| Oklahoma!
Film of the London production |
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But the stand-out supporting performance - in England, on Broadway and
here - is Shuler Hensley as dirty, dangerous Jud Fry. Hensley makes Jud's
frustration and isolation understandable, humanizing the character,
especially in the song "Lonely Room." Hensley won both the
Olivier and Tony awards for his brutish, complex portrayal. (David Cuthbert, The Times-Picayune)
The real discovery, however, is Shuler Hensley as Jud Fry. His
performance is both dangerous and pathetic, symbolic of the danger and
darkness that Nunn has successfully prised from beneath the musicals
seemingly pristine surface. (RT, Moviemail)
On Broadway, the best reviews went to the other performer repeating his
London performance, Shuler Hensley, whose pathetic misfit of a Jud Fry
remains a memorable creation. (Ken Mandelbaum, Broadway.com)
Nunn managed to explore the sadness and scariness of hired hand Jud Fry
without taking away from the show's upbeat charm. Jud (Shuler Hensley,
who won a Tony Award for his performance) is menacing and creepy but at
times quite sympathetic. As the shunned outsider who lusts after the
heroine Laurey (Josefina Gabrielle), he is humanized. (Joanne Ostrow, The Denver Post)
Hensley, who won a Tony for his supporting role, is intense and
frightening, yet not alienating, as Jud, the rough and volatile ranch hand
who battles Curly for the attentions of Laurey. Hensley radiates in his
role as it's presented on TV. It's a tough performance to beat......The
hand-to-hand combat seems anything but staged (credit Jackman and Hensley
for that as well), and the "Dream Ballet" sequence, as filmed
for television, is pure poetry. (David Bianculli, New York Daily News)
As portrayed by Shuler Hensley, who took both Olivier and Tony Awards
for his performance, Jud becomes strangely sympathetic - intimidating
and dangerous, yes, but surprisingly understandable. (Public Broadcasting Atlanta)
But the most interesting revelation in this version is grungy old Jud, the
farm hand who lives in the smoke-house with his collection of primitive
soft-core porno. In the movie, Jud (played by Rod Steiger) is evil and
creepy, with no redeeming qualities. But in this new production, with Jud
played artfully by Shuler Hensley, the character takes on a yearning
pathos. We see him not as "the enemy" out to ruin Curly and
Laurey's wedding night, but as a mournful dreamer who knows that girls
like Laurey never come running blissfully into the arms of guys like Jud.
(Tom Shales, The Washington Post)
The secret weapons in Nunn's production are Hugh Jackman and Shuler
Hensley, who play Curly and Jud respectively. The two represent opposite
extremes of good and evil, but Hensley, who won a Tony for his
performance, makes Jud both terrifying and achingly vulnerable. (Terry Byrne, Boston Herald.com)
More than in the original conception of the show, Aunt Eller (Maureen
Lipman) and bad guy Jud Fry (Shuler Hensley) are essential
ingredients.
Jud's an outsider whom we can't help pitying -- a hired hand doomed to
loneliness and ostracism in spite of his efficiency and hard work. (Wayne Lee Gay, Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Shuler Hensley as Jud is a formidable presence while giving the role of
the outcast handyman some humanity. (Rob Lowman, San Bernardino Sun)
The supporting cast is terrific, most notably Shuler Hensley's scary but
surprising sympathetic portrayal of Jud Fry. (Hensley would win a Tony
when the revival moved to New York.) (Charlie McCollum, The Mercury News)
The other breakout performance is Shuler Hensley’s as Jud Fry, the
creepy farmhand who lives down in the smokehouse on Laurey’s farm and
has a wall full of photos of naked ladies. At the end, of course, Jud
gets his deserts and Curly gets the girl; nonetheless, Hensley took
Olivier and Tony Awards for the London production. (Iris Fanger, The Boston Phoenix)
As for the “new” Jud Fry, well, he is magnificent. He is an actor
named Shuler Hensley, and he gave the role a simmering hostility that
conveyed a fierce defiance of a world controlled by “the pretty
people.” (Gary Carden, Smoky Mountain News)
As the outcast Jud, Shuler Hensley unleashes startling emotional depth
and complexity, investing his Lonely Room aria with brooding
power. Hensley's pitiable yet menacing Jud won him both an Olivier and a
Tony award. (Everett Evans, Houston Chronicle)
Shuler Hensley embodies the character of Jud, filling him with despair
and a creepy foreboding that elevate his status beyond that of oafish
villain. (Stephen Peithman, Stage Directions)
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