Walking with Ghosts - Apollo Theatre

[Rory]

[Marwood]

I booked a second row seat for this on the first Friday of its run earlier today: I’m not exactly sure what Gabriel Byrne has done since Millers Crossing which was (gulp) over 30 years ago but he’s been a solid presence in everything I remember him being in.

Thankfully ticket prices were a lot more reasonable than stuff like Cock or Jerusalem or I wouldn’t have bothered.

[Rory]

There was a piece about this on Radio 4 Today this morning.

[ncbears]

I guess they anticipate this will do well enough in London to have a Broadway Transfer - (18 October - 30 December) Walking with Ghosts to Music Box Theatre

[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2022 14:34:15 GMT ncbears said:

I guess they anticipate this will do well enough in London to have a Broadway Transfer - (18 October - 30 December) Walking with Ghosts to Music Box Theatre

The Music Box isn't all that big, to be fair, but I can't imagine this selling here in NYC. He's beloved, but isn't that big a draw in the NY theatre community. 

[couldileaveyou]

This whole project seems to be happening 20 years too late

[lookingatthestars]

I saw this in Dublin last January. Looking back now, I recall it as an entertaining afternoon spent with an engagaing storyteller, who was open and vunrable (visibly upset at one point), and had plenty of dry humour.



Not much to spoil , but just incase:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}
Most of the show is him speaking about his childhood, early adulthood and his days studying to be a priest. He spoke philosophically about love and loss, and life in general. Apart from a few stories here and there about working as an actor, there is really nothing 'hollywood' or 'starry' about it. He's just a man, talking about his life. I did very much enjoy his retelling of an evening he spent with Richard Burton, where he acted out what happened, playing both himself and Burton.

Of course much of this may have changed in the intervening time.

[al]

Anybody know if there are day seats available?

[Dave B]

Enjoyed this a lot. Late start plus 2 minutes silence meant it was after 10 when we got out. Website said 2h.30, signs inside had it at 55, 20, 55 but time went longer somewhere.

It is much as lookingatthestars describes above, Byrne is very engaging and tells his story really well. Funny throughout and does not shy away from the lows one bit. Moving in many places. Very warm reception for it this evening.

[Marwood]

They’re still advertising this as running 2 hours 5 minutes including an interval but it didn’t start until about quarter to eight and finished at ten.

I enjoyed it, had a front row seat but the stage wasn’t too high and I had a perfect view of proceedings. It was a bit of a shock to realise that I think that in everything I’ve seen him in on screen, he’s used an American or British accent so it took some getting used to hearing him with a Dublin accent. I enjoyed the show, it might help if you’re from a family of Irish descent to understand some of the things he talks about (there was some pissed up heckling about Mayo in the second act which didn’t help things though and he didn’t appreciate ): there are some nice anecdotes about his days in the theatre but when it comes to the years when he made it, it’s pretty much limited to a story about Richard Burton.

The theatre was pretty full (and a lot of the audience were pretty full of alcohol so I don’t know if his telling us about his years of sobriety were appreciated) but it was an entertaining couple of hours, I’m glad I saw it.

[Steve]

When I saw this, the audience, including myself (and DaveB, I think), were still reeling at the news of the Queen passing away an hour earlier, and we began with a two minute silent remembrance of her, so in that sense we were walking with Ghosts before Gabriel Byrne ever came on.

The ghosts Byrne was walking with were principally those of his family (his father, his mother, his sister) but also the ghost of himself, who he once was as a boy (before the interval) and a young man (after the interval).

Byrne is an incredibly vivid, immediate and lyrical writer, so the evening is always intriguing and moving, albeit not always convincing in the first half, where he could not possibly remember so much detail this accurately. Byrne gives us a wink, that he is filling in blanks of his own memory, when his memory morphs into the lyrics of "Qué Sera Sera" lol.

Some spoilers follow. . .

I found the second half, which dealt with Byrne's adult experiences as a terrible plumber, his early work in theatre, his relations with his mentally ill sister and his meeting with Richard Burton, more gripping than the first half, for being more vivid and believable accounts of his real experiences, less embroidered.

That said, I believed every word in the first half about his granny and and cornflakes and trips to the movies and also about his experience with a horrible old priest.

I think the Burton story is included partly to explain why he doesn't talk about his Hollywood life, about his work in great films like "The Usual Suspects" and "Miller's Crossing" (I'd have loved to hear about his working with Albert Finney, for instance, that movie being mostly about a bromance between the two men): essentially, Burton explains, fame is total crap, and it's a very funny truthful story.

Anyhow, this is a wonderful show. We all have our ghosts, and we are all becoming ghosts, and Byrne talks us through his ghosts generously, lyrically and movingly.

RIP, your Majesty. RIP, Gabriel Byrne's ghosts.

4 stars from me.

[ncbears]

So-so reviews for NY production: www.broadwayworld.com/article/Review-Roundup-Gabriel-Byrne-Brings-WALKING-WITH-GHOSTS-To-Broadway--The-Critics-React-20221027

[ncbears]

And closing on Broadway six weeks early.