Three Days of Rain (with Julia Roberts...)

Julia Roberts on Broadway. It seems like a pretty good idea, huh? You're definitely going to draw a whole crowd of non-theater enthusiasts in, since she's probably one of the most loved movie actresses, like, ever, right? Unfortunately, when they all get there, it might be a tad disappointing.

Personally, I thought the play was quite good. I rather enjoyed it, and I thought the production was pretty cool, replete with real rain and all. I thought the play itself was a pretty neatly written show. The first act revolves around these three characters who have theories and views about their parents, and then the second act uses the same actors to portray three different characters, which reveals the lives and secrets of their parents. I liked it. I also rather like Richard Greenberg. Lydia, on the other hand, did not really care much for the play, and also does not really care much for Richard Greenberg. Of course, I am basing my judgment on this play and "Take Me Out," and she is basing hers on this play and "Naked Girl on the Appian Way." If you have seen/read both of these, you will probably understand the difference of our opinions.

So I liked the play. I thought it was well-written and it moved along well. I thought the set was pretty cool, and the production was worthy. Unfortunately, however, I was not blown away by Julia's acting. And by "not blown away," I mean, "severely underwhelmed." And by that, I mean she wasn't very good. Everything seemed so awkward and stoic coming out of her, like she was reading a script, rather than being a character. It is a difficult transition from screen to stage, what with memorizing an entire play and realizing that everyone's staring at you the whole time (especially if you're, say, Julia Roberts), and I guess I'm proud of her for making the effort (confused, quizzical look on my face), but that doesn't mean I'm going to say she was very good.

The rest of the cast, however, Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, was much better. Paul Rudd I thought was quite good, with two very different characters from Act I to Act II, and I thought he did a good job with them. Bradley Cooper, however, stole the show. I thought he was great. I've liked him since the short-lived "Kitchen Confidential," so I was pretty excited when I saw him in it, and I think it was wonderful that, in my opinion, he totally stole the show from two much bigger names. He was just so natural and funny with his role. Granted, his two characters didn't change as dramatically between the two acts as did Paul's and Julia's, and his parts were definitely much smaller, but I think he was just so much more engaging, entertaining, and natural on stage than his co-stars.

So the show I quite liked, although Lydia notsomuch. It is neat to see Julia Roberts up close and live, and it is I guess this big entertainment milestone of an event, perhaps even the theatrical event of the season. But that's just because it's her being her, and not being a terrific stage actress, so don't get your hopes up too high.