In “The Great Lillian Hall,” Jessica Lange plays a veteran theater actress — a legend of the Broadway stage — who is always putting on airs, reciting bits from her favorite roles, and carrying on in the tradition of fabled actresses who get known for playing characters like Blanche DuBois because they’ve actually got a lot of Blanche in them. (They believe their own illusions.) Yet just because Lillian Hall is a flamboyant grand dame doesn’t mean that she’s not showing you who she is. Lange, a beauty at 75, has a face that has only grown more expressive with the years. In “The Great Lillian Hall,” that face is a map of emotion we read. Even when Lillian is being deceptive (even when she’s deceiving herself), the majesty of her feelings shines through.
There’s a moving scene in which she’s seated on a porch with her adult daughter,...
There’s a moving scene in which she’s seated on a porch with her adult daughter,...
- 6/1/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Depending on how Russian your sense of humor is, Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” could be classified as either the darkest of comedies or a tragedy that sometimes manages to be mildly humorous. The play follows a past-their-prime family of Russian aristocrats who are forced to sell their eponymous orchard, which they spent most of their lives ignoring and neglecting. But once it’s time to actually part ways, they become overwhelmed by morose nostalgia as they struggle to let go of something that they assumed would always be there. It’s both a brilliant satire of wealth-induced decadence and a somber exploration of how humans struggle to say goodbye at the ends of their eras.
So it’s fitting that, whether she knows it or not, Lillian Hall’s (Jessica Lange) upcoming turn as Madame Lyubov Andreievna Ranevskaya in “The Cherry Orchard” will be her final performance. Michael Cristofer...
So it’s fitting that, whether she knows it or not, Lillian Hall’s (Jessica Lange) upcoming turn as Madame Lyubov Andreievna Ranevskaya in “The Cherry Orchard” will be her final performance. Michael Cristofer...
- 5/31/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Jessica Lange is perfection as the fictional actress Lillian Hall, known for decades as a revered star of the theater. During rehearsals for her starring role in The Cherry Orchard, she is having unusual difficulty memorizing her lines, and before long learns that the cause is early dementia. Despite that ominous theme, The Great Lillian Hall is a lovely tribute to life in the theater, with all its personal compromises, and a showcase for Lange, who deftly shows the character as a vulnerable woman and also displays the distinct style of Lillian the bravura actress.
Lillian is such a star that she is the key to the box office in the Broadway revival of Chekhov. The film’s trajectory takes her through rehearsals, and in and out of her personal life as she grapples with her diagnosis, in a plot driven by the question of whether she’ll make it to opening night.
Lillian is such a star that she is the key to the box office in the Broadway revival of Chekhov. The film’s trajectory takes her through rehearsals, and in and out of her personal life as she grapples with her diagnosis, in a plot driven by the question of whether she’ll make it to opening night.
- 5/24/2024
- by Caryn James
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
HBO Films has acquired The Great Lillian Hall, starring Jessica Lange, for premiere on Friday, May 31, the eve of the June 1 Emmy eligibility cutoff date. The film will air on HBO at 8 pm Et/Pt and will stream on Max.
Per the logline: As beloved Broadway star Lillian Hall (Lange) pours her heart, soul, and time into preparing for her next big role, she finds herself blindsided by confusion and forgetfulness. Battling against all odds to make it to opening night, while holding on to her fading memories and identity, she must navigate a tumultuous emotional journey – balancing her desire for the spotlight and the stark demands of the real world.
In addition to Lange, the cast includes Kathy Bates, Lily Rabe, Jesse Williams, and Pierce Brosnan.
The Great Lillian Hall is directed by Michael Cristofer; written by Elisabeth Seldes Annacone; produced by Bruce Cohen, Steven Rogers, Scott Thigpen, and...
Per the logline: As beloved Broadway star Lillian Hall (Lange) pours her heart, soul, and time into preparing for her next big role, she finds herself blindsided by confusion and forgetfulness. Battling against all odds to make it to opening night, while holding on to her fading memories and identity, she must navigate a tumultuous emotional journey – balancing her desire for the spotlight and the stark demands of the real world.
In addition to Lange, the cast includes Kathy Bates, Lily Rabe, Jesse Williams, and Pierce Brosnan.
The Great Lillian Hall is directed by Michael Cristofer; written by Elisabeth Seldes Annacone; produced by Bruce Cohen, Steven Rogers, Scott Thigpen, and...
- 5/14/2024
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Meryl Streep is set to star in Places, Please, a film drama that will be directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Michael Cristofer from a script by UCLA Mfa alum Elisabeth Seldes Annacone (The Changing Room). The film is a love letter to Broadway, where both Streep and Cristofer started their careers. In an interview here, they describe their start together on a Broadway performance of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, which figures in the film. Their comments on the stage, and how Broadway can reemerge from its pandemic plight, are included below.
Places, Please will shoot this summer in New York, and will be introduced to buyers for the virtual Berlin Market, with CAA Media Finance repping domestic distribution rights and Filmnation handling international sales. Streep, Steven Rogers and Jane Rosenthal (The Irishman) will produce. Berry Welsh will executive produce.
In the film, Streep will play Lillian Hall,...
Places, Please will shoot this summer in New York, and will be introduced to buyers for the virtual Berlin Market, with CAA Media Finance repping domestic distribution rights and Filmnation handling international sales. Streep, Steven Rogers and Jane Rosenthal (The Irishman) will produce. Berry Welsh will executive produce.
In the film, Streep will play Lillian Hall,...
- 2/25/2021
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
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