Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?- Page 21

[Wildcard]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 1:39pm

The acoustics would sound better if you sat in the balcony center. You'd also get to see the show from the middle and might actually be closer to the stage than from the last row of the orchestra.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 1:49pm

I could be wrong, but I think someone in here posted that the sound was a bit... distant in the balcony and that they missed the immediacy of the sound they experienced in the orchestra section. I guess the other selling point for me would be that the orchestra section is nearly sold out while the balcony has plenty of seats -- would be more fun to be surrounded by a crowd than to be amongst a few scattered souls. I'd welcome any additional thoughts. This is my one and only time to see the show so trying to get it right! Cheers.

Updated On: 6/8/12 at 01:49 PM

[lovebwy]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 2:08pm

Buy the balcony seat and sneak down to the mezz ; - )

And buy me one too!!

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 2:30pm

In the last rows of the orchestra there is an overhang of the Mezzanine, and to me, it not only interferes with the sight lines, but there is bit of muffing of the sound. I felt like I was in a box when I sat in the last rows of the orchestra.

I was in Row V of the Orchestra center, and it was OK, but I would not recommend going much farther back than that.



Updated On: 6/8/12 at 02:30 PM

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 4:26pm

SH*T. We really can't decide. We want a good view and good sound, but we hate the idea of being stuck in section with 100+ empty seats. I feel like I sat *near* the back of the orchestra for Fela! and was just fine. I know this seems ridiculous, but I only have one chance to see the show; trying to get it right. Decisions, decisions. Thanks for the feedback, though, folks.

[emo_geek]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 4:36pm

I love the orchestra at the Ahmanson. I hate the mez and balcony however. Much like the rest of Downtown LA, the mez and balcony are sky scrapers.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 5:00pm

The Mezz was a perfect seat for me at this production.

I would take the balcony seat, and if it's too empty up there, just ask to move down. They are generally very good about that sort of thing.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 5:16pm

I've heard nothing but complaints about the orchestra underneath the mezzanine overhang. A friend sat in Row X last week and said he couldn't understand a single word until intermission, when the patron next to him went to the sound man and complained.

I've seen it twice from the mezzanine (first row, house left, and third row, center-right) and loved both locations. Every word, every note was crystal clear--even the illusion of "natural" sound for most of the evening. I can't recommend the mezzanine too highly, but I should add that the choreography looked much better from the center seats. (Duh!)

The balcony is quite steep, but given the horror stories I've heard about rear orchestra, I think I'd take first row balcony. You may miss some of the ghosts lounging against the back wall of the set, so I'll just mention them now. In case you haven't heard, HorseTears, they watch the action.

[DAME]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 5:19pm

Take e balcony . They will move you up.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 7:06pm

Thanks for all the input, guys. I know that was super annoying, so thanks for humoring me. We're going to stick with our balcony tickets. Of course, if we have trouble hearing or seeing anything, I will be suing BroadwayWorld. And Elaine Paige.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 7:17pm

Trust me: you can hear Elaine Paige in the Dorothy Chandler lobby.

I hope you have a wonderful evening, HorseTears. And if I helped to steer you wrong, I apologize in advance.

[BroadwayFan12]

Posted: 6/8/12 at 8:00pm

When Follies was on Broadway, I joked that you could hear Elaine Paige in New Jersey.

[nealb1]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 10:31am

Last night's performance was incredible. The energy, the talent, the emotion is just so incredible.

John Lloyd Young was 2 rows behind my friend and I. Tonight's closing performance will be a special evening.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 11:26am

I saw in on Thursday and it was spectacular!!! It was well worth the trip and money!!!

"One More Kiss" was my favorite moment :)

Also, Mary Beth Peil looks AMAZING!!!

And I kept laughing at Elaine Paige's wig!!! Obviously designed to make her look taller :) Updated On: 6/9/12 at 11:26 AM

[devonian.t]

Posted: 6/9/12 at 11:34am

What an event! This has been a legendary revival!

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 3:28am

Just got home from the last performance of "Follies" and I'll use devonian.t's "What an event!" to describe the evening. Everyone gave performances that were perfection and the audience response was electrifying. Each performer except for Florence Lacey and Dee Dee West were given entrance applause. Beginning with "Beautiful Girls" every song received long sustained ovations adding about 15 to 20 minutes to the show's length. Terri White's "Who's That Lady" received the longest and loudest ovation complete with a standing ovation which encompassed almost all of the orchestra where I was sitting. I saw this show 4 times during the run at the Ahmanson loving them all but this particular show was a night of great musical theatre magic one that I'll cherish forever and never forget.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 7:28am

I was at closing night too. My first time seeing the show, let alone this production. As you can imagine, I'm still processing it all.

I'm so grateful I got to see this production. I'll spare you a full review; everything you've all been saying was true.

VICTORIA CLARK won me over - with the exception of an oversung 'In Buddy's Eyes', I loved her performance. What a wonderful performance.

LUCY & JESSE AND BUDDY'S BLUES - I was surprised to find two numbers I find rather dull on the cast recordings to be absolutely electrifying in the theatre.

SMALL MOMENTS - I loved all of the small moments that the supporting actors brought to the show -- Stella purposefully skipping some of the choreography in 'Who's that Woman' when she didn't feel like twirling, Susan Harris getting lost(trapped?) in a memory of the past near the beginning of the number are just two examples..

CAROL NEBLETT - I don't know what all the complaints about Carol Neblettt were about. Her 'One More Kiss' with Leah H. was a stunner -- both vocally and theatrically. The audience actually gasped on that last beautiful harmonized note and then met the song with one of the loudest ovations of the night. While I certainly would have treasured the opportunity to see Rosalind E, CN was magnificent.

DANNY, JAN, VICTORIAL AND RON - Everything you guys said about Danny and Jan was right. What great performances. Ron surprised me. I did not expect to be as moved by his performance as I was. And what a voice. Victoria totally won me over. With the exception of an oversung 'Buddy's Eyes', I adored her performance. What a great actress.

THE RIGHT GIRL - Did anyone else find 'The Right Girl' a bit bizarre? It's hardly one of my favorite Sondheim numbers -- it feels a bit dated to me -- but I can get past that. I just found the staging with all of Danny's Lucky-Be-A-Lady-like gestures and the silly miming of the dances with the girls to be odd and [unintentionally] funny.

There's so much more, but why bore you all. I think two things struck me the most:

1 - I now understand why so many of you describe this musical as beautiful, thrilling and, yes, flawed. That book is far from perfect and some of the marital stuff feels dated in 2012, BUT...

2 - ..my overall sentiment is gratitude. Gratitude, yes, that I got to see this beautiful production, but even more gratitude for Sondheim, Prince, Goldman and especially their producers for mounting this show originally. That truly was another era, wasn't it? If 'Follies' had been written today, it would probably be produced Off Broadway in some tiny blackbox with a 4 piece band and 12 people on stage. While this show is far from perfect, the fact that Broadway was once a place in which ambition and darkness and psychological exploration could be embraced in a lush, full scale musical makes me, well, grateful.

[binau]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 7:37am

I thought when I saw the show there was something a little off about "The Right Girl" but I think that removing the intermission would fix that..

[theeatah]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 7:59am

Well, The Right Girl was written as a dance number and Danny Burstein is not a dancer. Of course, neither is Jan Maxwell, but she at least has chorus boys to help her with Lucy and Jessie.

Thanks for the reviews so far, guys.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 11:02am

Horsetears,
I also found it nice when Emily Whitman got lost in "Whose that Woman"...

[nealb1]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 11:18am

Yes, last night's performance was electric. It was like a rock concert with each number pretty much stopping the show. "Woman In The Mirror" got a standing O - like it did in NYC at the closing performance. "I'm Still Here" stopped the show cold, as did "Could I Leave You?"

There was no curtain speech. My friend and I did see the director Eric S in the row behind us, and we congratulated him at intermission for an incredible show. He was very nice. A few empty seats popped up at intermission in the row in front of us, as those people didn't return for Act 2.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/10/12 at 6:14pm

Well, The Right Girl was written as a dance number and Danny Burstein is not a dancer. Of course, neither is Jan Maxwell, but she at least has chorus boys to help her with Lucy and Jessie.

It's true, "The Right Girl" was the weakest part of the show, which was a shame, given how wonderful Burstein was for the rest of the evening. Giving a non-dancer a 7-minute solo dance number is just wrong. Bring on Young Buddy and Young Ben or something. Do ANYthing! (Of course it doesn't help that the number covers the same exposition as "Buddy's Blues", exposition that Buddy is going to cover again in a few minutes only with more perspective.)

Removing the intermission would have given the number more dramatic momentum, but that might have even made the lame choreography more noticeable.

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 6/16/12 at 6:33pm

Bumping for one last goodbye to the last night of "Follies" in L.A. from Charles McNulty in the L.A. Times

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-follies-ahmanson-20120610,0,2294908.story

What an incredible evening it was one I'll never forget!

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/16/12 at 8:34pm

So glad I got to see this production; wish it could have been more than once. BTW, one thing I forgot to mention:

I love how the Loveland set was revealed in this revival. That instant reveal of the surreal flower set was startling -- seemed more dramatic than the original set slowly coming into place.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 6/17/12 at 10:53pm

I saw the final performance of the original production on July 1, 1972. I had seen the show about a dozen times by then, including a Boston tryout performance, and I loved the show insanely. But I was still unprepared for the excitement of the closing night.

I was standing that night (Hal Prince rewarded me with a ticket after I wrote a particularly impassioned letter), and was amazed listening to the other standees (probably 100 of them), many of whom had seen the show 50 or 60 or even 100 times!

As the lights went down, an announcement was made that Kurt Peterson, who had originally played Young Ben but left the show to do the 1971 revival of ON THE TOWN but had subsequently been let go, would be playing Young Ben at this performance. A roar went up in the theatre, and that's the way the evening went.

When Dorothy Collins made her first entrance, the applause was such that she burst into tears. Songs such as "The Road You Didn't Take," which had seldom received any response, received extended cheers. The show easily ran an additional 20 minutes to make up for the constant cheering. When it was over, the audience rushed down to the the stage, the applause never seeming to end.

Yes, it was one of the two or three most thrilling evenings I've ever spent in the theatre.