — which, of course, it's hardly destined to.

George is willing to temporarily accept the status quo, and Lennie doesn't understand it any better than he understands why he was chased out of his last town (he stroked a woman's dress and was accused of rape), or why the tiny animals he so loves keep dying in his care (he crushes them while trying to pet them), which makes neither a fine fit for life on this ranch. But they need money and a place to stay, and they consider even the modest offerings they find to be better than nothing.

Steinbeck outlines how such desperation causes disasters, and no shortage of those occurs. But he also adds in overtones of spirit and optimism that could lead one to believe, even in the hardest times, that anything was indeed possible. This constant warring of the grim reality of the economically ravaged landscape with the golden light of promise forever in the distance is what prevents both the book and the rigorously faithful play from becoming completely depressing, and lets it be a clear-eyed critique of both the necessity of the so-called American Dream and how easily it can become a nightmare.

Chris O'Dowd and Leighton Meester
Photo by Richard Phibbs
The play shares the novels strengths (its taut structure, lean character roster, and blisteringly on-point dialogue) and weaknesses (a final fifth or so in which the pacing falters, and a final sequence that falls just short of the bloody urgency it demands). But Shapiro expertly smooths over these mild rough patches to ensure that, as an evening of theatre, Of Mice and Men is not less than totally satisfying.

The sets (Todd Rosenthal), costumes (Suttirat Larlarb), lights (Japhy Weideman), and sound (Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen) adroitly capture the suffocating dust and sun of the Salinas Valley and the people who live there. Shapiro brings out in these design elements and everything else the feeling of ramshackle despondency that most catapults you into this time and place. The opening image, of an endless undeveloped vista broken only by the dissolving light of dusk, provides a haunting harbinger of the desolation to come. Even in the internal scenes — the barracks, Crooks's shack, the barn — there's always a similar conflict of light and dark reminding you that nothing is ever entirely your friend or entirely your enemy.

Better still are the performers, who inject their portrayals with this same kind of duality, and there's not a weak link to be found. Jim Norton is richly moving as Candy, finding in the man both rugged agitation and an ingratiating, avuncular charm. Jim Parrack is terrific as Slim, engaged and engaging as one of the few men George and Lennie can truly trust. James McMenamin and Joel Marsh Garland elicit darker shadows from the men they play, but do so without ever getting too broad.

The same is true of Alex Morf, who pushes Curley's jittery jealousness just to the limit but not beyond, and Ron Cephas Jones as a just-barely-wistful Crooks you sense is always keeping his deepest passions in reserve. And as Curley's wife, Leighton Meester leaves you forever wondering whether she's the victim or the aggressor, an uncertainty from which the second act greatly benefits.

Particularly brilliant are James Franco and Chris O'Dowd as George and Lennie. Franco, a TV and movie headliner, effortlessly embodies George's self-destructive masculinity, as well as his devotion to and exasperation with his friend; he's believably shattering as both an independent and a dependent with a heart that reaches beyond reality's grasp. O'Dowd does beautiful work as the simple-minded Lennie, never pushing too hard or commenting on his disability, and bearing throughout exactly uncomplicated innocence that makes the man endearing and unsettling.

Their chemistry together is redolent of America's at its best: a union of opposing forces that, when respected, can pierce through strife, but otherwise are barely under control. They powerfully represent Steinbeck's complete, shimmering spectrum of American opportunity, with remarkable wonders and limits, and unlock in Of Mice and Men the heat and the heartbreak of potential recognized but unrealized. This is not, and never has been, a story that delights, but if bleakness can in fact be edifying, it is here as it rarely is anywhere else.

Dorota...

Quote:

Yay Leighton! At Of Mice and Men premiere with Amanda Setton and Ryan Lynn @itsmeleighton http://t.co/YB3hstrL8M

LittleღMermaid · 04-16-2014, 04:09 PM

So good so far! Thanks Rachel!

clair carlyle · 04-16-2014, 05:29 PM

Leighton specifically is getting mixed reviews, but the play is only getting raves, so she wins either way

Review Roundup: OF MICE AND MEN Opens on Broadway - Updating LIVE!

I wish Steven Zeitchik, who thought all three were "strong," wrote the review for the LA Times because this guy seems grumpy -- gives the production its first negative review and has it out for Franco lol
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...#axzz2z5M30b4Y

LittleღMermaid · 04-16-2014, 06:00 PM

Thanks! I expected as much. I'll keep an eye on that site.

Better Franco than Chris and Lei

ElleWoods · 04-16-2014, 06:04 PM

Minka Kelly is there supporting Leighton tonight

Love their friendship!

clair carlyle · 04-16-2014, 06:06 PM

Nope. I take back my "mixed" - her performance skewing positive so double, triple YAY!

Leighton Meester is lovely in her Broadway debut as Curly's pretty wife. A sad, flighty figure, she still fantasizes about movie stardom after walking into an ill-considered marriage, seeking attention in the wrong places.

James Franco and Chris O'Dowd in 'Of Mice and Men': Theater Review - Hollywood Reporter

Meester also makes her Broadway debut, as “Curley’s wife,” a character so devoid of identity that she doesn’t warrant a first name. Dressed like a 1930s starlet, she is merely flirty when she pops in to the workers’ bunkhouse, “jus lookin’ for somebody to talk to.” But she reveals a sweetness and openness in the second act, sitting with Lennie in the barn, as she invites him to touch her hair.

Review: Franco, O'Dowd Are "Men" for All Seasons | NBC New York

Though the men identify her as trouble — and Steinbeck, on the page, gives them little argument — the actress and her director are keen that we see her own neediness, and Meester brings flickers of softness and even warmth to the role.

Broadway's new 'Of Mice and Men' starry and stinging

Leighton Meester ("Gossip Girl") brings an impressive core of loneliness alongside her eroticism as the only woman, the wife of the boss' son.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment...hine-1.7715164

Meester, best remembered as Blair on the television series "Gossip Girl," is quite effective as Curly's Wife, who desperately seeks attention from the farmhands as a result of her absent husband.
http://www.amny.com/entertainment/of...tter-1.7727002

Then there’s Curley’s wife, who is said to be a slatternly, provocative sex kitten. The glamorous, pencil-thin Ms. Meester (of “Gossip Girl” fame, and not embarrassing) provides no evidence of being anything of the kind.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/th...id=nytimesarts -- I consider the NY Times a victory considering how many acclaimed "hollywood" actresses the critics there have torn into.

Rachel Leigh · 04-16-2014, 07:21 PM

Thank you so much for the reviews, it sounds like overall leighton did really good in reviews especially since theatre and on Broadway, she probably faced her toughest critics. Love the Variety review too

LittleღMermaid · 04-16-2014, 07:22 PM

Fantastic!

clair carlyle · 04-16-2014, 07:38 PM

Shapiro’s ace cast grips, too, but not terrifyingly. “Gossip Girl” alum and stage newcomer Meester brings out the yearning and sadness of the unnamed wife.

‘Of Mice and Men,’ theater review* - NY Daily News

There’s no way to overpraise the nine men and one woman (Leighton Meester, holding her own nicely, thank you, as the femme fatale) in this ensemble who bring Steinbeck’s characters to life.

‘Of Mice and Men’ Review: James Franco, Chris O’Dowd Lead a Brilliant Revival | Variety

And Leighton Meester, late of Gossip Girl, brings unexpected dignity (and stage chops) to Curley’s Wife, who despite not even having her own name is the Woman Who Causes the Trouble.
http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/theat...e-and-men.html

Whether it would prevail today is uncertain, but in its revival at the Longacre it remains a solid piece of work, especially in Anna D. Shapiro's solid production starring James Franco, Chris O'Dowd and Leighton Meester making their impressive Broadway debuts.

The debuting Meester conveys the confusion that Curley's wife is in. She's perplexed by her husband's jealous rages but also aware she can use her wiles as a possible way to find someone with whom to carry on a friendly exchange. Meester plays the beaten to a wounded parenthesis wife as hard and getting harder but still vulnerable. Also, grateful welcomes go out to Parrack, Morf and Joel Marsh Garland, all of them B'way first-timers giving the impression they're skilled old-timers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-...b_5163675.html

Leighton Meester (“Gossip Girl”), another Broadway neophyte, is spot-on as the wife of the ranch owner’s son, Curley (she’s not given a name). The sole female character in the 10-person drama, she’s a flirty, bored “tart” who upsets the men-only balance of the bunkhouse. With just the right mix of pushiness and vulnerability, Meester elicits our sympathy for Curley’s wife being stuck with a jealous husband (an excellent Alex Morf) in the middle of nowhere.

http://gaycitynews.com/best-laid-schemes/

Shapiro, who also directed August: Osage County at the National Theatre, has coaxed fine performances from the supporting cast ranging from the veteran Norton to Meester, also making her Broadway debut, who enlivens a small role as the play’s only woman with a moving reminiscence on the fate of her father.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...t-9265464.html

Leighton Meester, as the character known only as Curley's wife, is touching in her attempts to find some simple friendship to make up for the loneliness she finds in her marriage.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article...7#.U0-Z-oWG47A

Although the production is very much an ensemble effort, each actor is permitted to shine: James Franco’s intensity and his concern for Lennie; Chris O’Dowd’s warmth and innocence; Jim Norton’s striving in the face of adversity; Alex Morf’s sheer meanness; Leighton Meester’s complex opposition of flirt and damaged soul; and Ron Cephas Jones’s decency in the face of discrimination.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/6259...f-mice-and-men
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It seems that people who didn't like her interpretation complained that she wasn't sexy enough -- so they disagree with Anna's vision, whatever. I think the NYT made a good point by saying then the audience may think she was "asking for it," regarding the ending.

ElleWoods · 04-16-2014, 08:29 PM

She looks amazing in a navy blue dress posing with James and Chris!

adambrodyrocks · 04-16-2014, 09:24 PM

amazing reviews, specially from the biggies like THR , Variety

clair carlyle · 04-16-2014, 09:32 PM

Why is Getty or WireImage taking so lonnnnnngggg

adambrodyrocks · 04-16-2014, 09:47 PM

love everything about her look tonight

SMILA · 04-17-2014, 12:46 AM

Love all the reviews, love Leighton's look =) everything seems perfect =)

clair carlyle · 04-17-2014, 02:57 AM

So darn adorable


Fan Forum > Female Celebrities > Leighton Meester > Curley's wife \| Of Mice and Men on Broadway S&S #2: I am so incredibly humbled and inspired to help bring his world to life. ~ LM