An all black FOLLIES in the works??

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 5:48pm

Any truth to this?

http://talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1880210

2013?? If the Kennedy Center production is good enough to transfer, this production will have no hope.
Updated On: 7/17/10 at 05:48 PM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 7:45pm

I don't know how true it is, but I'd love to see Tonya Pinkins as Phyllis opposite Audra McDonald as Sally in any production.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 8:01pm

I dont really see the reasoning behind this -- I don't think black audiences (if that's the reasoning behind it) would respond anymore to this material than the scores of mainstream white audiences who have never liked FOLLIES (lets face it this is a show beloved by a very small group of musical theatre lovers and gay men).

It definitely wouldn't pull audiences that have flocked to the black themed successes like JOE TURNER, FENCES, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF and RAISIN IN THE SUN, which are all either well known classic titles and/or by African American writers.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 8:36pm

It's in discussion right now. I was asked to post the idea here to see what the reaction would be. Comments?

WHO is in discussion about this? Is ATC just recreating BWW threads from two years ago?

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:52pm

I'm not sure why race should be an issue in casting Follies. I (and many others) have opined that Vanessa Williams seems ideal for Phyllis, irrespective of the race of other cast members.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:58pm

I don't think race should be an issue for this show either, but why have an "ALL" anything cast? I'm actually starting to view these "all intentionally one race shows" a little bit racist in themselves.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 10:07pm

Well Jordan, to be fair there has only been one 'all black' production of a traditionally white show on Broadway in recent seasons, and that is CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Obviously the planned all-black STREETCAR production is being courted as a somewhat likely follow-up. But the Williams shows in addition to being classic, well known titles have a heightened theatricality to their stories and sexuality that is particularly appealing to black theatre audiences.

An all black FOLLIES seems to me to be something that David Merrick would have pulled, but even he would have been smart enough to realize that black audiences would find it no more appealing than an all black CHERRY ORCHARD or an all black MACK AND MABEL.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 10:10pm

"Laverne" is clearly a Troll, and when he says "it's in discussion," he means three of his troll-iest Troll Friends started talking about it over their fourth and fifth Mai-Tai-Tinis and one of them said, "Wouldn't it be a HOOT if we could get those freaks on the chat boards to BELIEVE it!"

Then the one called "Laverne" turned to the one called "Shirley" and said, "I'll post it--and I'll say "it's in discussion."

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 7/18/10 at 1:26am

Wouldn't it be MORE interesting to write a new show about black performers from the Follies/minstrel show era and exploring those issues? Just a thought...

[Pippin]

Posted: 7/18/10 at 2:05pm

Wouldn't it be MORE interesting to write a new show about black performers from the Follies/minstrel show era and exploring those issues? Just a thought...



they did. Scottsboro boys comes to Broadway in October!!!

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 7/18/10 at 3:45pm

I thought that SCOTTSBORO BOYS was about the actual trial, told through the device of a minstrel show, rather than the story of performers who made their living in those shows.

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/18/10 at 6:46pm

Agreed... this has the potential to come across really badly, but don't you agree that Follies, just by the nature of the business it was in, is about a predominantly white-Jewish experience in a predominantly white-Jewish art form? Not that black performers don't belong in Follies, but an all-black version would miss the point of what Follies was, and turn it into an interpretation of the minstrel-show theme, which it doesn't accurately represent at all.

[bk]

Posted: 7/18/10 at 7:08pm

Why does everyone here waste their time talking as if this were something real? Pal Joey is correct - scroll up, read his post. It's clearly not real, but I guess everyone needs to state their opinions on something that's never going to happen.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/19/10 at 11:58am

The 1980's Off-Broadway revue "One Mo' Time" dealt with black entertainers in the 1920's.