A question concerining the spate of Follies Productions

[Frank thebellhop]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 7:53pm

Does the Kennedy Center production have a director?

With the article now possibly linking Bernadette with the Trevor Nunn production is it a possiblity he'll direct that? If not she could possibly play the same character with two directors within the span of months. That would be very cool to see. Esp. if the directors had vastly different conceptions of Follies.

OR even better and more improbable she could play Sally in DC and Phyllis in London &or Broadway!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 7:57pm

Interesting concept but no- Eric Schaffer is directing the Kennedy Center production

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 8:00pm

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/bernadette-peters-keeping-her-follies-options-open/

Whoa this is interesting stuff. So the Kennedy Center isn't really a guaranteed transfer as many thought.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 8:03pm

Oops. I failed to read the update.

7:30 p.m. | Updated Judy Katz, the spokesman for Bernadette Peters, just wrote with news that Ms. Peters had to turn down the “Follies” production in London “due to scheduling problems.”

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 8:21pm

That update to the article sort of renders the entire article useless.

[binau]

Posted: 11/2/10 at 2:08am

Well there is still the possibility that Peters could perform in the Washington Follies, then the London production could transfer to Broadway and Peters reprise her role in the new production, right?

So could there be competition with the Washington vs London Follies coming to Broadway?

[max2paradise]

Posted: 11/2/10 at 2:53am

This reminds me a lot of when "A Little Night Music" had multiple major productions happening at around the same time, each with transfer possibilities.

There was obviously a production London directed by Trevor Nunn that eventually transferred to Broadway, but there was also a number of others. There was a concert production in Boston directed by Casey Hushion and starring Christine Ebersole, Mary Louise-Wilson (who withdrew at the last minute), and Ron Raines. There was a beautiful production in Baltimore directed by Mark Lamos and starring Barbara Walsh, Steven Bogardus, Polly Bergen, Kate Walsh and Sarah Uriate-Berry. And of course there was the star-studded Roundabout concert production directed by Scott Ellis and starring the late Natasha Richardson and her mother Vanessa Redgrave, along with Victor Garber and many others.

Any of these productions could have probably found the means to transfer. I remember feeling at the time that the best thing to do was just to be excited, because a Broadway revival of "A Little Night Music" was likely on the horizon. Now I feel that way about "Follies". That is a good, good thing.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/2/10 at 3:01am

It sure seems that Bernadette is determined to play Sally on Broadway. And that's ok by me. Sally is one of my all time favorite characters! I cannot wait to see her in DC.

HA, and now I realize why Bernadette responded with "Follies, where?" to Roma Torre on "On Stage" when she was asked about the Follies rumors! Looks like she seriously considered the London production.
Updated On: 11/2/10 at 03:01 AM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 11/2/10 at 10:06am

Well I certainly admire her tenacity! The big question of course is would EITHER of these productions come to New York.

The Kennedy Center production appears to be the real deal - using the full Broadway orchestrations and having a massive (for regional theatre) budget of over 5 million dollars. Moving it to New York would probably require an additional 5 million dollars, and probably a pretty lengthy commitment from the names attached to make a transfer at all a possibility. I mean the truth is if MAME couldn't get the additional funding to move, could a lesser known and more obtruse musical like FOLLIES?

The production that Nunn is directing at the Haymarket sounds like its going to be something more on the scale of the Roundabout production or his recent NIGHT MUSIC. It could be wonderful, but I have a feeling that unless it is extraordinary there will be a lot of resistance for a second 'bare-bones' Sondheim revival of FOLLIES on Broadway(especially in the wake of the small scale NIGHT MUSIC).

Nunn and Eric Schaeffer are both love them/ hate them directors so its anyones guess which production will be more artistically satisfying but I would be willing to guess its something of an outside chance for EITHER of them to actually come to Broadway...