March 10, 2009

Fonda's return to Broadway impresses most critics

Jane Fonda officially returned to Broadway on Tuesday night with the opening of the play “33 Variations” that impressed most of the critics, and even many of the naysayers had kind words for the 71-year-old star.

In the new play written and directed by Moisés Kaufman, Fonda stars as a musicologist with Lou Gehrig’s disease who is determined to figure out why Beethoven was so obsessed with a minute-long waltz by Anton Diabelli that he penned 33 variations of it.

The play also features Samantha Mathis, Colin Hanks, Zach Grenier, Don Amendolia, Susan Kellermann, Erik Steele and Diane Walsh.

“33 Variations” is scheduled to play through May 24 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, located at 230 W. 49th St., map. Regular tickets are priced from $67 to $117, with aisle seats (sold in pairs) are $132 each. Premium seats are $152 to $227, depending on the day of the week. There are sometimes also $30 student rush tickets at the box office two hours prior to curtain, but only one per person with a valid ID.

For the behind-the-scenes viewpoint, Fonda has been actively posting to her blog and Twitter account: (“Rosie just emailed me between acts. Is that cool or what?!!!!! #theatre”)

The reviews:
Variety - “It’s been 46 years since Jane Fonda’s last role on Broadway but there’s no sign of rustiness in the cool command she brings to “33 Variations.” Fonda certainly knows her way around characters like musicologist Dr. Katherine Brandt, an impassioned woman hungry for knowledge and reluctant to concede her weaknesses. Playing an emotionally distant parent who finds closeness with her daughter only at the end of her life, the iconic star’s work here is also illuminated by personal history, mirroring her own famously troubled relationship with her father.”

New York Times - “Ms. Fonda’s layered crispness is, I regret to add, a contrast to Mr. Kaufman’s often soggy play, which sends her character on a quest to unlock, with a mortal deadline looming before her, a musical mystery about the Beethoven composition of the title. Still, I’m willing to forgive a fair amount in a production that returns Ms. Fonda with such gallantry to the Broadway stage after an absence of 46 years.”

Newsday - “Fonda, at least at Friday’s preview, seemed brittle and uncomfortable in the talky first act, but warmed up admirably as the fast-moving disease gave her physical challenges to perform. Colin Hanks (son of Tom) has a gangly sweetness as her daughter’s underachieving boyfriend, conveniently a nurse. Susan Kellermann is fiercely credible as the German curator of the archive. Unfortunately, Zach Grenier’s bellowing Beethoven is so frantically tiresome that his appearances feel like interruptions.”

Bloomberg - “Fonda fans, of whom I am one, will not be disappointed, though they may be surprised. She looks, even from the fifth row, 45 or less and alluring as ever (if alluring in quite a different, more conventional way than the Jane nature created). “

New York magazine - “Jane Fonda (accompanied by Beethoven) is not to be missed.”

Post - “Mostly, however, there’s talk, talk and more talk, with occasional snatches of music. The author of fact-based works like “The Laramie Project” and “I Am My Own Wife,” Kaufman regurgitates his considerable research in artless chunks. And it often feels as if he didn’t trust his premise’s innate pull: The friction between Katherine and her daughter, for instance, seems little more than a forced attempt to create more drama.”

Daily News - “The Oscar winner brings everything to this role that’s made her an iconic film star: Pure enthusiasm, toughness tempered by vulnerability, and that distinctive voice which makes every line fascinating.”

USA Today - “What elevates this above a Lifetime TV movie musical (there is piano accompaniment, by Diane Walsh) is Kaufman’s vigorous guidance of a fine ensemble. Fonda plays Katherine with wit and compassion, and manages to make her physical struggles credible and compelling — even if you don’t believe for a second that a woman can look this good while her muscles are atrophying.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution - “At 71, Fonda makes her first Broadway appearance in almost 46 years —- exhibiting the serene inner beauty of a woman who seems to have spent several lifetimes fighting back the demons of tragedy, fame and controversy. (The actress moved to Atlanta in the early 1990s, when she married media mogul Ted Turner, and has continued to live in the city since their divorce in 2001.) Happily, hers is a bravura performance: technically polished, emotionally engaging, honest to the core.”

Fox News - “Jane Fonda gives a Tony award winning performance in “33 Variations,” which opened on Broadway last night to standing ovations.”

amNewYork - “But for the most part, Kaufman’s play hits the right notes – and not just with music. It is an engrossing and moving drama that music enthusiasts are bound to especially appreciate. Still, it would really benefit from some careful cutting here and there, especially with regard to tacked on subplots involving Katherine’s daughter, the daughter’s goofy boyfriend, and a butch female clerk at the archives.”

Canadian Press - “The play’s excess of exposition is offset by a parade of musical interludes, provided by pianist Diane Walsh. She beautifully plays some of those variations - as well as Diabelli’s original composition. In these short bursts of Beethoven’s musicality, you can hear genius at work. Their liveliness stands in stark contrast to the sedate theatricality of “33 Variations.”“

Washington Post - “Into the mix Kaufman gives us a pianist (Diane Walsh) whose playing of the variations keeps time with the deterioration of both Katherine and Beethoven. Walsh’s fine accompaniment is particularly well used in a sequence in the archives in Bonn, where Kellermann’s Gertrude explains, with the aid of Jeff Sugg’s excellent projections, how the composer painstakingly wrote out his compositions. At that moment, you could be sitting happily in the lecture hall of your favorite professor, the one who keeps the audiovisual department hopping. “

The Stage - “There are probably enough funny one-liners, delivered with expert timing by a brilliant supporting cast, to fill at least two comedies. But first and foremost, 33 Variations is a thought-provoking meditation on the creative process, motherhood and death.”

March 10, 2009 8:12 AM in Broadway

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