Cast Announced for FOLLIES at Kennedy Center!- Page 4

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:03pm

And I like UPTOWN, DOWNTOWN better than both! But I know I'm not getting my wish with that.

This casting does seem to be going in the direction of serving the show, instead of our star lust and petting-zoo-like desire to see decrepit 'divas' trotted out for our amusement.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:09pm

I most definitely wouldn't call Donna McKechnie a decrepit diva, considering she can still dance Music and the Mirror in her 60s.

She was the only one I actually was really wanting to get cast...it just doesn't help that I'm not a fan of Elaine Paige or Linda Lavin.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:13pm

Donna McKechnie is not what she used to be as a dancer, much of it due to the rheumatoid arthritis--she struggled with dances when she played Lucille in a Boston production of No No Nanette 2 years ago in Boston and often sat out in rehearsals, so a friend who was in the show tells me. I think she is in a lot of pain when she dances.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:14pm

That one wasn't directed at you. I love Ms. McKechnie. But hasn't she played every roll in FOLLIES like three times already? Perhaps she's ready for something else?

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:16pm

McKechnie is also 70 now. (not sure how that compares to the ages of other castmembers, how old are Terri, Linda, Elaine, and Susan?)

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:19pm

I prefer Uptown, Downtown to the other songs, too!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:25pm

Why are (some) people disappointed in this cast? This cast is loaded with extraordinary talent! Take one look at adamgreer's list and you'll see the talent that involved. To be honest, a true theatergoer, someone who loves theater and KNOWS theater wouldn't be quibbling over the choices or questioning any of these ladies abilities to do this show.

And I third the SUSAN F*CKING WATSON! The ORIGINAL "Kim McAfee" in Bye Bye Birdie, The Original ORIGINAL "Louisa" in THE FANTASTICKS, way before it hit the Sullivan St. Playhouse, a role which she got to reprise in a television version with John Davidson, Ray Bolger and Ricardo Montalban. She was "Nanette" in the hit '70s revival of No, No Nanette.

So yeah, SUSAN F*CKING WATSON!!!

Some of you just have NO CLUE!
Updated On: 10/28/10 at 03:25 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:25pm

With the exception of Peters, who we all pretty much agree can still pass for late forties on stage, this production definitely comes closest of the recent revivals to casting people the correct age for the roles.

The tendency has been for Carlotta and Stella to be cast too old in recent productions - they are both supposed to be around the same age as Sally and Phyllis. I think Maxwell, White, Paige and Peters will all read as contemporaries on stage, which is as it should be.

Lavin and Watson are 72 (same age as Ethel Shutta in the original), Regine is 79, Rosalind Elias is 81.
Updated On: 10/28/10 at 03:25 PM

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:38pm

UPTOWN, DOWNTOWN delights me in ways the other two simply cannot. I actually think the wordplay of LUCY AND JESSIE is little strained. A bit too cutsey. UPTOWN, DOWNTOWN is heaven (esp. the 'She sits at the Ritz...' section).

I think AH, BUT UNDERNEATH fundamentally changes the dilemma facing Phyllis. I also don't buy the line 'sometimes when the wrappings fall, there's nothing underneath at all.' I don't believe that Phyllis is a chocolate easter bunny (all shell, hollow inside). I think the idea that she's supressed who she naturally is for a life of wealth and importance is a stronger thing to play.

And, on a purely visceral level, I don't like thinking of anyone as 'Juicy'. Even someone named Lucy.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:42pm

I feel pretty much the same way. I've had discussions with people who have tried to sway me on "Ah But Underneath" but I have always maintained that the song says something about Phyllis that I don't believe is true. Of all the characters in the show, Phyllis is the most changed from her younger counterpart, and both Uptown and Lucy express the strain that duality has place upon her.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 10/28/10 at 3:48pm

Anyone who tries to convert you to AH BUT UNDERNEATH is a wreckless, dangerous dilettante who should cease going to musicals and take up scrapbooking.

Phyllis isn't soulless. She's trying to reconcile how she has gotten to this point in her life, which anyone in 1st year acting class will tell you is far more playable.

I didn't know I cared so much about this issues. What I need...is a drink.