Dorothy Collins — Page 2

This is one of my favorite things: From SCTV, Andrea Martin as Bernadette Peters, singing Sondheim, trying to cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQKWn6oPj-c

I saw your Mom in Follies five of the six times I saw it. I can still recall every moment of her performance, which was seared into my being the first time I saw her walk out on that stage and say "Oh Lord, don't tell me I'm the first," the first moment she sang "Now, folks, we bring you, direct from Phoenix, live and person, Sally Durant," the first moment I heard her say "I remember him, Ben. I think I loved him once," or the first moment I heard her say "If you don't kiss me, Ben, I think I'm going to die."

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"Peters cries. A lot. Not just in FOLLIES."

Indeed, and it's wonderful. I haven't made my mind up about the crying in Losing My Mind yet, but I'm thinking about her Send in the Clowns and it was perfect. No one can do vulnerability like Bernadette Peters can.

For me, this is the highlight of her performance as Sally:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwFxf9lAzhA

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I was a big fan of Peters' Sally, but I could have done without the crying in Losing My Mind. Otherwise, I loved having a Sally centric production. Her entrance and exit will forever be seared in my memory. Her performance often changed, it was constantly evolving. She never walked through the show, sometimes she was more over-the-top than other performances, but at least she kept trying to evolve in the role. I did always think that her In Buddy's Eyes was more successful than her Losing My Mind. I know her performance was controversial with many on here, but she did receive some very good reviews (including Brantley's Broadway review). She did deserve a Tony nomination, the snub was unfortunate.

I do wish I had the chance to see Collins live. She IS Sally, everything from her physical appearance to her vocal delivery and line readings. I get chills listening to her throughout the show on the soundboard recording. She was such a talented woman.

Updated On: 9/14/14 at 06:44 PM

Thank you, MomofOZ for your postings. I saw your mom 11 times (including the pre-Broadway tryout, the opening night and the closing night) and she was unforgettable. No one else (and I've seen quite a few) can play Sally as she did. For me, her "In Buddy's Eyes," when she lies to Ben and herself, was the crowning moment of her performance. On closing night, when she made her first appearance, the audience went wild, she started to cry (not while she was singing, may I add) and the entire performance probably ran 20 minutes longer than usual. The one time I saw the show without your mom, Jan Clayton was her standby, and although she sang well, didn't begin to bring the pathos or commitment that the role demanded. I worked with the late Margery Beddow, who was a very close friend of your mom's, and she always spoke glowingly of her. Even with only one Broadway role, your mom created something that none of us who saw her will ever forget.

jayinchelsea thanks for sharing that story about closing night of Follies. That's why I love coming here- to read stories like that about moments I never got to experience that were not captured on film or video. I can totally picture it though. Collins arrives in the theater and the crowd (most of whom I'm sure saw Follies several times at that point) goes nuts. I'm sure Collins attempted to hold and wait for it to die down, but then was overwhelmed.

Savor that memory, Jay. You're lucky to have it!

"And your mother was right: there's even an old show biz saying: "If you laugh, the audience won't; if you cry, the audience won't."

I'm still not sure I'm convinced about this. I'm not talking about Bernadette's Losing My Mind which, as I said earlier I still am unsure/mixed about. But crying I think has made me enjoy many performances I have seen in the past. For example, Alice Ripley and (in particular) Marin Mazzie both cried in next to normal. Bernadette cried during parts of Send in the Clowns. People cry, so I'm not sure why that should suddenly stop if they are singing.

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Bernadette's crying has become forced and phony over the years.

Back in Sunday in the Park, she didn't NEED to cry, and she was so much more affecting.

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Wilmington there were some nights at Follies where she was full on crying during Losing My Mind. I was in the 5th row and it just didn't work. I'm talking sniffling and near sobbing. Other nights, as you say, her eyes just watered and it was much better.

I get it, though. She's been through some tragedy and that song can be very affecting. But I think the better choice would have been to really make an effort not to cry during Losing My Mind. It worked much better when she didn't.

That is why I'm still kind of mixed about it. At face value, if there is a song that someone should seem psychologically conflicted in, it sounds like "Losing My Mind". And the mood is definitely meant to be one of "langour", according to Sondheim.

But the song is not Sally sitting on a bed intimately reflecting on her lost love (cf, A Little Night Music, which Bernadette did perfectly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNwnrA8EshM)

The song (like all the "Loveland" songs) is a 'performance'. Sally is standing there looking like a glamorous film star with the stage her-own, and (in the recent revival at least), this blindingly red backdrop behind her (I was taken aback at how bright it is when I saw it compared to videos/photos), singing a song that is written to start off quiet and slow, and then gradually get louder and faster and finally peak with very loud, sustained belted notes, before slowing down and becoming relatively quiet again at the very end. Then after giving this knock-out performance Sally walks slowly off stage while the audience goes wild (at least in the current revival).

It just doesn't seem consistent with the staging or necessary to 'interrupt' this song with the level of intimacy that Bernadette did. Especially given Bernadette already had many other moments to demonstrate this vulnerability. In particular, In Buddy's Eyes, which IS an intimate song where the whole idea is that Sally is reflecting quietly on her lost love without saying it out loud. And she nailed it. Helped in part because of the fantastic musical direction during the song. I don't know what it is but other recordings of this song (e.g., Papermill cast recording; OBC cast recording; Concert recording) are far, far too fast than how this song is written to be performed (I'm pretty sure they might have been playing about 10% too fast even in the past revival, 30-35% too fast on papermill/concert recording, and 45% too fast on OBC based on my BPM estimations).

Even if Bernadette didn't always nail Losing My Mind on stage, it looks like Sondheim or others were a bit more heavy handed during the cast recording session because she pretty much performs it as written.

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Updated On: 9/22/14 at 08:58 AM

My understanding of the Loveland sequence is that the characters are not singing as themselves. They are doing the songs as performers in a Weismann Follies-type show. The audience sees the connection to the characters, but the characters are operating on a level of psychological fantasy not a realistic expression of their problems. Thus, Sally is playing the role of a traditional torch singer singing a number that applies to Sally. She isn't singing directly about her life. Dorothy Collins managed this tricky perspective to perfection. The three times I saw Bernadette, her crying seriously distorted her voice and diction. There was sniffling, snorting, and a "mucusy" sound that she didn't have when doing the "watering eye" crying that I've seen her do effectively in other shows.

qolbinau, I think the adage (it wasn't written by me) applies in general. But I think there's truth in it: fighting to hold back tears is often more moving than copious sobbing; funny lines are almost always funnier when the character is unaware of the humor. (There are wise-cracking characters (Phyllis in FOLLIES) that are the exception, of course.)

You are right, of course, that if characters cry when they are speaking, there is no reason they shouldn't cry when they are singing. (The adage I quote doesn't distinguish between speaking and singing.)