TOP GIRLS ON NY1

NY1 CALLS MTC’s TOP GIRLS

“MIND-BLOWING, SPLENDID, & DAZZLING”

 

NY1’s “On Stage”

Excerpted Review of TOP GIRLS

Reviewed by David Cote

 

It’s an election year, so I have to ask: Does Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of TOP GIRLS have Hillary Clinton in mind? There’s a restaurant in the first act of Caryl Churchill‘s MIND-BLOWING play, which is dubbed ‘Casa Bianca’ – Italian for “white house.” That’s not in the script; it’s designer Tom Pye‘s invention. Certainly this dark, twisty play about the thorny intersection of women and power should be required viewing for any female politician aspiring to the Oval Office. Scratch that: THIS SPLENDID WORK OUGHT TO BE SEEN BY EVERYONE.

 

Full of stylistic gear shifting and dense ideas, TOP GIRLS is not easy stuff …, so BRAVO TO MTC FOR PUTTING IT ON. Churchill’s play mutates in each act, going from trans-historical fantasia to gut-wrenching naturalism. Far from a feel-good feminist romp, the playwright offers a pessimistic critique of female empowerment in capitalist society.

 

The celebrated first act takes place in the aforementioned restaurant, where Thatcherite businesswoman Marlene-PLAYED BY THE GUTSY AND RIVETING Elizabeth Marvel-is celebrating her recent promotion at the Top Girls Employment Agency. Marlene’s guests are a surreal group of distinguished women from Victorian times, medieval Japan, a 9^th-century legendary female Pope and a figure from a Brueghel painting.

 

The play unfolds, DAZZLINGLY portraying the loss of social cohesion with individual upward mobility. Marlene epitomizes this paradox; years ago, Marlene left her unwanted child, Angie, played by Martha Plimpton, in the care of her working-class sister, Joyce, Marisa Tomei. Now Angie is a severely disturbed teen, Marlene is sliding into alcoholism and Joyce is a bitter, poor single mother.

 

The middle act is sharp and satirical, snapshots at the Top Girls employment agency. NOT TO BE MISSED are the fine supporting performances by Ana Reeder, Jennifer Ikeda, Mary Catherine Garrison and Mary Beth Hurt. These women’s lipstick smiles conceal predatory teeth.

 

TOP GIRLS IS A TRIUMPHAL END TO THE SEASON, shining under British director James Macdonald’s SMART, HARD-NOSED STAGING. Even 26 years after its premiere, the play remains an EXCITING, disturbing study of what women give up to get ahead.

 

INFORMATION ON TOP GIRLS

TOP GIRLS features Mary Catherine Garrison (Rabbit Hole, Assassins), three-time Tony Awardâ nominee Mary Beth Hurt (A Delicate Balance, The World According to Garp), Jennifer Ikeda (As You Like It), four-time Obie Award winner Elizabeth Marvel (Seascape and An American Daughter on Broadway), Drama Desk Award winner Martha Plimpton (Shining City at MTC, The Coast of Utopia), Ana Reeder (No Country For Old Men, Sight Unseen), and Academy Award® winner Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny and In the Bedroom, seen on Broadway in Salomé) .

 

TOP GIRLS marks the Broadway debut of Caryl Churchill‘s groundbreaking work. At the Top Girls Employment Agency in London in the early 1980s, Marlene has just been appointed head of the firm. But as this ambitious career woman celebrates her achievements, can we applaud her values? This bold and ingenious work from the singularly talented author of Far Away and Cloud Nine offers one of the theatre’s most honest portraits of what it means to be a woman in the modern world.

 

The creative team for TOP GIRLS includes Tom Pye (scenic design), Laura Bauer (costume design), Christopher Akerlind (lighting design), Darron L West (sound design), Matthew Herbert (original music), Paul Huntley (hair and wig design) and Elizabeth Smith (dialect consultant).

 

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country’s most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. MTC productions have earned a total of 16 Tony Awards and five Pulitzer Prizes as well as numerous other awards. Renowned MTC productions include LoveMusik; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Kimberly Akimbo; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Sylvia; Four Dogs and a Bone; Putting It Together; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain’t Misbehavin’. 

 

In 2003, MTC reopened Broadway’s landmark, long-neglected Biltmore Theatre, following a two-year, $35 million capital campaign. In addition to the Biltmore, MTC operates two theatres at New York City Center, its Off-Broadway home since 1984.

 

During Meadow’s sabbatical this season, Daniel Sullivan, a close associate of MTC and director of several Manhattan Theatre Club productions (Rabbit Hole, Brooklyn Boy, Sight Unseen, Proof, Psychopathia Sexualis), is serving as Acting Artistic Director. Sullivan will continue consulting with Meadow and MTC’s artistic staff on the planning of the 2007-2008 season. Meadow will return to MTC for the 2008-2009 season and will consult on the planning of that season.

 

For information on how to subscribe please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

 

TICKET INFORMATION:

Tickets to TOP GIRLS are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, online at Telecharge.com, and at the Biltmore Theatre box office (261 West 47th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue). Tickets range in price from $46.50-$91.50. For group ticket information, call (800) 432-7780. Student rush tickets are available the day of the performance at the Biltmore Theatre box office for $26.50.

 

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

• Through Sunday, June 29: Tuesday through Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 PM.

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www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com

TOP GIRLS MARTH PLIMPTON TO APPEAR ON PRI

TOP GIRLS’

MARTHA PLIMPTON

TO BE FEATURED ON

PRI’S “FAIR GAME WITH FAITH SALIE”

 

“Martha Plimpton is hilarious and heartbreaking.”

 – David Rooney, Variety

 

Martha Plimpton, currently appearing in MTC’s critically acclaimed production of Caryl Churchill‘s TOP GIRLS, will be a guest on PRI’s “Fair Game with Faith Salie” on Tuesday, May 13. The program airs locally on WNYC 820-AM at 8 PM. Check local listings for airtimes outside of New York.

 

Plimpton, a Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award winner, will sit down with host Faith Salie and discuss her lauded work in TOP GIRLS, as well as her almost non-stop two year stretch of work in New York theatre which began in 2006 with MTC’s production of Shining City, continued with The Coast of Utopia, and culminated this season with productions of A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Cymbeline, and her dual roles in TOP GIRLS.

 

In addition to Plimpton, TOP GIRLS features Mary Catherine Garrison (Rabbit Hole, Assassins), three-time Tony Awardâ nominee Mary Beth Hurt (A Delicate Balance, The World According to Garp), Jennifer Ikeda (As You Like It), four-time Obie Award winner Elizabeth Marvel (Seascape and An American Daughter on Broadway), Ana Reeder (No Country For Old Men, Sight Unseen), and Academy Award® winner Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny and In the Bedroom, seen on Broadway in Salomé).  The play is directed by James Macdonald

 

TOP GIRLS marks the Broadway debut of Caryl Churchill‘s groundbreaking work. At the Top Girls Employment Agency in London in the early 1980s, Marlene has just been appointed head of the firm. But as this ambitious career woman celebrates her achievements, can we applaud her values? This bold and ingenious work from the singularly talented author of Far Away and Cloud Nine offers one of the theatre’s most honest portraits of what it means to be a woman in the modern world.

 

The creative team for TOP GIRLS includes Tom Pye (scenic design), Laura Bauer (costume design), Christopher Akerlind (lighting design), Darron L West (sound design), Matthew Herbert (original music), Paul Huntley (hair and wig design) and Elizabeth Smith (dialect consultant).

 

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country’s most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. MTC productions have earned a total of 16 Tony Awards and five Pulitzer Prizes as well as numerous other awards. Renowned MTC productions include LoveMusik; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Kimberly Akimbo; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Sylvia; Four Dogs and a Bone; Putting It Together; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain’t Misbehavin’. 

 

In 2003, MTC reopened Broadway’s landmark, long-neglected Biltmore Theatre, following a two-year, $35 million capital campaign. In addition to the Biltmore, MTC operates two theatres at New York City Center, its Off-Broadway home since 1984.

 

During Meadow’s sabbatical this season, Daniel Sullivan, a close associate of MTC and director of several Manhattan Theatre Club productions (Rabbit Hole, Brooklyn Boy, Sight Unseen, Proof, Psychopathia Sexualis), is serving as Acting Artistic Director. Sullivan will continue consulting with Meadow and MTC’s artistic staff on the planning of the 2007-2008 season. Meadow will return to MTC for the 2008-2009 season and will consult on the planning of that season.

 

For information on how to subscribe please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

 

TICKET INFORMATION:

Tickets to TOP GIRLS are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, online at Telecharge.com, and at the Biltmore Theatre box office (261 West 47th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue). Tickets range in price from $46.50-$91.50. For group ticket information, call (800) 432-7780. Student rush tickets are available the day of the performance at the Biltmore Theatre box office for $26.50.

 

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

• Through Sunday, June 29: Tuesday through Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 PM.

 

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TOP GIRLS’ MARTHA PLIMPTON FEATURED IN THE NEW YORK POST

MTC’S EAGERLY ANTICIPATED PRODUCTION

TO BEGIN PREVIEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 15

Martha Plimpton, currently in rehearsals to appear in Manhattan Theatre Club’s eagerly anticipated production of Caryl Churchill‘s TOP GIRLS, is featured in today’s New York Post.

Plimpton, a Drama Desk Award winner and Tonyâ nominee, spoke to the Post’s Barbara Hoffman about the legendary and perhaps mythical Pope Joan, one of the characters she plays in TOP GIRLS, and bringing Churchill’s lauded play to Broadway.

TOP GIRLS begins performances at MTC’s Biltmore Theatre (261 West 47^th Street) on Tuesday, April 15 and the limited engagement will open on Wednesday, May 7 

Below is today’s New York Post feature:

PLIMPTON IS A WOMAN ON ‘TOP’

By BARBARA HOFFMAN

NEW YORK POST

April 9, 2008 — SOME people have bad hair days – Martha Plimpton has bad hair plays. A flurry of Shakespeare and Stoppard roles has forced the pixie-ish 37-year-old into some pretty bizarre ‘dos.

So much so that when New York Magazine asked her to explain herself, she said, “I put dead people’s hair on my head and speak loudly in front of . . . strangers while pretending they are not there.”

There’ll be less pretending with “Top Girls,” the Manhattan Theatre Club revival of Caryl Churchill’s 1982 play. It opens May 7 at the Biltmore (previews start April 15).

Set in the Ronald Reagan/Margaret Thatcher era, it’s a provocative look at upwardly mobile women and the sacrifices they’ve historically made to get on top – and stay there. For added resonance, nearly all the members of the all-women cast – Plimpton and Marisa Tomei among them – play double roles.

For Plimpton, that boils down to an oddball, tomboyish teenager – shades of her early gig in “The Goonies” – and the legendary Pope Joan.

“She’s a great myth, along the lines of King Arthur,” says Plimpton, as she prepares beef stew in her Upper West Side apartment…

TO READ THE FULL FEATURE

CLICK HERE 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON TOP GIRLS

In addition to Plimpton, TOP GIRLS features Mary Catherine Garrison (Rabbit Hole, Assassins), three-time Tony Awardâ nominee Mary Beth Hurt (A Delicate Balance, The World According to Garp), Jennifer Ikeda (As You Like It), four-time Obie Award winner Elizabeth Marvel (Seascape and An American Daughter on Broadway), Ana Reeder (No Country For Old Men, Sight Unseen), and Academy Award® winner Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny and In the Bedroom, seen on Broadway in Salomé) .

The play is directed by James Macdonald (Drunk Enough To Say I Love You?, A Number).

This limited engagement will begin previews at MTC’s Biltmore Theatre (261 West 47^th Street) on Tuesday, April 15 and will open on Wednesday, May 7.

TOP GIRLS marks the Broadway debut of Caryl Churchill‘s groundbreaking work. At the Top Girls Employment Agency in London in the early 1980s, Marlene has just been appointed head of the firm. But as this ambitious career woman celebrates her achievements, can we applaud her values? This bold and ingenious work from the singularly talented author of Far Away and Cloud Nine offers one of the theatre’s most honest portraits of what it means to be a woman in the modern world.

The creative team for TOP GIRLS includes Tom Pye (scenic design), Laura Bauer (costume design), Christopher Akerlind (lighting design), Darron L West (sound design), Matthew Herbert (original music), Paul Huntley (hair and wig design) and Elizabeth Smith (dialect consultant).

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country’s most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. MTC productions have earned a total of 16 Tony Awards and five Pulitzer Prizes as well as numerous other awards. Renowned MTC productions include LoveMusik; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Kimberly Akimbo; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Sylvia; Four Dogs and a Bone; Putting It Together; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain’t Misbehavin’. 

In 2003, MTC reopened Broadway’s landmark, long-neglected Biltmore Theatre, following a two-year, $35 million capital campaign. In addition to the Biltmore, MTC operates two theatres at New York City Center, its Off-Broadway home since 1984.

During Meadow’s sabbatical this season, Daniel Sullivan, a close associate of MTC and director of several Manhattan Theatre Club productions (Rabbit Hole, Brooklyn Boy, Sight Unseen, Proof, Psychopathia Sexualis), is serving as Acting Artistic Director. Sullivan will continue consulting with Meadow and MTC’s artistic staff on the planning of the 2007-2008 season. Meadow will return to MTC for the 2008-2009 season and will consult on the planning of that season.

For information on how to subscribe please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

 

TICKET INFORMATION:

Tickets to TOP GIRLS are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, online at Telecharge.com, and at the Biltmore Theatre box office (261 West 47th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue). Tickets range in price from $46.50-$91.50. For group ticket information, call (800) 432-7780. Student rush tickets are available the day of the performance at the Biltmore Theatre box office for $26.50.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

• Tuesday, April 15 – Sunday, April 20 (please note this is a seven performance week): Tuesday through Saturday at 8 PM. Sunday at 2 and 7 PM.
• Tuesday, April 22 – Sunday, May 11: Tuesday through Saturday at 8 PM. Sunday at 7 PM. Matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM.
• Tuesday, May 13 – Sunday, June 29: Tuesday through Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 PM.

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