Click Here to Watch Al Talk About Salome!
"If Oscar Wilde had lived to see Al Pacino perform the part
of King Herod in his 1892 poetic tragedy Salome, he might have been pleasantly surprised...."
"Most important of all, Pacino appears to understand the strange blend of middle-age
boredom, kingly ennui and guilty conscience that afflict the tetrarch of Judea; there's a lot more going on with this Herod
than a simple letch for his 14-year-old stepdaughter-neice. For one thing, it's clear that Herod's letch for Salome
isn't nearly as strong as Salome's letch for John the Baptist (a ranting Kevin Anderson). Herod isn't the one on fire,
Salome is; and her fire is fueled by something more than raging hormones and adolescent lust...."
"Pacino goes a long way toward capturing the complexity of Herod's troubled psyche,
eliciting an occasional laugh for his naturalistic style. At his best, he is able to break down Herod's intricate language
into smaller units of subterranean intention and cleverly crafted emotion -- the range of nuance and feeling is impressive.
It allows Pacino a large and elaborate acting arc, of which he makes full use. By play's end he has gone from a drunken
monarch with a bothersome but not too serious sexual itch to an awakened man with a king-size headache on his bloody hands...."
Excerpts from "Salome" written by Jay Reiner for the Hollywood Reporter.com May 2, 2006.
..."Yes, it's pretty apparent why Al Pacino and Estelle
Parsons can't get their fill of Oscar Wilde's Salome. Given everything Wilde packs into this little 90-minute
care package of decadence, who in his right mind - audience or performer - could tear himself away?...."
"The more Salome cajoles (and the more desperate she seems), the clearer it becomes
that this is a woman unhinged. In this, she's hardly alone. Jokanaan and Herod are also, in their respective ways,
on the brink of madness.
"The King especially. His charcoal suit billows, his face is haggard, and his
hair is a tangled mess. Kicking that famous voice into a mincing upper register, Pacino plays Herod as a weak man, not
a tyrant. Some prophet is out there resurrecting death and transforming water into wine, and Pacino's Herod is trying
to get out of his own troubled head more than into Salome's bloomers. When negotiations with Salome must take place,
and Herod's language gets particularly florid, Chastain matches Pacino step for step...."
..."With Pacino filming a documentary, this Salome may well prove to be one
of the actor's signature roles. But here's betting Angelenos fortunate enough to see it will remember it just as vividly
as the first major splash of Jessica Chastain."
Excerpts from article written by Evan Henerson, Theater Critic
for the Los Angeles Daily News 5/11/06.
Click here to visit our "Salome on Broadway 2003" page!
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