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NickSeng | April 14, 13:06 CET

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There are two more reviews at The Star Ledger and Variety (reg. req.) as well, and though the play itself isn't garnering many positive reviews, critics at least seem to have nice things to say about Vincent.

(formerly Faith, and currently wondering what possessed me to change my username to my dogs name last night)

faith1984 | April 14, 20:31 CET

"Vincent Kartheiser, a scruffy pretty boy from television's "Angel," gives the play's most accomplished performance (indeed the only accomplished one) in the central role of Dave, a young hustler with an improbably fervent dedication to his craft."

The review was not great, but they liked Vincent, which is good!

Harmalicious | April 14, 21:03 CET

Same with the Star-Ledger's review...and there's a nice big picture of Vincent and a co-star in the NY Times print edition.

Chris inVirginia | April 14, 21:23 CET

Hey guys, here is a report from someone who was there. This is my new email friend who loves the Whedon world almost as much as me. I hope that is OK that I am posting this. The rest is all her...

True, Slag Heap is very rough around the edges -- amateurish, inconsistent, student theatre for the most part. Bad british accents all around. (Think Angel = Irish.) But taking it as such, it managed to surprise me in parts, and our Connor was indeed the bright spot.

 Despite it's rough subject and gritty happenings, the whole thing played rather lightly throughout the first act - inappropriately so. Vincent's character, Dave, endured unheard of humiliation and just plain ick as a young male prostitute, and yet managed to be optimistic, earnest, and downright cheerful. The happy hooker, indeed. Weird. I nearly left during intermission, but as the theatre holds barely more than 100 people, it seemed rude.

 And then halfway through the second act, out of nowhere, the show became totally gripping. Nearly exclusively due to Vincent's manic and tragic portrayal of this inexplicably cheerful child's slow descent into true, and very adult, darkness. Scenes where a coked-up Dave jumped up and down on a cot above his resting friend for almost ten minutes, maniacally recounting the evening's events at 100mph, with barely a breath. And his subsequent grim, silent acceptance, when his job as an "adult model" goes from relatively harmless, scantily-clad couple photos, to requiring cutting, and bloody self-mutilation. Dark stuff, that.

 Just thought I'd pass along a Whedonesquer (-wannabe)'s thoughts on the show. Oh, and also thought I should note that the role requires the former Connor to spend more than half of his stage time clad only in various pairs of man-panties. :) All in all, not a bad way for an Angel fan to spend an evening. Here's hoping that with a few more performances under their belts, this crew can improve on Slag Heaps weak spots, because Kartheiser was very good.

Harmalicious | April 14, 22:57 CET

Although I didn't much care for the pre-Wolfram & Hart makeover Connor as a character, I could tell VK was a strong actor. He proved it when he got to play the not-so-paradoxically far more interesting well-adjusted Connor.

bobster | April 14, 23:10 CET