Stage Beauty

If you like any part of what you read about the premise, or setting, or those involved, you MUST see this! It is a truly lovely film, with great Art Direction from all departments, and some EXQUISITE work from Billy Crudup and Claire Danes...

I went into Stage Beauty expecting to bored into a deep slumber and came out energized. I suspect fans of the leads, Shakespeare, period pieces about the Restoration, and those who just like great performances will be as well.

Good

A lovely story about the historical change on the British stage from all-male casts to mixed casts. If you loved the historical aspects of Shakespeare in Love, this is an excellent follow-up.

Strange yet beautiful movie. Probably rather controversial for the gay issues it brings up.

Better than I expected. Billy Crudup gives a great performance.

Divine, there is no better way to explain the gender segregation on the stage than this film. I show scenes 1,5,8 and 12 to enable them to understand Charles II proclamation that only women would be allowed to play women after so many years of young boys playing the girls' roles. Rupert Everett is divine as the King, especially when he is in drag in one of the Court Musicales which was exempt from the law he has just passed. And great that they kept the Danes/Crudup romance ambiguous at the end.

"A prissy dissertation on identity politics in Shakespeare's time from a modernist perspective." - Ed Gonzalez

Not sure if it's an entirely accurate take on the subject, but it serves as an interesting exploration of gender roles nonetheless.

Sprightly and enjoyable peak behind the theatrical curtain (in more ways than one) resembles a lighter, less ostentatious version of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, with Danes and Crudup delivering beautifully clear and direct performances and providing a sturdy anchor for a gaggle of more outlandishly broad performers in support (as always, Griffiths steals all of his scenes in sleazy horndog mode!) If it’s maybe more much ado about nothing than anything substantial, it’s good fun and well worthwhile.