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Review: The Farnsworth Invention
Feb. 22nd, 2008 09:16 pmThursday night I saw The Farnsworth Invention on broadway. Written by Aaron Sorkin (of West Wing fame), this play is about the inventor of television and his battle with the president of RCA to (1) invent TV, (2) claim the patent rights to it.
The play hasn’t gotten great reviews and is due to close in a few days (March 2nd) but a few months ago I dashed out (to the internet) to get the best seats I could. It turns out, $102 will get you 2nd row seats on a week-day. I’ve never seen a broadway show so close up. I tell ya... it was worth it. To see the faces of the actors close up was amazing. (I wouldn’t recommend being so close up for a musical since they are staged to be best viewed from the average seat.)
While the play may be historically inaccurate, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Sorkin highlights many themes that are very relevant to current technology issues around privacy, control of information, and the corrupting influence of advertising.
My favorite part? That RCA’s collaboration with AT&T always involved executives from AT&T that were idiots that didn’t understand the future (something I found true when I worked for AT&T Bell Labs and dealt with anyone in higher management.) Ok, the term “idiots” is too general so I’ll be specific: they’re making $25 a pop for something and someone says they could make millions but they have to stop the $25/pop product first... and they reject it. Yes, that was my experience constantly at AT&T.
Watch the trailer.
Hank Azaria was great, even though he used his “Chief Wiggums” voice for the entire show. (I would have put that under a “cut” but I doubt you’ll get tickets to see the show so I haven’t ruined anything for ya). Jimmi Simpson as Farnsworth was excellent.
The play hasn’t gotten great reviews and is due to close in a few days (March 2nd) but a few months ago I dashed out (to the internet) to get the best seats I could. It turns out, $102 will get you 2nd row seats on a week-day. I’ve never seen a broadway show so close up. I tell ya... it was worth it. To see the faces of the actors close up was amazing. (I wouldn’t recommend being so close up for a musical since they are staged to be best viewed from the average seat.)
While the play may be historically inaccurate, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Sorkin highlights many themes that are very relevant to current technology issues around privacy, control of information, and the corrupting influence of advertising.
My favorite part? That RCA’s collaboration with AT&T always involved executives from AT&T that were idiots that didn’t understand the future (something I found true when I worked for AT&T Bell Labs and dealt with anyone in higher management.) Ok, the term “idiots” is too general so I’ll be specific: they’re making $25 a pop for something and someone says they could make millions but they have to stop the $25/pop product first... and they reject it. Yes, that was my experience constantly at AT&T.
Watch the trailer.
Hank Azaria was great, even though he used his “Chief Wiggums” voice for the entire show. (I would have put that under a “cut” but I doubt you’ll get tickets to see the show so I haven’t ruined anything for ya). Jimmi Simpson as Farnsworth was excellent.
