"The Ten Unknowns"- 4/07/01
By Kelly
Ok, first off, I cannot even begin to explain how amazing I thought the entire play, "The Ten Unknowns" was. I had had a few people emailing me, telling me that Julianna was wonderful, but the play itself was boring. I myself, found it to be very interesting, and entertaining. And Julianna was more than wonderful. She has this presence on stage, I cannot even describe.
Anyway, I arrived at the theater about a half hour before the show, so I wandered around, snapping photo's of the building, billboards for the play outside, etc.. Finally, I got impatient and decided to go inside, see what was in there.
As soon as I stepped into the theater, I was in shock. I had heard it was small, but it was so much smaller than I imagined. I was in the 5th row, right in the center. I felt as if I were on top of them I was so close! LOL. The stage was pretty small, but the set itself was great.
Once the play started, Donald Sutherland was first out, along with Denis O'Hare. They had the first scene and a half or so, then Julianna came out. My god, I felt like I was having an out of body experience when I saw her. ;) Anyway, she looked great. Her hair was curly, and she reminded me of a hyperactive teenager when she first came out, the way her character was acting.
She plays a biology grad student from Berkeley, named Julia Bryant who's studying some disappearing frogs. She becomes friends with Sutherland's character and Justin kirk's character, and is invited to stay with them.
Sutherland plays an artist who was apparently a great painter back in 1942, but has not released any new work in many years. Kirks' character plays his assitant whom we find in the end of the play, has actually been the one painting all of Sutherland's characters, now unreleased new paintings.
Throughout this entire play, I could not keep my eyes off of Julianna. Her acting was just wonderful. Her facial expressions when drinking the alcohol, her voice when she first arrived, it was all amazing.
After the show, I went and stood by the stage door, waiting for her to come out. When she did, I got an autograph on my playbill, along with a photo of her and me together! She was so incredibly sweet the entire time! She is definetely like everyone describes her, sweet and willing to talk with and pose for photos with fans.
When the play comes to Broadway this fall, I will surely be going again. It is an excellent show, and well worth getting the tickets.
