DidHeLikeIt.com Reviews, or: A Man for All Seasons Some Tastes

The first ever revival of Rober Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, starring consummate actor Frank Langella, arrived on the Great White Way last night. Here is an assessment of reviews compiled from DidHeLikeIt.com:






NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW: "Is it heresay to whisper that the sainted Thomas More is a bit of a bore? Even Frank Langella, an actor who can be counted on to put the pepper in mashed-potato parts, doesn't find much variety in the monolithic goodness of the title character of A Man For All Seasons."


AMNY REVIEW: "Decapitation: it's the fad of the fall of Broadway! Just as Sydney Carton mounts the guillotine in A Tale of Two Cities, Sir Thomas More is similarly led up the stairs to meet the axeman. But as it turns out, losing your head is not the equivalent of good theater."



NEWSDAY REVIEW: "With Broadway's first revival of A Man for All Seasons since its 1961 premiere, the Roundabout Theatre Company has tossed the hungry acting giant a big chunk of juicy sustenance. And Langella's gratitude becomes our own."



ASSOCIATED PRESS REVIEW: "Now, in the play's first Broadway revival, Frank Langella has assumed the mantle of Sir Thomas More, and it's a natural fit. With a strong, even mesmerizing physical presence, Langella slips easily into costume drama. And his fluid, mellifluous voice is perfect for the series of moral arguments he puts forth to justify his obedience to God, a duty that goes beyond his allegiance to King Henry VIII. The play itself doesn't wear as well in this stately, slow-paced revival, that the Roundabout Theatre Company opened Tuesday at its American Airlines Theatre."

VARIETY REVIEW: "The word "maverick" has been so thoroughly co-opted as a catchall credential by the Republican presidential campaign that it may be forever tied to that context. But for a true illustration of a staunchly independent dissenter worthy of that label, history is a better place to look -- for instance, to Robert Bolt's depiction of Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons. The 1961 drama about the martyrdom of the chancellor of England under Henry VIII is not without windy preachiness. But the Roundabout staging becomes more gripping as it proceeds, driven by a performance from Frank Langella as measured and naturalistic as it is majestic."