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The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino Reviews
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A Shout Out to Al Pacino in Merchant Review by: AmeliaZofia, Feb 6, 2011 |
First of all, a shout out to Willy Shapespeare for writing such a creative Merchant of Venice" tragicomedy that simultaneously promotes the casket plot, the ring plot, and the pound of flesh plot.
A shout out to Al Pacino who is the sun in this solar system of characters. He doesn't act the part of Shylock; he is Shylock. An amazing performance.
A shout out to The court room scene which is tense, and the act V ring plot ... read more denouement could not have been more contrasting, and as a perfect ending to the play.
Now, with those three shout outs, there are some elements, that in my opinion, are distractions in this version of "Merchant."
First, Lily Rabe's voice was too deep for the female Portia lead. She is much more suited for her disguised Balthazar, the young lawyer, but even then her voice doesn't project out well at all, even in the 'Quality of Mercy' monolog. Jessica's voice was a much better tone quality and she should have been the play's female lead.
Secondly, I know Shakespeare is endless, but to throw the play into a more comtemprary time frame where we saw three piece suits, ticker tapes, panama hats, alligator shoes. et. al. Any moment, I expected to see a character pull out a lap top computer or a cell phone. Too modernized for me; I prefer the purity of the original.
Thirdly, what's with that MMA expanded hexagonal pipe setting (looked like a lion's den), and just moving the bars a certain way to change the settting. Holy mackeral, Amos, this is Venice. Can't we have a canal, a gondola, a venetian house, something to illustrate the time frame.
Fourthly, my sister was sitting in the right mezz; we were in the left, both 3 rows back. The acoustics were terrible; whenever a character had his/her back to you, the acoustics suffered. This is the 21st century; can't we have better acoustics. I suspect anybody that was totally front and center could hear; all four of us had problems with this.
Even with these negatives, Pacino is Pacino; Shakespeare is Shakespeare, and we all enjoyed the play. I'm glad they kept the casket plot relatively intact instead of having it changed to a speed dating show, or an Ashley/Madison computer dating service or the like. |
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An honour Review by: barbene, Dec 16, 2010 |
This was magnificently staged. Pacino was superb. The overall production was excellent. Sets, costumes etc were fantastic. I was genuinely moved by the whole production.
The court room scene had me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew what happened.
Thanks for giving us the chance to see it.
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A gem!! Excellent acting befitting Shakespeare. Review by: PENNY, Nov 22, 2010 |
| We are fortunate to have Mr. Pacino as an actor, since at seventy he could take the 'easy' way now and stay in films, but he continues to perform on stage and let us "enjoyers" see him in person and see his great acting skills in person. I am jewish and really appreciate Mr. Pacino's willingness to portray the pain of anti-semitism, as well as the flaws of characters he has portrayed.
Regarding the Merchant of Venice, I recommend that you ... read more read the play before seeing the play. It's been many years since I read the play and I was lost sometimes watching the play. There were several people in the audience snoozing. But Mr. Pacino did a great job, especially in the forced baptism scene. I wish my ticket wasn't so expensive or I'd have given both Mr. Pacino and Ms. Rabe (portia) flowers at the curtain call. They both did a great job.
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Romantic Date, Business Assoc., Seniors
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#1 Review by: c, Nov 15, 2010 |
| the best playwright, best actor, in the best city in the world - thats all I can say the brilliance speaks for itself - i love long shows that make the time fly by like you have been there for 30 min max - so engaging and gripping - go see it if you can afford a ticket is worth the $140 face and up !!! |
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My recommendation:
must see!
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I saw this show with:
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Recommended for:
The Entire Family
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| * Review is an opinion of a BroadwayBox user and not that of BroadwayBox.com and BroadwayBox, Inc. |
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