Word: guskin
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...star cast is that it rarely melds into a stylistically consistent ensemble. Big-name actors tend to resist direction or, if willing to cooperate, prove unable: they lack stage training and technique for the classics or succumb to the heebie-jeebies of stage fright. Director Harold Guskin, a noted acting coach, has coaxed his players into charm and clarity in telling myriad tales of mistaken identity, most of which turn on the interchangeability of gender. Mastrantonio lacks the requisite androgyny but is otherwise faultless. Woodard, one of four black leads chosen in admirably color-blind casting, excels at seductive banter...
...Guskin either had no larger vision of the play or could not express it. The performances clash in tone and degenerate into monologues and star turns, all but devoid of emotional connection save in the first tender flirtation between Pfeiffer and the disguised Mastrantonio. By far the worst offender is Goldblum, who seemingly has no clue about his character. In a blatant pitch for cheap laughs, he relies on grimaces and gestures from The Fly, topping them off with a pantomime of catching and eating some insect. At best the show skitters along the surface of a script rich...
| 1 |