Caught Al Pacino and his Shylock act in the play- the merchant of venice in Broadway the other day. Cost me quite a packet - $180 to be precise, and I did'nt enjoy the play a bit.
Firstly, the seats at Broadhurst theatre on the 42nd at Broadway were pretty small, and added to the heavy set jackets and overcoats everyone was wearing in snowy New York, it made for very uncomfortable viewing.
Secondly, my seat at one corner didnt give the best of views, the elderly couple sitting next to me were jittery due to something in their seats and the young couple sitting in front of me ,though pretty engrossed in the play, had a packet or two of chips which made cracklimg noise just as Narissa was about to say something that would draw the applause of the crowd.
Thridly, Pacino was shorter than I imagined, his Shylock's delivery of dialogue wasnt impressive either. Antonio was better & smarter, I thought.
Fourthly, Shakespeare at 10pm is tough on any day, but when you have to manage a big event the next day, its even tougher. While seeing the Phantom of the Opera in London a few years back, i had dozed off a few times- due to the sheer darkness of its sets and due to teh late hours spent working on that day. A 50 pound ticket experience spent napping. With the MErchant, while teh sets were imagnative, its the verbosity of Shakespeare that got to me. After dozing off a few times, walked out of theatre half hour before the play ended into the chill New York night and to super Italian pizza.
Finally , $180 left a big hole in my pocket - it was what I was paying for Hilton for a night.
Pacino got me into the theatre, Shakespeare managed to get me out.
