Rock 'n' Roll

[ukelelehip]

Where would we possibly be without a Rock 'n' Roll thread?

[jemima]

perhaps this can be a thread for 'mourning the passing of....' ! i only saw it twice, but it was kind of exciting reading about everyone else's brief encounters, and the analyses were top-notch. i fear my on-line life will be a little dull without it. was anyone else there (apart from greeneyes, who's told us all about her sunday, thankyou!) over the final weekend? please share!! (just 1 more hit, i beg of you...)

[quoll]

Quite agree Jemima! Even though I am on the other side of the world, there was a sense of anticlimax because now I really know I cant see it again! I was fortunate to have been able to arrange my UK trip to include a couple of visits to RnR and have so much enjoyed everyone's recounts!

[reveuse]

I was also there on Sunday for Ruf's last performance.

As GreenEyes said, there was even more energy about the show - as if the whole cast was determined to give those who were leaving a memorable send-off!

And Rufus was tinkering with his performance to the end, bless him. He was certainly very playful on Sunday (I noticed that huge pause, too, GE ) but also very powerful. He delivered Jan's key speeches (mostly to Max and Ferda) with more intensity than I'd seen on either of my previous viewings. And his emotional openness during the scene about the secret files was devastating. He paused, I held my breath. He gulped and blinked, I got a lump in my throat. My eyes filled up the first time I saw that scene but on Sunday I cried - couldn't stop myself.

The man's a bloody genius.

(Also, IMHO, David Calder is much better as Max than Brian Cox was. There is a vulnerability, a humanity, about Calder's Max - an undercurrent of dreadful doubt that I saw in the text but didn't see in Cox's Max - that makes the Jan/Max dynamic more real.
So when Max put his arms around Jan on Sunday, I believed him. I felt his awkwardness, his warmth and his sadness when Jan wept on his shoulder. The way he held him was *so* different. I'm rambling, I know - forgive me - but that scene was *so great* on Sunday.

Sunday's show brought me to my feet at the end, without a care as to whether anyone else stood to applaud or not (some did).

What a great experience.

So thank you, Rufus, for some wonderful moments over the last few months. I can't wait to see what you do next!

[mcr5137]

Well I never got to see it so I am totally relying on all of you that have to give detailed accounts of everything.........from the play itself to seeing and even speaking to Rufus afterwards! I'm so jealous! Sheesh, even Quoll got to go and she lives in Aussie Land! I'm going to have to stop being a mom and get a job so I can travel to wherever Rufus is performing I guess!

Michelle

[GreenEyesToo]

reveuse said:

And Rufus was tinkering with his performance to the end, bless him. He was certainly very playful on Sunday

Yes - absolutely! There were a few little changes I picked up on - terrific stuff. When he did that long pause, I almost thought he'd fluffed his lines, but I think he was just being minxy on his last day - difficult to do with a play like that, but he managed it!

And I'm so pleased, reveuse, that THAT scene affected you as much as it did me. I got goosebumps the first time I saw it, and damn well nearly blubbed on Sunday.

I also thought Rufus was even more intense than before in the scene where Jan finds all his precious records broken - made me want to leap right up on stage and give him a hug!

Ohhhhhh, it's over and it's not FAIR (*stamps foot like Alice*)

[maxx02]

reveuse said:

I was also there on Sunday for Ruf's last performance.

And Rufus was tinkering with his performance to the end, bless him.

I love to watch Rufus tinker. Something a little different here, a reversed inflection there. I could watch Rock 'n' Roll a dozen times just to see what he did differently.

And his emotional openness during the scene about the secret files was devastating.

Ah his speciality. He's so amazingly brilliant at this. It's like seeing into his soul even when he's on stage. Reading this brings back all sorts of feelings about this show.

The man's a bloody genius.

Can't say this too often.

(Also, IMHO, David Calder is much better as Max than Brian Cox was. There is a vulnerability, a humanity, about Calder's Max - an undercurrent of dreadful doubt that I saw in the text but didn't see in Cox's Max - that makes the Jan/Max dynamic more real.

Whhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! I hate you for getting to see this when I didn't. sniff, sniff.

So thank you, Rufus, for some wonderful moments over the last few months. I can't wait to see what you do next!

Here! Here!

Okay well maybe not. I'm not exactly looking forward to The Holiday but that's just me. I AM looking forward to Amazing Grace.

Thanks for the update, Reveuse

[ukelelehip]

See, I'm on the Brian Cox team. I don't know whether it was just that particular performance but I didn't believe Calder as a staunch communist. For me he came across as too sensible to have such hardline beliefs. Also, and this is not probably not his fault, the chemistry between Calder and Nicole Ansari was non-existant in my opinion.

[maxx02]

admin said:

Also, and this is not probably not his fault, the chemistry between Calder and Nicole Ansari was non-existant in my opinion.

So did you feel that was crucial to propelling the show forward? And quite frankly, I didn't see much chemistry between BC and NA on the stage. I went in cold not paying much attention to their off-stage relationship and for me, it wasn't there to begin with. Elenor's attack on Lenka was my only clue at the first viewing. It was in the dialog but unlike Jan's attraction to Esme, I didn't see it in the performances.

And I think the lack of chemistry between Max and Lenka is the fault of the actors not the way they were cast. They should find a way to create that attraction if it's crucial to the show. They shouldn't have to be married to make it work.

[ukelelehip]

maxx02 said:

So did you feel that was crucial to propelling the show forward? And quite frankly, I didn't see much chemistry between BC and NA on the stage.

I definitely saw a big difference in the lecture scene. It was massive. It set up the developments in the lunch scene so that that scene made more sense in my opinion.

Talking about chemistry, Roof and Sinead had heaps to spare. I just love the pre-concert scene with them ordering from the menu. Isn't that the cutest scene?

[maxx02]

admin said:

Talking about chemistry, Roof and Sinead had heaps to spare. I just love the pre-concert scene with them ordering from the menu. Isn't that the cutest scene?

Oh yes. I love that scene. It tells so much about their relationship in such a short amount of time and after the import of all the rest of the show it's light and playful and fun. It's nice to know that they are going to be okay--at least in the short term.

I actually even like the scene before it where they are at the wall taking pictures.

[quoll]

I so agree, it was lovely to have the happy ending in there and that was such a cute little scene.

I'm afraid I didnt see much chemistry between Max and Lenka either so them getting together was a tad out of left field for me.

[reveuse]

It wasn't just the Jan/Max dynamic that improved for me with David Calder in the show. I saw more chemistry between Eleanor and Max, too - or, more precisely, greater empathy for Eleanor *from* Max, when he realises what his hard line is doing to her. You know, David Calder is good at holding people He held Eleanor with such confusion and tenderness and then he did it differently but just as expressively with Jan. Max and Lenka? Well, I didn't study their 'holding' bit as there is Jan stuff going on on the other side of the stage at the time (no contest for my attention, LOL) but I think there was a lot of subtext in the lecture scene on Sunday - between Lenka and Max and between Max and Eleanor. Calder plays Max as a once hard line party man who is progressively beseiged by doubt as the play progresses. A man whose beliefs are battered by world events and what is happening to people he cares about. The small scene in the Czech street with Max and Milan was another good example of the difference...I saw so much of how Max felt about Jan in that scene when David Calder played it. For me, the overiding impression of Brian Cox's Max was anger. With Calder it was frustration and doubt.

Anyway, enough digression away from Rufus' performance, which is what we're here for and which was sublime on his last day. I'm so glad I was there and we've been so lucky since June. Missing him already.... And I shall never again be able to hear someone say 'ahoy' without smiling

Maxx, I agree - The Holiday is not what I'm looking forward to (much as I will no doubt be a saddo and go and see it for a 5 second fix!). Amazing Grace sounds better but even that is a fairly small part, isn't it? What I meant was that I can't wait to see what new thing Ruf chooses to do after his period of 'wilful unemployment'. Something worth waiting for, I hope.

[lassie]

I'm not very familiar with Dominic West's work, but I do wish him lots of luck in the role of Jan. It can't be easy for him taking on that role knowing that Rufus has been nominated for best actor! Has anyone got tickets to see Rock 'n' Roll without Rufus? Just wondered whether the play would still have the same feel to it without him.

[sevensisters]

Is it possible that one of the performances was taped for broadcast to us less fortunate people in other parts of the world who couldn't come to London for the live performance? On PBS here in the States there are sometimes broadcasts of great stage performances, and Rock 'n' Roll sounds like it would definitely qualify. While it certainly wouldn't measure up to the live, in-person performance, it would be better than never seeing it. I'm green with envy for those of you who did. What an experience! And Rufus sounds like he's so gracious to his fans! What a refreshing change from so many celebrities.