It's Blair Brown and great dialogue, not Uma Thurman, that makes The Parisian Woman worthwhile | Covering the Intersections of Race, Culture, Sexuality, and Fashion | 48min It's Blair Brown and great dialogue, not Uma Thurman, that makes The Parisian Woman worthwhile | Covering the Intersections of Race, Culture, Sexuality, and Fashion | 48min

It’s Blair Brown and great dialogue, not Uma Thurman, that makes The Parisian Woman worthwhile

Full of topical discussions and political subject matter, The Parisian Woman starring Uma Thurman turns current headlines and D.C. political machinations into a 90-minute soap opera. Overall The Parisian Woman feels clumsy at times, and the characters, outside of Blair Brown’s Conservative mother and Head of the Federal Reserve’s Jeanette, aren’t always fully-believable. On top of that the pace of the show and sometimes rapid-fire words keep the play off balance and a couple steps off.

Still, The Parisian Woman was worthwhile and what really drives this play based on the 2013 original by Beau Willimon is how deep and thoughtful the dialogue is at many times during the show, as well as the unexpected funny moments that often hit more than miss. For example, Jeannette was so convincing that while Trump was a problem, she assured that “everything was going to be okay” and the way she delivered it almost convinced this liberal that maybe we are okay.

Thurman’s debut performance on Broadway was very good at times, and at other times felt as she knew she debuting on Broadway — enunciating everything with a bit too much vigor. I only mention this because I know that theater-goers were/are particularly excited about seeing this for Thurman.

The Parisian Woman plays at the Hudson Theatre in New York City and closes March 11th, 2018.

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