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Post by crabtree on Aug 28, 2017 18:51:48 GMT
Am I right in remembering that Phyllis/Diana Rigg originally danced in 'Who's that girl' in the 1987 production but a back injury caused her to withdraw from the number?
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Aug 28, 2017 19:05:38 GMT
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Post by Scswp on Aug 28, 2017 19:05:38 GMT
Am I right in remembering that Phyllis/Diana Rigg originally danced in 'Who's that girl' in the 1987 production but a back injury caused her to withdraw from the number? Not sure of the answer to your question, but the character of Phyllis usually does dance that number. Not sure about Rigg's injury though. The character of Carlotta is usually involved too - but not always. I don't think the original Carlotta, Yvonne de Carlo, was part of that number. I'm not sure Eartha Kitt (a replacement London Carlotta) or Dolores Gray were part of that number for their entire runs, were they? Elaine Paige's Carlotta was definitely involved in the three American legs of that production. |
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Post by orchestrator on Aug 28, 2017 19:25:13 GMT
Can't see it transferring to the west end as Sondheim is a bit of a niche market and would struggle to fill a theatre long enough to turn a profit. I would think that most people who want to see it will do so during its NT run. Sweeney Todd which is by far the most well known Sondheim struggled towards the end at the Adelphi even with dame Staunton and Ball. Merrily and Night Music were the same even though Merrily had more 5 star reviews than any other musical at the time. Merrily had a band of 9, I think, and ALNM even fewer. Follies couldn’t transfer to the West End with a smaller band than it has now which is c.20. |
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Post by Boob on Aug 28, 2017 19:34:39 GMT
Only good match for the Olivier in the West End is the New London, but even that has fewer seats.
On another note, does anyone remember the Paul Kerryson production at the Festival Hall? I don't remember it being particularly good and the venue is all wrong for it, but the one luminous thing about it was Kathryn Evans as Sally - an extraordinary performance. Looking forward to seeing this production (my fourth) on Friday.
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Aug 28, 2017 21:57:05 GMT
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Post by macksennett on Aug 28, 2017 21:57:05 GMT
Kathryn Evans was superb - it was also my first Follies!
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Post by nash16 on Aug 29, 2017 0:31:03 GMT
Yes, this is interesting actually: How many on this board would say they've tweeted about a show if they've felt negatively about it? And if not, what were their reasons for not tweeting? (Especially those who've not loved Follies: what did you write on Twitter after the show, or did you choose not to tweet?) ¿Qué? Apologies. One second... "Sí, esto es realmente interesante: ¿Cuántos en este tablero dirían que han tweeted sobre un espectáculo si se han sentido negativamente al respecto? Y si no, ¿cuáles fueron sus razones para no twittear? (Especialmente aquellos que no han amado a Follies: ¿qué escribiste en Twitter después del show, o decidiste no enviar un tweet?)" Me entiendo? |
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Post by frankubelik on Aug 29, 2017 6:34:26 GMT
Having seen the 1987 version twelve (yes 12) times as a callow youth with the same obsessions as others now posting on this board, it was flawed but fabulous. Diana Rigg did indeed dance in "Who's That Woman?" but a back injury put her out of the number later in the run. Her costume and wig were also softened. Special mention for Julia McKenzie's Sally who broke my heart on every occasion; she was amazingly consistent and vocally stunning live. Kathryn Evans deserved a better production but she comes a very close second and gave a nuanced performance (and is a great dancer too!) and Mary Millar in Kerryson's Leicester production was also superb. (Liz Izen played young Sally and is now in the RNT version - perhaps she is covering Imelda?) The Landor version was a wonder and extremely well cast; there was a "pro-am" version in Northampton (with the late Louise Plowright and Alex Giannini) and I even went to Madrid to see it done in Spanish! I am nervous about my forthcoming visit and cannot help take my baggage and casting doubts with me. We shall see.
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Post by wickedgrin on Aug 29, 2017 7:33:25 GMT
Liz Izen is indeed covering Imelda.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 10:36:50 GMT
Curious, did anyone see Catherine Zeta Jones when she was in the show? Was she any good?
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Post by lonlad on Aug 29, 2017 12:41:19 GMT
Was CZJ in Follies as well as 42ND STREET? I didn't remember that. She could play Phyllis before too very long.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 12:51:26 GMT
Was CZJ in Follies as well as 42ND STREET? I didn't remember that. She could play Phyllis before too very long. Whoops, I meant to put that in the 42nd Street thread, not Follies. Although, I wouldn't be surprised to see her do this.  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 22:34:13 GMT
Well. For those who love the revolve at the Olivier, you're in for a treat. It spins happily at a cracking pace for most of the show. For those hoping that some poor cast member goes flying off due to a mistimed step, I'm sorry to disappoint. Nice to see half of the barricades from Les Mis propping up the back of the set though.
I'm pleased to confirm that there is indeed a tap routine in the show. Anita Dobson did it better at the RAH show though I'm afraid.
Also, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before but there is no interval. It could do with one though. The show starts to drag on a bit. It could all do with a bit more zip for my money, it all feels a bit laboured at times.
Great cast. Imelda occasionally veers into Mama Rose towards the end of her portrayal of Stalker Sally and if I didn't know the late great Dick Emery had passed on I would have sworn he was playing Emily Whitman. There are some terrific performances though from Janie Dee (stealing it from Imelda and almost running away with the show) and Peter Forbes as Buddy and Fred Haig as Young Buddy. I found most of the Follies girls rather underwhelming vocally though.
Tracie Bennett gives it her best Judy Garland for I'm Still Here however and she steals the entire show. 'nuff said.
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Post by lonlad on Aug 29, 2017 22:37:08 GMT
>> Also, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before but there is no interval.
It's been mentioned almost endlessly. The show works infinitely better without one, trust me, and wiser heads than I seem to agree.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 22:48:19 GMT
Also, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before but there is no interval. Brilliant :-) |
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Post by nash16 on Aug 29, 2017 22:58:35 GMT
>> Also, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before but there is no interval. It's been mentioned almost endlessly. The show works infinitely better without one, trust me, and wiser heads than I seem to agree. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 |
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Post by tonyloco on Aug 29, 2017 23:45:10 GMT
Those of a nervous disposition should perhaps avert their eyes now and stop reading as I discuss my disappointment with Follies tonight. Actually, Ryan's post above is a fair summing up but, in my own inimitable fashion, I feel the need to say more so here we go. I will number my points so you can decide when you have read enough and stop!
1. I thought the show was a bit lost in the very large set on the Olivier stage and would surely have been better staged in the Lyttelton. The central story is about the two main couples and I found it hard to concentrate on them for most of the opening sections of the evening.
2. For me, the perfect realisation of Follies was the semi-staged one-off gala at the Palladium on 5 February 2007. The cast was as follows:
PHYLLIS Liz Robertson
SALLY Maria Friedman
BUDDY Tim Flavin
BEN Philip Quast
EMELIE Wendi Peters (Rain on the Roof)
CARLOTTA Kim Criswell (I’m Still Here)
STELLA Meg Johnson (Who’s That Woman)
HATTIE Imelda Staunton (Broadway Baby)
SOLANGE Liliane Montevecchi (Ah, Paree!)
HEIDI Josephine Barstow (One Last Kiss)
ROSCOE Bonaventura Bottone (Those Beautiful Girls)
3. My main criticism generally tonight was that this is a musical and those numbers are songs and should therefore be sung. Listen to Barbara Cook and Julia Mackenzie singing 'Losing my mind', Eartha Kitt singing 'I'm still here' and so on. Honestly, I thought Imelda was auditioning for Lady Macbeth in 'Losing my mind' and Ryan thought she was replaying Mamma Rose. The same was true of some of the other songs like Janie Dee's 'Could I leave you'
4. I could have done with less of the ghostly Follies girls haunting the set. It was clever to have them take over 'Who's that woman' to do the more energetic tap routine but it took away from what the older ladies were doing and at the end it was hardly the personal triumph for Stella (Dawn Hope) that it should have been. Ryan is right that Anita Dobson at the RAH showed exactly how that number should work.
5. For me, the numbers that I didn't like at all were 'Broadway Baby' and 'Ah Paree'. I was also disappointed with 'Could I leave you' despite the fact that I felt Janie Dee was the ultimate star of the show. I was also disappointed with 'Buddy's Blues' because I thought Peter Forbes sang most of it out of tune and the two girls were too loud
6. What did I like best? Loveland. Why? because the staging suddenly looked like a proper theatre setting and 'Follies' is about theatre! I was also won over by Tracey Bennett as her performance of 'I'm still here' changed from an intimate conversation with several of the other characters into a barn-storming finale. And in her case she did not over-perform the number because that's how it is supposed to finish. And of course Josephine Barstow and Alison Langer were perfect for 'One more kiss'
I note that Ryan felt it sagged in places and for me the worst place was in the opening section when it took forever to get to 'Waiting for the girls upstairs' and then even longer to get to the medley of 'Rain on the roof, Ah, Paree and then Broadway Baby'. I will not be going back to see it again and will therefore have more money to spend on more tickets to '42nd Street'.
PS It did not come down until close to 10 pm after a late start and as I was sitting almost at the back of the stalls I did not notice anybody going out to pee, so I would say that all that fuss about having no interval was perhaps a bit of an over-reaction. But what do I know?!
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Aug 30, 2017 5:41:35 GMT
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Post by alicechallice on Aug 30, 2017 5:41:35 GMT
Well. For those who love the revolve at the Olivier, you're in for a treat. It spins happily at a cracking pace for most of the show. For those hoping that some poor cast member goes flying off due to a mistimed step, I'm sorry to disappoint. Nice to see half of the barricades from Les Mis propping up the back of the set though. I'm pleased to confirm that there is indeed a tap routine in the show. Anita Dobson did it better at the RAH show though I'm afraid. Also, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before but there is no interval. It could do with one though. The show starts to drag on a bit. It could all do with a bit more zip for my money, it all feels a bit laboured at times. Great cast. Imelda occasionally veers into Mama Rose towards the end of her portrayal of Stalker Sally and if I didn't know the late great Dick Emery had passed on I would have sworn he was playing Emily Whitman. There are some terrific performances though from Janie Dee (stealing it from Imelda and almost running away with the show) and Peter Forbes as Buddy and Fred Haig as Young Buddy. I found most of the Follies girls rather underwhelming vocally though. Tracie Bennett gives it her best Judy Garland for I'm Still Here however and she steals the entire show. 'nuff said. Unrelated to your thoughts on the show but more about the fact you were there - would you have been walking from Waterloo direction at about 7.15 wearing glasses & fancy headphones? |
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Post by dlevi on Aug 30, 2017 6:26:06 GMT
Amazing to think a show ran 18 months but lost money. The cast is large - 37 but certainly no bigger than a lot of blockbuster musicals which also have huge sets. The current cast of 42nd Street is over 50 I think. If this show costs a lot to stage then isn't the NT effectively throwing money down the drain if it cannot transfer. Actually the NT shouldn't be staging shows which could transfer, they should stage shows which commercial producers won't touch. I don't know the specifics of this production but it could've been driven by some of the performer's availability and willingness to commit to a long run which would've made a commercial run economically unrealistic. Having it at the National and and NT Live broadcast probably means that this Follies will be seen by more people all over the world than any other production ever. That's a good thing. The NT hosting the production of Oslo for what amounts to a three and a half week run before a transfer to the commercial sector ( like The Ferryman at the Royal Court) is an unfortunate use of the National. It's a fact of life now, but it's unfortunate. |
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Post by tmesis on Aug 30, 2017 6:47:57 GMT
Very interesting comments from Ryan and tonyloco. I'm going on Saturday and although Follies is packed with fab songs,as an evenings entertainment it's one of Sondheim's less satisfactory shows, and nowhere near one of my favourites in his output.
Oh, and by the way, has anyone mentioned before, there's no interval...
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Post by Boob on Aug 30, 2017 6:51:33 GMT
tonyloco, you have omitted one of the most astonishing members of that concert cast - ANGELA RIPPON! Who i seem to remember doing the splits? Remembered Quast in that but had completely forgotten that Staunton and JB were in it too. It was directed and choreographed by Bill Deamer, so...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2017 8:25:39 GMT
Oh and there's a LOT of walking about for those who like that sort of thing. For a moment I thought Yaël Farber had directed it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2017 8:30:33 GMT
Unrelated to your thoughts on the show but more about the fact you were there - would you have been walking from Waterloo direction at about 7.15 wearing glasses & fancy headphones? I was indeed. I'd probably say mincing rather than walking but the effect is the same. Are you my stalker? I not quite sure if it's the right protocol for stalkers to make themselves known but each to their own I suppose . . . |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2017 8:34:57 GMT
Oh and there's a LOT of walking about for those who like that sort of thing. For a moment I thought Yaël Farber had directed it. Walking or mincing? because I'm in favour of the latter... |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2017 8:37:23 GMT
5. For me, the numbers that I didn't like at all were 'Broadway Baby' and 'Ah Paree'. I was also disappointed with 'Could I leave you' despite the fact that I felt Janie Dee was the ultimate star of the show. I was also disappointed with 'Buddy's Blues' because I thought Peter Forbes sang most of it out of tune and the two girls were too loud Oh goodness, 'Ah, Paris!' was dreadful I thought. Geraldine Fitzgerald acted the part well in an 'Allo Allo' way but her vocals were not good. You could barely hear her through most of it, she was drowned out by the orchestra. I thought lots of them struggled to get their vocals out there (especially if they were ad-libbing over the ensemble) unless they were belting. Tracie Bennett really did show them all how it's done. |
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Post by alicechallice on Aug 30, 2017 9:24:39 GMT
Unrelated to your thoughts on the show but more about the fact you were there - would you have been walking from Waterloo direction at about 7.15 wearing glasses & fancy headphones? I was indeed. I'd probably say mincing rather than walking but the effect is the same. Are you my stalker? I not quite sure if it's the right protocol for stalkers to make themselves known but each to their own I suppose . . . I knew it!! Mrs Lovett's Meat Pie (RIP) and I walked passed you in the opposite direction when we were roughly parallel with the IMAX. We were off to the Young Vic. I said "that's Ryan from the Forum" but he didn't believe me. I wouldn't have said mincing to be honest. You look younger than your pic in real life too. |
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