The Glass Menagerie Reviews

The Glass Menagerie has got lots of positive reviews so far. Here are the links of some reviews where Ben got praised.

http://raulisrunning.blogspot.com/2010/09/blow-out-your-candles-laura.html
"I almost forgot to mention Ben McKenzie, star of "The OC" and "Southland," as Jim the Gentleman Caller. He is surprisingly good. Having really seen him only in "The OC," "Southland" and "Junebug" where he played variations on the stoic, dour type, it was refreshing to see him so physically and verbally loose. He did a great job as Jim, playing the all-American type who hasn't quite lived up to his potential but isn't giving up. He has some clumsy stage moments, especially early on in his interchange with Laura, but once he settles in the interaction between the two of them is lovely and affecting. He accomplishes the role's requirement of representing the ever-hoped for future, and even when he has to let Laura down you appreciate his straightforwardness and the ability to--at least for a moment--awaken Laura. McKenzie just seems a tad too young to be playing a guy on the verge of cresting that hill and will soon be considered over-the-hill, but he does a very good job of embodying Jim's enthusiasm and downright decency. McKenzie holds his own with the other three actors who have just about perfected their characters."

http://blog.heymelpomene.com/2010/09/glass-menagerie-at-mark-taper-forum.html
"Ben McKenzie, in turn, is so confident and robust from the moment of his entrance that Jim O'Connor's juxtaposition to Laura highlights everything that is missing from the doomed Wingfield family."

http://broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.php?thread=1021621
"Strong confident standout performance from Benjamin McKenzie - really awe inspiring to see this generation of thirty something male actors really stepping it up on the stage ( Just a few months ago here at The Taper, Chris Pine nailed it in The Lieutenant of Inishmore.)
Thought he was great on The OC and really showed off his chops in Junebug.."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/the-glass-menagerie-theater-review-1004114341.story
"The Gentleman Caller scene in Act 2 is almost unbearably poignant. Ben McKenzie walks a fine line between genuine sympathy -- even affection -- for Laura and his brash desire to sell himself to whomever he's talking to and perhaps improve them in the bargain. After he impulsively kisses Laura, it's a nice touch to watch him become the shy one as she momentarily feels desired and takes in the experience."

http://www.lasplash.com/publish/cat_index_Entertainment_and_Culture/The_Glass_Menagerie_Theatre_Review_-_The_Mark_Taper_Revives_A_Tenneesse_Williams_Classic.php
"Keira Keeley & Ben McKenzie faired better in their roles of Laura & Jim respectively. They had some lovely moments together during their “date scene.” For a little while, we actually had two actors in the same play, listening to one another. For a little while, the show was free of frenetic character antics and staccato pacing. I enjoyed McKenzie so much that I could even forgive the incongruence of casting a physically small actor to play a football super-hero. I’ll take the good acting any day."

http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/reviews/la-theatre-reviews/e3ia02b5fdf7bb7dfc1bff1902a785f6fd1
"Keeley and a terrific Ben McKenzie, as the cocky yet compassionate gentleman caller Jim O'Connor, create magic in the lengthy candlelit Act 2 scene, which shows us Laura's finest moment of resiliency prior to a crushing letdown."

http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/amanda-266192-edelstein-laura.html
"Jim O'Connor, the gentleman caller (smartly underplayed by Ben McKenzie, the only member of this cast who was not in the original 2009 Long Wharf Theatre production), seems wise to Tom's hidden passions"

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/09/theater-review-the-glass-menagerie.html
"McKenzie’s charming Jim would have made a great catch for Keeley’s endearingly defeated Laura,"

http://grigware.blogspot.com/2010/09/review-glass-menagerie.html
"McKenzie offers the traditional interpretation of the Gentleman Caller: extremely open, egotistically self-confident and most abundantly polite. Both render model performances."

http://www.curtainup.com/glassmenageriela10.html
"Ben McKenzie plays Jim, the high school hero, the man on the rise, with contagious confidence. Half the man Tom is, he believes sturdily in himself. It's a star-making part, witness Kirk Douglas in the film version."

http://joyhog.com/2010/09/14/the-glass-menagerie/
"O’Connor is kind of a wanker but McKenzie’s performance makes him a joy to watch in a rare, comedic turn for the actor."

http://moviedearest.blogspot.com/2010/09/reverends-reviews-bold-menagerie.html
"The pivotal "Gentleman Caller," Jim O'Connor (a very impressive turn by Ben McKenzie of TV's Southland and The O.C.),"

http://outwestarts.blogspot.com/2010/09/st-louis-woman.html
"The only newcomer to the production from its East Coast run is Ben McKenzie who is excellent as the Wingfields’ gentleman caller Jim"

http://asset1.flavorpill.com/losangeles/events/2010/9/15/the-glass-menagerie
"Plus, in a surprisingly nuanced turn, The OC's Ben McKenzie shows up as Gentleman Caller."


http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/sep/17/through-the-glass-lightly-long-wharf-theatres-la/
"Ben McKenzie is a convincing Jim O’Connell, embodying all the self-esteem and past accomplishments of a man who reached his pinnacles of achievement in high school and is now a fellow worker with Tom at a shoe factory. In Laura’s eyes he is still the hero she saw from a distance in high school and even Tom acknowledges his early triumphs. Now that fate has brought him back down to earth, he still rises to the challenge of helping Laura in his own little confidence-building encounter. Once he realizes the situation into which he’s been dropped, you can almost see the creaky wheels turning and his motor recharging. She is a challenge, and he’s trained himself to accept and meet challenges. In his opening comments Tom says of Jim, “I am using this character as a symbol — as the long-delayed but always expected something that we live for.” McKenzie fills the function well."

http://operatheaterink.com/2010/09/20/review-the-glass-menagerie-mark-taper-forum-sept-20-2010/
"As Jim O’Connor, Ben McKenzie is the most reliable actor and character in this production. By that I mean that he is exactly what we envision O’Connor to be. We can picture him winning the hearts of the young girls in his high school, playing the lead in the school musicals, being the class president, and winning Laura’s heart. We can also picture him as another victim of circumstance who ends up as Tom’s co-worker in a warehouse.

O’Connor knows exactly what to say to Laura to build up her spirits, for it is precisely this talent coupled with his good looks and charm that brought him his high school popularity. But his recent setbacks have made him more insecure, yet a better person; so after kissing Laura, even though he knew the action was wrong, he feels guilty and tells her the truth.

The scene between Jim and Laura is dimly lit, probably too much so. It is the highlight of the show in my opinion because it brings subtle sentimentality to the production, even though if Keeley had played the character with more vulnerability, the scene would have still been more poignant."

http://www.socal.com/6740/186/The+Glass+Menagerie+.html
"It then falls to the actors to bring to life the magnificence of the play. We are not disappointed. Patch Darragh as Tom Wingfield, Judith Ivey as Amanda Wingfield, Keira Keeley as Laura Wingfield, and Ben McKenzie as Jim O’Connor are all extraordinary...He(Jim) fills the stage with confidence and optimism, the embodiment of likability, kindness and good-natured warmth. And, oh, the chemistry between him and Laura!

There are a few times when the pause between lines of dialogue is a tiny bit – really, just the tiniest bit – too long, especially in the scene between Jim and Laura. We know we are supposed to squirm with their discomfort, and we do; we might resent, however, being forced to squirm quite as long as we do. When the line is finally uttered, it is well-worth the wait, so forgive that we grew a tad impatient."

http://www.frontiersweb.com/Entertainment/Theater-Reviews/Story.aspx?ID=1278296
"Keira Keeley is a lovely, delicate Laura who finds surprising humor in her extended scene with the “gentleman caller,” Tom’s co-worker Jim, who has come to dinner oblivious to the hopes Amanda has pinned on him. Southland’s Ben McKenzie is charming and assured in the part."

http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2010/09/theater_review
"When after two hours into the performance the audience is at last introduced to the gentleman caller, what’s possibly more surprising is that it’s played by former “The O.C.” actor Ben McKenzie.
However, McKenzie proves to be far more multifaceted than his acting resume leads on.
Playing the role of Jim O’Connor, McKenzie is arguably the most pivotal character in the play, even with a role two-thirds shorter than that of the rest of the cast. His presence as the only character separate from the dysfunctional Wingfield family significantly impacts their sheltered existence."

http://www.dailynews.com/lalife/ci_16190523?source=rss
" Ben McKenzie creates, in the gentleman caller Jim, not the simple, straightforward and gently ambitious man one often sees, but a man being molded by a domineering woman. This Jim is glad to relive a past where he was his own master, and his response to Laura becomes less charity and more genuine."

http://www.corpuscurio.org/node/188
"The cast is expertly rounded out by Keira Keeley and Ben McKenzie who's tender exchange in Act II drew me in with memories of misinterpreted affections in my own life. Powerful stuff."

http://www.litfestmagazine.com/Site/HOME/Entries/2010/9/30_THE_GLASS_MENAGERIEMark_Taper_Forum%2C_Los_Angeles.html
"I was blown away by Ben McKenzie. I knew him from The O.C. and was perturbed to find him in such a classic role. I, however, was proven wrong. He was astonishing. His timing was superb and his stage presence strong and impressive. Judith Ivey steals the show, but Ben McKenzie is a surprise. The collaboration of these four actors is powerful.....I most definitely gave them a standing ovation!"

http://www.hesaidmag.com/article/469/the_glass_menagerie/
"The first act primarily focuses on the relationship between an overbearing mother and her overdrinking son. As familiar as that may sound, it is not until the second act of the play that Williams' queer sensibility takes full effect, when a gentleman caller, strongly and confidently portrayed by Ben McKenzie, calls on Laura (a mind-blowing-ly subtle Keira Keeley), Tom's sister."

http://www.valleyscenemagazine.com/archives/Sept172010/onstage/
"All the actors occupy their roles with layers of feeling and strong choices. Keeley’s portrayal of Tom’s disabled and frail sister Laura is especially heartbreaking and mad- dening, while Ben McKenzie’s (“The OC,” “Southland,”) turn as the earnest but self-aggrandizing “gentlemen caller” Jim is played with charm and bravado."
"A kiss between Laura and Jim -- eliciting hopeful gasps from the audience -- ends in rejection, a painful reminder that it’s often too late to fix what’s already been broken."

http://restlessruminations.tumblr.com/post/1282700752/theatre-reviews
”The second act is marvelous - there’s a half-hour scene in candlelight where Jim, the gentleman caller (played tenderly by Ben McKenzie of The O.C. and Southland fame) gets acquainted with Laura, the shy, slightly crippled girl who once harbored a serious crush on Jim in high school. Those thirty minutes were the highlight of the whole show for me.”

http://broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.cfm?thread=1021621&dt=12&boardid=1
"The standout, however, was Ben McKenzie. Great voice, accent, and real theatrical presence. The others had a tendency to garble their dialogue and at times didn't enunciate loudly enough (the show is not heavily miked). He was terrific and got a huge hand at the curtain call. Hopefully Broadway will take notice, as he can certainly hold his own with seasoned stage actors."



You can find more here.
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