IS HE DEAD?

Mr. Cohen’s Gateway junior class, journalism class, Mr. Marquis, and former Jamaica High School teacher, Mr. Croonquist went to see Twain’s humorous rediscovered play, Is He Dead? on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on February 27^th,. The found it humorous and great!

Is He Dead? is a comedy written by Mark Twain. The play was written in 1898 but was not performed until it‘s rediscovery in 2002. It was adapted by David Ives and directed by Michael Howell Blakemore. Premiering in December 2007.

The actors were wonderful and believable. The star of the show is Norbert Leo Butz, a prominent Tony Award winning and Broadway acclaimed actor. His performance was brilliant! He play’s the role of Jean-Francois Millet. The production’s supporting actors were Andre, the vicious man who put Millet in debt, Marie Leroux, Millet’s lover, and Chicago, Dutchy, and O'Shaughnessy who played Millet’s buddies that encouraged him to fake his own death, Besides these acts there were more outstanding performances.

The play is about French painter, Jean-Francois Millet. Millet was actually a renowned painter in Twain’s time. The play is about Millet faking his own death so his painting could sell. When he was “alive”, barely anyone could pronounce or knew his name. After his “death”, his paintings were noted and admired, demonstrating a theme in the play, society’s value of art. Other themes were greed, wealth, and ensue.

Millet poses as a woman, Daisy Tillou. The plot was very entertaining. The dialogues were great and humorous. The audience was very much into the play and laughing at the hilarious scenes. For example, when anyone heard about the disease Millet died of, they would grab their crotches and make scared, disgusted faces and seeing a man act like a woman was funny as well. “It was hilarious and creative” said Omawattie Balram. Many students who attended the trip agreed with Omawattie.

The props in the beginning of the play were of when Millet was poor and there were actual paintings by Jean-Francois Millet on display. They were effective and really made the play believable. The props were also good when Millet or Daisy Tillou was rich in the third act. The painting in the back of the room in the second scene stood out and makes the audience wonder about who painted it. “The play was funny and caught the audience’s attention” said junior Gaitree Persaud “It was nice how the props were poor then rich”

The play received a lot of positive reviews from the critics. "A DELIGHTFULLY SILLY AND ENTERTAINING EVENING that leads to a SIDE-SPLITTING climax!” said Joe Dziemianowicz, from Daily News. Students in Jamaica High School who saw the play thought no different “It was an excellent play” said junior, Trieshanna Bradford “I think Twain would be proud to see the production of the play”

Performed on Broadway, Is He Dead received a lot of positive reviews, from Jamaica High School to noted critics. Why wouldn’t it? It was performed very well. If Mark Twain was alive, He would have loved it as well.