#1
Posted: 5/3/07 at 4:00pm
Found this great article on theatermania.com where she talks about her approach to Lenya. She actually requested to audition, what a great actress! But what is more interesting is that she talks about returning to FOLLIES if it does transfer although she acknowledges the budget issues. Also love the way she explains how she approached Phyllis.
What Murphy truly deserves an award for was her work in Follies, in which she managed to find both the iciness and warmth in the unhappily married Phyllis. "I read Ted Chapin's book on the original production, and Alexis Smith [who played Phyllis] was quoted as saying that she believed Phyllis was the most hopeful character on that stage, and that helped me enormously. She's the one who keeps fighting for her marriage," says Murphy. "The other keys for me were the people on stage with me. I always saw the vulnerability in Ben when I looked into Victor Garber's eyes, so I believed their marriage could work. And when I watched the wonderful actors who played the younger version of our characters, it was so moving to watch their idealistic selves as well as the seeds of the people they became."
For now, all Murphy has of Follies is her memories and the stunning black Bill Blass dress she wore throughout most of the show. "They also offered to give me the red one I wore in the 'Loveland' sequence -- which was made out of a Bill Blass bathing suit -- but I couldn't imagine where I'd wear it again," she says.
Still, talk persists that the show might end up on Broadway again. "I certainly would be interested in going back if some of the cast came back too. It would be nice to do it for more than six performances. And I had no idea how much I loved Phyllis until I began playing her," she says. "But there was a certain magic to that cast and that setting that could never be repeated. And I really don't know how it's possible to do a show as huge as Follies on Broadway today. Only Disney has budgets that big."
Murphy on LoveMusik,Follies,Awards, and all that jazz
What Murphy truly deserves an award for was her work in Follies, in which she managed to find both the iciness and warmth in the unhappily married Phyllis. "I read Ted Chapin's book on the original production, and Alexis Smith [who played Phyllis] was quoted as saying that she believed Phyllis was the most hopeful character on that stage, and that helped me enormously. She's the one who keeps fighting for her marriage," says Murphy. "The other keys for me were the people on stage with me. I always saw the vulnerability in Ben when I looked into Victor Garber's eyes, so I believed their marriage could work. And when I watched the wonderful actors who played the younger version of our characters, it was so moving to watch their idealistic selves as well as the seeds of the people they became."
For now, all Murphy has of Follies is her memories and the stunning black Bill Blass dress she wore throughout most of the show. "They also offered to give me the red one I wore in the 'Loveland' sequence -- which was made out of a Bill Blass bathing suit -- but I couldn't imagine where I'd wear it again," she says.
Still, talk persists that the show might end up on Broadway again. "I certainly would be interested in going back if some of the cast came back too. It would be nice to do it for more than six performances. And I had no idea how much I loved Phyllis until I began playing her," she says. "But there was a certain magic to that cast and that setting that could never be repeated. And I really don't know how it's possible to do a show as huge as Follies on Broadway today. Only Disney has budgets that big."
Murphy on LoveMusik,Follies,Awards, and all that jazz
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
