farnovision

An "Insider's" View of "The Farnsworth Invention"

(The La Jolla Playhouse "page to stage" workshop production of Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth Invention wrapped up its run on Sunday, March 25; with that in mind, what follows should really be read as "past tense.")

In an open discussion with audience following the Sunday, March 18 matinée performance of The Farnsworth Invention at the La Jolla Playhouse, playwright (and screenwriter and TV impresario) Aaron Sorkin quipped that with his years of experience in the business, he'd learned to give the audience what it wants: "...and it's clear to me that what the audience wants is a play about 1930s patent law..." 

I can't speak for the rest of the audience, but anybody who knows me knows that that is precisely what I've been advocating for....oh, thirty-some years now.  So I filed into the theater this past Saturday night with a perspective quite unique from that of anybody else who was in the hall, because I have been living with this material all that time, and know the "true story" probably better than I know my own life story.

I must confess, I entered the theater at first fully expecting to hate everything that was about to unfold before me. I had sufficient "advance knowlege" of what I was about to see that I was certain there was no way I was gonna like it.  And, indeed, after the first viewing, I was entirely conflicted about the disparity between the production's dramatic impact and its divergence from what I would consider historical propriety.

Fortunately, I am not only writing this review from the unique perspective of my "insider's knowledge" of the facts; I also saw the play twice  -- first on Saturday evening, and then again Sunday afternoon.  What I realized on the second viewing was that I had watched the first performance with my nit-picker turned up 'to eleven.'  I actually made all kinds of notes about little details that were "wrong."  But when I watched it again Sunday, I left the nit-picker at the door, which freed me to sit back and enjoy the production as any newcomer to the material might. And from that perspective, I was much better able to appreciate the scope -- and, yes, the grandeur -- of what has been accomplished here. 

But first, try to imagine the trepidation I felt as I settled into my seat on Saturday night and waited for the lights to dim...

One Blogger's Review of TFI

Here is a fairly succinct (and fair) review of The Farnsworth Invention, which has now completed its month-long "workshop" run at the La Jolla Playhouse near San Diego:

Accuracy, however, can be the hobgoblin of drama. That quibbling point was quickly forgotten, though, because The Farnsworth Invention was fanfuckingtastic.

For all the ups and downs of Studio 60 this season, The Farnsworth Invention is an assurance that Sorkin has still got mad skillz. I saw the matinee show on the last day of the run and I was seriously considering putting off the hour-plus drive back home to get in the rush line and try for another ticket to the final show which would not begin for about four hours.

Sounds like this guy saw the same play I did. We now wait to see if indeed this production will find its way to Broadway.   

Spielberg Taking "Farnsworth" to Broadway?

Variety.com - Inside Move: Spielberg funds play?.

Is Steven Spielberg helping to usher in Aaron Sorkin's return to Broadway?

It's looking likely, with chatter surfacing on both coasts that Spielberg is joining Broadway producing org Dodger Theatricals ("Jersey Boys") for a Rialto production of Sorkin's play "The Farnsworth Invention." Spielberg is planning to put up half the capitalization.

Michael David, head of the Dodgers, downplayed talk of a Broadway production but clarified Spielberg's potential involvement.

"At this time, there are no plans to produce 'The Farnsworth Invention' on Broadway," he said. "Mr. Spielberg has no connection with the La Jolla production of the play. Should Dodger Properties decide to produce the play on Broadway at some time in the future, Mr. Spielberg would be involved as a limited partner."

So, let's review:  Spielberg is NOT connected to the San Diego production, but if it goes to Broadway, he's staking half the production cost.  You suppose maybe there's a movie deal in there somewhere, too??

REVIEW: Inventors spar about boob tube

I believe the media are asked NOT to review The Farnsworth Invention at the La Jolla Playhouse, as it is a "page-to-stage" workshop production, but the Daily Aztec from San Diego State University has gone ahead with this assessment:

"The Farnsworth Invention" centers on Farnsworth (Jimmi Simpson), the essential force behind the creation of television, and his corporate nemesis, David Sarnoff (Stephen Lang), who stops at nothing to steal Farnsworth's glory and credit the invention of television to his company, RCA Records. Even with heartless tactics, though, Sarnoff is not a completely unsympathetic character and the story is told in part through his retrospective narration.

The photo you see here is the first rendering I've seen from the stage.  The way Jimmi Simmons is holding the tube here, he looks almost exactly like the statue that was unveiled in the U.S. Capitol in 1990.

Got An Hour To Kill?

Link: binnall of america : audio.

A few weeks ago I did a radio interview with Tim Binall for his "Binall of America" website. 

It's an ultrarare alternative history episode of BoA : Audio, as Paul Schatzkin joins the program to discuss his book, "The Boy Who Invented Television", the amazing story of Philo T. Farnsworth, who first thought of television as a farmboy and developed the invention from mere concept to the first working electric television, kicking off the television revolution in America. We follow the entire fascinating story that reads like a Hollywood movie, complete with a gang of underdog inventors, battles with big business, and the birth of a new era in media : the television.

You can download the entire conversation, about an hour and fifteen minutes' worth, in two parts. 

Another Blog on TFI

Here's another report from somebody who has seen The Farnsworth Invention at the LaJolla Playhouse: ad nauseam: theater review.

The 1st 3/4 is very brainiac and expository...I wasn't bored but I was wondering why I wasn't thrilled. Sorkin saved it for the last few scenes. He did his Sorkin magic where I want to cry because he reminds us, powerfully, of the potential for good in humans, but we all know how little of that is actually realized.

History -v- Hollywood in La Jolla

Link: The Farnsworth Invention (2/27).

I have been exchanging messages with a fan of The West Wing who maintains a "Live Journal" blog and who has seen an early performance of   at the La Jolla Playhouse.  Based on these exchanges, I'm starting to get some sense of how the play balances the tricky imperatives of drama with the prickly details of history:

One thing I have to point out that they are (Sorkin and McAnuff) not interested in telling just the history/facts in this play (but I have to admit, in the beginning it's too descriptive for a theatrical play). It's about "the race between two visionaries (Farnsworth and Sarnoff) to lay claim to the invention of the television." There is a great dialogue between them at 11 o'clock scene, but it never happened in the real life. I don't think people who will come to see the show are planning to get a quick history lesson from this show. They (at least I am) are interested in how the story is being told and how the two stories are wove together.

I don't know if the "bigrivermusical," the individual who hosts this blog, intended for it to become a focal point of any debate re: fact-v-fiction, but he is the first to report any of the details of the play, so I hope he doesn't mind the added traffic.