Awake and Sing! (Broadway Theatre Archive)
by Robert Hopkins (IV), Norman Lloyd
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: John Myhers, Martin Ritt, Milton Selzer, Robert Lipton, Walter MatthauDirector: Norman Lloyd, Robert Hopkins (IV)
Brand: Kultur
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-04-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kultur Video
Movie Reviews of Awake and Sing! (Broadway Theatre Archive)
Movie Review: Fear, manipulation, greed... all in the family
Summary: 5 Stars
My favorites line from this play is by Moe Axelrod: I'll tango on a dime, don't give me ice when your heart's on fire!!
Playwright Clifford Odet's Awake and Sing is the story of a Jewish family, three generations embattled during the depression 1935. The title, a Bible scripture, originates from Isaiah 36:19, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust, and the earth shall cast out the dead."
The setting takes place in the living room of a Bronx tenement, the time is the worst of the depression era when suicides were common, and here, tension and fear rip apart a family.
The themes run the gamut, betrayal, pregnancy, manipulation, strife, capitalism, socialism, greed, etc. The matriarch, Bessie is negative, fearful, demanding, manipulative and above that, insulting to her husband Myron. The grown children, Hennie and Ralph become embroiled in the tough love mom dishes out. Ralph reveals such frustration hoping for better, while daughter Hennie's future after a pregnancy is planned out as her parents have found a man for her to marry. Walter Matthau plays the cynical, injured war veteran Moe Axelrod who resides with the family and we learn has had a relationship with Hennie.
The first act begins with the grown daughter pregnant, while the second act takes us one year later.
The inspirational, hopeful character is grandfather, Jacob who encourages his grandson to live his life, go after the girl he wants, build his dreams, but yet, grandfather takes on the wrath of Bessie too. To go any further would give clues away to the wonderful play.
There is a lot of dialogue here, often characters speaking over each other, cynicism, music; so it goes fast and one needs to pay close attention, or better, see it twice if needed. The pacing is fast. My concern over the character role is that Walter Matthau appears to be mid 40s, while the daughter Hennie, his love interest is 26 years old, quite a difference! The play is often stated as a comedy drama, but I would not call it a comedy by any means. Odets is writer of the popular play Waiting for Lefty and Other Plays and Paradise Lost (Broadway Theater Archive). I highly recommend the dramatic play. ....Rizzo
Summary of Awake and Sing! (Broadway Theatre Archive)
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