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Could I Leave You? Question

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#1

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 2:19am

Is there a reason that there are versions of this song that contain alternate lyrics?

"Leave the pats on the head, pecks on the cheek, passionless love making once a week."

I'm just curious, as the change is so minuscule.

Also, just for fun: who do you feel interprets this song best?

I'm torn between Dee Hoty and Jan Maxwell.
#3

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 2:43am

Sondheim wrote alternate lyrics for this song and others for the London production.

For me, Maxwell totally owns it. I didn't see Alexis Smith, obviously.
#4

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 2:47am

Interesting, I didn't know about the alternate lyrics. I think Donna Murphy interprets it best. Jan Maxwell's is wonderful as well.
#5

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 3:22am

Just listened to Diana Rigg's London version again, and she doesn't sing the lyrics that the OP mentioned. But this version does indeed have some different lyrics.
#7

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 10:32am

See the current cast of Follies in Chicago and you might agree with me: Caroline O'Connor is a brilliant Phyllis.



BN
#8

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 10:53am

Oh, they're all good, but Alexis Smith's acid delivery seemed not only well-performed in 1971--it seemed shocking.

Her performance was the musical-theater equivalent of the first performances of Hedda Gabler: the reaction of the audience was "People don't do that sort of thing! They don't say that sort of thing! They don't think that sort of thing--or, if they do, they keep it to themselves."

But of course, the brilliance of Sondheim (and his collaborators) was that, in reality, every woman in the audience (and some of the men) had indeed thought that sort of thing, many times, and had always wanted to say it.

Alexis expressed all that, dazzlingly. And then she came out at the end of the show and dazzled us again.

For anyone who saw that performance, hers is the greatest rendition.
#11

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 12:02pm

Post-Smith interpretations of the song have tended to indulge in obvious,angry, one-note histrionics that reduce Phyllis's character and the emotional complexity of the song.

Smith's cool, possessed, elegant and under-the-surface savagery is far more powerful then the simple (and, again, obvious) out-and out show of rage approach.

Smith had dimension and a tension-filled restraint that anticipated the emotional explosion to come during the follies sequence. Others shoot their wad way too early.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt
#12

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 12:02pm

The only one I've seen live is Jan's which I loved bbut they're all so great. I don't think Carol Burnett has been mentioned so I'll throw her name out . EDIT: I like that Carol was angry but more than anyone else she found the humor in the song. She found it so funny that Ben (or old man or George Yearn or whoever) was so focused on his own misery he'd completely missed her sadness and rage.
Phyllis is one of those roles that seems to have endless possibilities but any choice made works. It's a testament to the quality of writing that Alexis' cool, understated approach is as equally effective as Donna's wild attack of the song.

Updated On: 10/20/11 at 12:02 PM

#13

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 12:16pm

Personally, I think the wild attack approach is effective only in the short-term.

COULD I LEAVE YOU is the musical point in the show when Phyllis is showing chinks in the emotional armor. If she has an emotional explosion then... the impact of the later follies sequence is reduced.

Letting the demons out during LEAVE YOU doesn't leave the actress anywhere to go.

Also, as an actor, what Smith is doing is infinitely more advanced,complex and difficult than simply "raging in song."

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Updated On: 10/20/11 at 12:16 PM

#14

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 12:23pm

It's a great song, and all the versions mentioned are terrific. However, I'd have to go with Donna Murphy's version at the Sondheim birthday celebration. What sets this performance apart from the others is that we have a spellbound Patti LuPone in the background, clearly enthralled with Murphy's rendition.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson
#15

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 12:23pm

I really liked Jan Maxwell's version. Up until her I'd never seen an actress really explode during the song. The hardest line in the song to get right is, "Bet your ass." Alexis Smith deadpanned it perfectly, but in the videos I've seen of Follies at the KC Maxwell didn't quite get it right. She fixed it for Broadway, though, and I thought Could I Leave You was one of the highlights of the show.
I know you. I know you. I know you.
#17

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 4:48pm

Almira and PalJoey have made the case for Alexis Smith so beautifully, there's nothing to say except, "Sorry, kids. I know it's annoying to have to hear all these tales of the old days." But, yes, Miss Smith was really THAT good! She was fine in the movies, but I swear it seemed she waited her entire career just to play Phyllis. And then she waited most of FOLLIES' two hours to sing that song. And then she nailed it. Sitting down.
#18

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 4:52pm

qolbinau: LOL.

I vote Donna Murphy as well.
I like your imperturbable perspicacity.

Updated On: 10/20/11 at 04:52 PM

#19

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 7:17pm

"Her performance was the musical-theater equivalent of the first performances of Hedda Gabler: the reaction of the audience was "People don't do that sort of thing! They don't say that sort of thing! They don't think that sort of thing--or, if they do, they keep it to themselves." "

With all due respect, PalJoey, what people? Those who went to shows like Follies in 1971 but who were somehow unfamiliar with the sorts of things people did, said and thought in shows like Threepenny Opera, Happy End, Hair, Oh, Calcutta, Marat/Sade, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, Cabaret, Company, Promenade?

Updated On: 10/20/11 at 07:17 PM

#20

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 7:27pm

Want to throw my hat in the ring for Dee Hoty. I've always thought hers has a good mix of the icy veneer cracking with moments of the passion exploding through. Just so well sung, and I just think she's fabulous.

But, as others have said, you can't go wrong with any of these ladies.
"...and in a bed."
#21

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 7:31pm

Julie Andrews' version was way more on-target than I imagined it would be. Does she still have voice enough to play that role? That could be interesting.

I really love Maxwell's version, personally. Perhaps someone who knows more about the original production could address this, but Alexis Smith, at least in all the versions of her singing this song that I've seen or heard, has a terribly rushed tempo, which sort of always puts me off. Why do they rush her through the song so?
"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."-Stephen Sondheim
#22

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 8:17pm

I think those lyric changes were put in place for "Putting it Together." I'm not 100% sure, but that recording is the first time I heard those lyrics.

It makes a HUGE difference, actually. There is a major difference in a relationship where the couple has sex once a week and a relationship where they have sex once a year. One is average and one is almost non-existent.

Deciding who performs it best is splitting hairs. It's an excellently written song and any capable actress could perform it and have it be quite moving. Heck, Paltrow could sing it on Glee and it would still be genuinely good stuff.

I love threads like this.
#23

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 8:27pm

The reason "they rush her through the song so" is because it's a song of anger. Julie Andrews, since she is mentioned, never did a languid rendition of "Show Me". She sang the song at a furious pace while throwing her suitcase AND Freddy all over the stage. Songs of anger generally move quickly.
Well-well-well-what-do-you-think-of-that-I-have-nothing-here-to-pay-my-train-fare-with-only-large-bills-fives-and-sevens....
#24

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 9:27pm

That's quite a difference between passionless lovemaking once a year and once a week. Each is sad in its own way. Maybe the "once a week" version is meant to make Ben more of a heel, condescending and selfish with Phyllis the victim.
#25

Could I Leave You? Question

Posted: 10/20/11 at 9:44pm

The passionless lovemaking once a year versus once a week debate recalls the old Borscht Belt joke.

Two women at a Catskills resort talking. One says "The food here is really awful."

The other says, "Yes. And such small portions!"

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