After a two-year hiatus from acting to raise her young twins Phinnaeus Walter and Hazel Patricia, Hollywood actress Julia Roberts made her Broadway debut alongside Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper in Joe Matnello's production of "Three Days of Rain," which opened last Wednesday night. Her New York theater debut failed to impress critics.
The New York Post says, "In the first act, she looked long-faced, long-nosed and almost ordinary. How come? In her movies, do they use magic cameras on her or something?"
The New York Times critic wrote, "She's stiff with self-consciousness, only glancingly acquainted with the two characters she plays. Her voice is strangled, abrupt and often hard to hear. She has the tenseness of a woman who might break into pieces at any second."
The New York Sun was particularly harsh, saying, "Drifting in and out of Lina's Southern accent, grasping at any 'playable' sign of mental illness, Ms. Roberts works her way around the stage with the self-consciousness of a homecoming queen being forced to stand up and play Blanche DuBois in English class."
The New York Daily News added, "As mesmerizing as she is onscreen, she has surprisingly little stage presence."
The Chicago Tribune wrote, "Roberts' orbit here feels so limited in range -- and so lacking in oomph, projection and the necessary vocal support -- that one has to repress an urge to jump up on stage, get close to that famous, wide-mouthed visage, and see precisely what she's doing."
-- Compiled from wire reports
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