Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight? — Page 5

I really hope we're gunna get new production photos and video footage!

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Jealous of those who have gotten the chance to see this production. I'm so curious to see how it stands next to Gary Griffin's absolutely breathtaking production here in Chicago, with the fabulous Caroline O'Connor, Brent Barrett, and Hollis Resnik.

(and for the record, Susan Moniz's Sally wore pink, and switched to an absolutely gorgeous purple for "Losing My Mind".)

I get the impression that the ghosts feel more present in Shaeffer's production, while in Griffin's, there was a very distinct line between what was a "ghost" and what was a "memory".

I am not sure Vicki Clark will ever embody the girlish nature of Sally as perfectly as Bernadette. After all, that's what Bernadette is known for. At times, Bernadette hopped around that stage like a girl at her first prom. It was all very Sally, in my eyes.

It just really saddens me that the role of Sally gets overlooked. It's my favorite role in the show and one of my favorite female characters of all time.

ljay,

At moments, Bernadette hopped around like a little girl in "A Little Night Music", as well - which I found forced, it seemed like "shtick" (which I think Ms. Peters can slip into).

Nonetheless, I think her Sally is to be the stuff of legend - it seems that many will never forget it. and I personally feel that the cult following that has developed around "Follies" is telling - no matter who is in it/directs it/how it looks/where it is, etc..."Follies" will NEVER be perfect, but if done right, it will almost always be good. It is what "Merrily We Roll Along" or "Carrie" will never be - a cult show that will be experienced over and over and over. I think we can expect at least two more revivals of it in the next 30 years.

Obviously you can have interpretations of the script, but this insistence that Sally would never wear red because "red is Phyllis' color" (whatever that means) is just ludicrous. There's nothing in the script or the stage directions or in anything the authors have said about it that indicate Sally cannot wear red.

With all due respect, your argument makes no sense. EVEN IF the script did specify the color of Sally's dress, any of us might have an opinion as to whether that description was right for the character.

"Red" is Phyllis' color because Phyllis is a woman of passion, including anger, as revealed in "Could I Leave You?" Red is the traditional color of rage.

By contrast, Sally is passive-aggressive and self-pitying. Pink makes sense for her because she is so inappropriately girlish. Blue may work as well. I'd rather not see her in green, because I love the lyric that specifically says she didn't wear green (though I will survive if that is the choice that was made).

But since you are so devoted to the author's intentions, you should be OUTRAGED that Clark is wearing a green dress! The lyric explicitly says otherwise.

Neal what was the discount code, I had it emailed to me and can't find the email anymore !

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Saw the show tonight. Having seen the show in DC, I frankly missed Linda Lavin's Broadway Baby...but that's a minor quibble.

Tonight being a preview, there were quite a few flubs although 99.99% of the audience didn't seem to catch them. My favorite flub was Elaine Paige singing "career from career to career."

Victoria Clark's interpretation of Sally is so different than Bernadette's that it is hard to compare the two. I tend to like Bernadette's go-for-broke portrayal rather than Victoria Clark's more subdued performance. Victoria's singing, however, is leagues better than Bernadette's. I'd say the same about Carol Neblett- Carol is in much better voice than Rosalind Elias, but Elias gave a heart-breaking performance while Neblett gave a beautifully sung but emotionally uninvolving performance.

Additionally, having Victoria Clark play Sally made the show more of an ensemble piece. Bernadette in the Broadway production made the show about Sally because her stage presence was so intense.

A happy surprise- sound design in the Ahmanson for Follies is excellent. Every word of every lyric was clearly audible.

Quibbles aside, this production will be in great shape by opening night and will justifiably earn great reviews and some Ovation nominations for its hard-working talented cast.

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To answer inlovewithjerryherman, we made a weekend trip last year from LA to the Chicago Shakespeare production of Follies on a Saturday evening and a matinee of the New York production on Sunday. Had huge hopes for the Chicago show compared to the east coast revival which we had already seen in DC, and just wanted a true compare and contrast.

Putting aside the wildly different scale of the 2 shows, we found the 4 Chicago leads horribly mean, cold, bitchy and frankly full of wounds not worth caring about due to their unsympathetic performances. By contrast, the 4 NY leads filled the spaces between the lines with a deep sense of love for their fellow travelers. Danny Bursten and Jan Maxwell in particular made us care intensely for how their stories would come out.

Yes, there were some elegant staging ideas in Chicago: making the most of a very small coterie of show girls and dancing chorines. And we loved the basic set idea which put the audience BACKSTAGE looking across the thrust stagedeck through the back side of the proscenium and out into the house where the orchestra was perched on scaffolding spanning what would have been the audience seating.

But after all, none of that matters if the leads leave you unmoved by their pain and self-delusions. How do you wipe tears away when your eyes are dry?

They close June 9. TONYTONYTONY

There is a code for certain performances - SALLY, that has $49 seats. I didn't use that code.

Normally the HOT TIX at The Ahmanson, are the 2 seats at the end of each row in the front Orch - $20 each. For this show, the HOT TIX are in the balcony. So, when I saw yesterday that the end seats are $49, rather than full price - I bought it.

Yes, BroadwayFan12 is correct - that is the lyric of "I'm Still Here." It's not a flub.

How can her dress have at startlingly red effect if Sally has been wearing s startlingly red dress all evening long?

About the same effect it had in the original, when Phyllis wore red all night long.

With all due respect, your argument makes no sense. EVEN IF the script did specify the color of Sally's dress, any of us might have an opinion as to whether that description was right for the character.

"Red" is Phyllis' color because Phyllis is a woman of passion, including anger, as revealed in "Could I Leave You?" Red is the traditional color of rage.

By contrast, Sally is passive-aggressive and self-pitying. Pink makes sense for her because she is so inappropriately girlish. Blue may work as well. I'd rather not see her in green, because I love the lyric that specifically says she didn't wear green (though I will survive if that is the choice that was made).

Not that I'm remotely invested in the color of these character's dresses but who made all this stuff up? Is it in the original libretto?

Also does it specifically state in the libretto that Phyllis' dress in the "Lucy and Jesse" number has to be red as well?

Maybe the show should come with a color coded character chart for future reference. LMAO.

Thanks Best12!