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#1

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

I was asked this question today by a friend: What do the original productions of these two shows have in common?
#2

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

They are both musicals.
Poster Emeritus
#3

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

The obvious is Susan Watson doing the original Birdie and 2011 revival of Follies. But not sure what it has in common with the original Follies.
#4

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

I've checked the obvious: opening dates, closing dates, # of performances, etc. He said it has nothing to do with casts or plot lines. I will post the answer tomorrow.
#7

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

"During Waiting for the Girls I heard things in the flute and piccolo that reminded me of Bye Bye Birdie. They came during the women's chorus, adding a playful punctuation to the ends of their four descriptive lines. They reminded me of the flute passages from "Put on a Happy Face". I asked Jonathan Tunick about them and he said 'Ah yes. The Ginzler flutes'. Ginzler was the orchestrator of Bye Bye Bridie and one of Tunick's mentors... in the hands of a good ochestrator there's room for appropriate musical quotes or references. Little ornamentations or jokes that can be added and invisible except to those knowledgeable about musical theater."
#8

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

Sorry everyone - my friend thought each show had a song called One Last Kiss. I spanked him.
#9

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

I think we should all make up quizzes based upon wrong answers. It would make the summer pass so much faster.

Q: What do the original productions of Greenwillow and A Hatful of Rain have in common?

A: They both starred Anthony Perkins!
#10

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

Q. What do "Angels In America" and "Wicked" have in common?
A. Laurence Olivier did not appear in either.
#11

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

It's a perfectly valid question.

They both utilize the Ginzler flutes. I'd noticed it before I even read the Chapin book.
#12

Bye Bye Birdie and Follies

Me too, lovebwy. Many arrangers like to bring out the Ginzler flutes when appropriate: Jonathan Tunick did it again for "Manhattan" in Stairway to Paradise. And I hear an instance on Philip Chaffin's newest CD from PS Classics. There's also a startling pre-example in the title song of Louisiana Purchase (1940).

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