Theatre
& Stage
reviews by SalsaChicago.com critic Al Bresloff
Finishing
the Picture (thru November 7th)
Once again,
the Goodman Theatre is doing a pre-Broadway
production on the main stage. This one, by
Arthur Miller, one of Americas most famous
and prestigious playwrights. In Finishing
the Picture, Mr. Miller is in fact recalling
the story of the events that took place on
the final film of Marilyn Monroe (his ex-wife)
and Clark Gable- two of our movie legends.
While names have been altered and I would
think some of the facts have been made to
work better in the script, we know that this
is the story and these characters are caricatures
depicting the real Hollywood types that were
in Reno in 1960 when this was happening. While
there is mention of the political situation
of the time (Nixon/Kennedy) and the raging
fires in California, the central plot to our
story is about the "star" , Kitty and her
inability to allow the picture to be finished
costing the studio lots of wasted money.
Stacy Keach
plays the new financial backer and he must
determine if there is indeed a way to finish
the film or cease the operation. He is assisted
in trying to reach "Kitty" by his director
(Harris Yulin), his video man (Scott Glenn,
with a few choice lines about parts of the
female anatomy), her secretary (a fine performance
by Frances Fisher) and her soon to be ex-husband
(a weak performance, very stilted, with the
weakest dialogue of all the characters , played
by Matthew Modine). There are some wonderful
touches by Linda Lavin as Flora, Kitty's acting
coach and her husband , Jerome ( the acting
GOD to Kitty) played deftly by Stephen Lang.
Heather Prete handles the role of Kitty (representing
Ms. Monroe as a brunette instead of blonde)
and it is difficult to say what I thought
of her acting job as in most of the scenes,
she barely spoke, but murmured in her nakedness.
This is a
cast that seems to be made in heaven, directed
on one of the finest stages in Chicago under
the direction of Robert Falls, but it does
not work as you want it to. The script is
somewhat "flawed" and I am hopeful that mister
Miler will indeed make the changes needed
to succeed. Thomas Lynch's set design is very
1960's and with great lighting by Michale
Philippi, wonderful costumes by Martin Pakledinaz,
and sound/music by Richard Woodbury. John
Boesche's video projections are a great addition
to this show, but may be overused by about
1/3. I would have preferred a closer look
at the whole picture. I am sure that this
play will be "doctored" and will make it to
New York.
Finishing
the Picture will run through November 7th
with performances as follows:
