Rock 'n' Roll

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We're hoping so too Terri. Unless someone has spoken with him and heard anything new, I think the latest we've heard is some time in the autumn. We presume he'll be playing Jan but a lot can happen between now and then.

A lot of the folks who didn't get to see it in London are keeping their fingers crossed and some of us who did can't wait to see it again.

Welcome, by the way...

[GreenEyesToo]

Welcome from me, too!

Here's a bit more about it:

www.playbill.com/news/article/105258.html

This is another article about the new production of Translations which mentions Rufus - and look who's playing Ru's role = Brian Cox's son:

"Alan Cox is also marking his Broadway bow — in the same role that marked Sewell's debut: the Irish translator who's the lieutenant's immediate superior. Sewell's second Broadway appearance will likely occur in the fall, recreating his 2006 Evening Standard Award-winning performance of a music-loving Czech in Tom Stoppard's most recent London hit, Rock and Roll. When it transfers, Cox's pop, Brian Cox, may come with it.
"My old man's Broadway debut was doing Strange Interlude in 1985 with Glenda Jackson at the Nederlander," said the 36-year-old offspring. "Then, by coincidence, another show that he had done in London — Rat In The Skull — was done at The Public, so he was over here doing two shows back-to-back."

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a bit about Rufus, a bit about Rock 'n' Roll and a bit about David Calder...


Stoppard's very own latest, "Rock 'n' Roll," in fact had a more or less wholesale change of players in November, which means that David Calder, Emma Fielding, and Dominic West were well habituated to the three-hour drama's principal trio by the time I caught up with them a few weeks ago. Of the three, West has the trickiest assignment, stepping into Rufus Sewell's award-winning shoes as the play's apparent authorial alter ego, a Czech academic and Rolling Stones enthusiast named Jan.

The actor, a regular on the London stage of late, is cut from the same robust leading man cloth as Sewell, even if he takes a while to relax into a daunting role that Sewell's artistry made look effortless; West's opening few scenes are too busy by half. Playing the cancer- stricken wife of Jan's academic mentor in the first act and then a grown-up version of the flower girl who is that same woman's daughter in act two, Fielding comes more naturally by her second- act gig than by the ailing Eleanor of act one: the role's originator, Sinead Cusack, had exactly the opposite effect.

But it is Calder's imposing and unrepentant Marxist, a Cambridge scholar named Max, who marks the greatest improvement, finding light and shade in a part to which Brian Cox brought an abundance of bluff and bluster. That's no bad thing in a heady, overlong play that hits its stride in the second act, even if a second viewing confirms one's hunch that Robert Jones's set design needs an overhaul as and when the play transfers to Broadway

www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/features/lon31.php

[ukelelehip]

Another comparison, this time from Rufus' biggest fan (besides us) Matt Wolf for theatre.com:

Rock 'n' Roll by Matt Wolf

Pertaining to Rufie and Dominic:

Now that the holidays are behind us, it's time to consider the truly pressing questions attendant upon 2007—beginning, in theater circles, with whether there is life for Rock ‘N’ Roll post Rufus Sewell. The answer, it turns out, is very much, yes, though audiences may find their sympathies and interest focused somewhat differently on Tom Stoppard's three-hour play than was the case the first time out. When this dramatist's characteristically intricate latest bowed last June at the Royal Court, it was impossible not to cheer the reunion of Stoppard and Sewell 13 years after their galvanic partnership on Arcadia: both men went on to win Evening Standard Theatre Awards for their work and would seem to be Olivier frontrunners, as well. It didn't hurt that Sewell—though 30 years younger—was beginning to resemble Stoppard, the two meeting in some kind of astonishing fusion, at once artistic and facial.

The new Jan—Sewell's role as the Anglophilic Czech academic and sometime dissident who does a spell in prison—is Dominic West, a stockier physical clone of Sewell who, to start with, has to struggle to come by the sweetness and lightness of touch Sewell brought to the part. That West more than gets there credits his ability to relax into the performance as the play itself relaxes: on second viewing, one is even more aware of the essential disconnect in an imperfect Trevor Nunn staging that proceeds in fits and starts before the interval only to then glide smoothly toward a tumultuous finale scored to the Rolling Stones. If early on West seems to be applying the charm from without, he's enormously touching in the renewed courtship of the now adult Esme in act two—their eventual coming together prompting the same rush of feeling on the romantic front that is accompanied by the play's parallel discussions of the death of Pan, a.k.a. erstwhile Pink Floyd band member Syd Barrett, who in real life did in fact die not long after this play opened.

[rai]

R'n'R is now going on in Prague, with a Czech cast, in Czech with occasional English. Rufus "hard act to follow". No sh*t.

www.praguepost.com:80/articles/2007/02/28/history-in-the-making.php

Photo of Esme & Jan too.

Rai

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admin said:

Another comparison, this time from Rufus' biggest fan (besides us) Matt Wolf for theatre.com:

Hey Uke this isn't the Matt Wolf who used to be a critic for TV Guide is it?

I mean it can't be, can it?

[ukelelehip]

I just wanted to give a cyber shout out to Peter Sullivan (Ferda) and Martin Chamberlain (Milan) who were with Rock 'N' Roll from the beginning and who may well be enjoying their first weekend off in bloody ages! Well done gentlemen and congratulations on a fantastic run!

[ukelelehip]

Ok, not about Rufus but about RnR. RnR in Prague:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOXAv8MqYNk

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any news on finalized casting, uke?

[ukelelehip]

I haven't been able to find anything yet.

[Terri Mac]

I know this is an old thread, so I'm not sure if I should be posting here or back on the "Let's Go See Rock 'n' Roll Together . . .

Re the play, I know many of you have seen it several times and in different venues as well. Since I only saw it the one time so far ;, I had some questions perhaps some of you "regulars" could help me out with:
First, at the end of the play, when Jan, Esme, and Ferdinand are at the Stones concert and they are jumping around on stage (the backdrop shows the crowd at the concert and everyone stands up as the music starts blaring), my daughter and I felt like clapping ourselves and standing up with the crowd, but the audience around us had no reaction at all. Is this the "normal" audience reaction, or were we just part of a "mellow" crowd? I'm asking because I was also disappointed when the actors came out for the curtain call, though people were clapping, only about 20-25 of us stood up for them. I'm curious because I know Maxx has discussed in the past the possibility of different audiences depending on which show you attend, and if so, she definitely has a point. So, what were the crowd reactions at shows you "regulars" have attended?

Just a comment: I was surprised that their "Marketing" group doesn't sell the CDs with the songs that were included in the play. They had 2 different types of t-shirts, a coffee mug, key ring, but no CD of the music. I would think that would be a nice profit-making item for them. Does anyone know if there's any special reason why they wouldn't sell a CD of the music?

Needless to say, the play was as fantastic as you have all said it was and Rufus' performance was superb. My only comment would be that I thought Jan's character actually aged a little too much in the end. To show about a 20-year span, wouldn't that make Jan just say about young 40s? I would think that the gray hair and glasses (without the slower walking and sort of limp) would have done it. I have my own theory that it could be about Jan's matchup with Esme, that is, Jan had to be aged more for it to be more realistic that he was with Esme. [Sinead Cusack fit the Eleanor of the first act better with Brian Cox than she did as the older Esme of the second act with Rufus Sewell.] I'd be anxious to hear other people's opinions on this.
Overall, just still overjoyed about seeing it.

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I'll do a sort of hit and miss on this one:

The Brits don't stand. They think we're nuts in the States. I'm not much of a stander. I'm trying to think of the last time I stood. You see it less at a straight play than a musical and you pretty much don't see it at all in the UK. I'd say 40% of the audience is pretty typical of a good straight play on Broadway. I have a suspicion but I can't corroborate it that NYers are less likely to hop to their feet. All that walking probably makes 'em tired.

The music doesn't belong to them to compile into anything. It's not original. It's not a like a film deal. They've had to pay to use it, but compile it into a CD? Lots of cost and very little return for such a small audience.

Jan is actually pushing 50 near the end. He may still have looked "old" but it was a hard life in Prague with all of the things that happened to him.

Okay that's my two cents. Next! lol!

[Terri Mac]

Maxx, as usual, your "two cents" was valuable information ;D
I was just curious, and your answers all make sense to me, so thanks! Terri

[GreenEyesToo]

Hey, Terri - glad you had such a fab time there! I'm sure it was worth the wait.

Maxx is right, British theatre audiences are quite reserved when it comes to standing ovations. The times I saw the play, in London, there was loud applause each time. What I found interesting was how different audiences reacted during the play - a comment that raised a hearty laugh one time caused barely a the next time, and the whole atmosphere seemed to vary, too.

As for the merchandise, neither t-shirts nor mugs were on sale here - boo! I'd have bought a mug!

And I know what you mean about Jan ageing a bit too much, but I think Maxx is right when she says about the hard life Jan had in Prague - maybe we are meant to assume that everything he went through aged him beyond his years?

Terri, was Alice still in the play when you saw it? There was an interview a while ago which mentioned that she was leaving in December, so I just wondered if she's still there. Although we haven't seen anything about who is taking over from her. Maybe she's staying after all.

[Terri Mac]

GE2
Yes, Alice was still in the playwhen I went on Dec. 29, and I was glad because I wanted to see her performance as well. I thought she did a fantastic job, especially in the second act when she plays Esme's daughter. (I don't want to cite specific parts because I don't want to give anything away.) I also had read that she had another commitment and would only stay until the end of December, I might have even read that on this site. I haven't seen anything else on it, so I'm not sure. I'll try to find out and let you know.