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#51

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 9/23/14 at 11:28pm

I didn't see the recent FOLLIES revival in NYC. And while I generally like Miss Peters, I don't understand the sobbing in "Losing My Mind."

As Freud pointed out at great length, crying is a cathartic experience for the crier. ("Have a good cry and feel better", we lay people say.) That is NOT what "Losing My Mind" is about.

The song is about a woman frozen in place because she is stuck in the delusions of her past. She shouldn't cry, she shouldn't have a catharsis and she definitely shouldn't "feel better". AND ALL THAT is what makes the song so poignant.

#52

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/7/14 at 12:21am

Here's the great Collins singing "Send in the Clowns", beautiful as always.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaQuALEiRCg&list=UU1FUZ1spxyuggDKWIdZ3ekw

#53

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/7/14 at 1:44am

That's certainly Collins' interpretation of the song, Gaveston, but another actor can certainly make a different choice.

#54

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/7/14 at 10:09am

Of course another actor can make another choice, but it should be against the law for Bernadette Peters to cry unless she makes the audience cry first.

#55

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/7/14 at 5:39pm

That's certainly Collins' interpretation of the song, Gaveston, but another actor can certainly make a different choice.

Victoria Clark's interpretation, too. Actually, pretty much everybody's--since it's in the lyric!

Sally can either be frustrated to the point of near-madness, or she can sob with self-pity. Self-pity isn't any more attractive on stage than it is off.

#56

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/7/14 at 8:03pm

Any truth to the story that Alexis Smith and Dorothy Collins saw a post-Broadway production of FOLLIES and that Alexis, after watching half of the show, turned to Dorothy and said "I had no idea how good you actually were"? Or is that just one of those Broadway legends?

#57

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/8/14 at 5:48am

I have no idea, The Other One, but if true, Miss Smith wouldn't be the only one. I think a lot of us took awhile to realize just how good Dorothy Collins was.

(As I've said elsewhere, Alexis Smith being 6' tall (it seemed) and dressed all in scarlet tended to pull one's focus.)

#58

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/8/14 at 7:05am

I realized it right away. I saw the show twice, at the ages of 13 and 14, and I thought Dorothy was the best of an amazing cast.

#59

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/8/14 at 2:33pm

^^^^ Well done, then! I also saw the original production twice: I was 17.

I didn't mean to imply that I thought Collins was bad, just that I didn't fully appreciate just how good she was. (I think seeing Barbara Cook in the TV concert version helped: I think BC walks on water, but her Sally really didn't compare to that of Collins.)

Looking back, I think part of the problem for me was that Sondheim was new to me (I only knew COMPANY (and WSS and GYPSY, of course). The "book songs" (Sondheim's term) weren't as accessible to my ear as the pastiche numbers.

Until "Losing My Mind" (which I always loved), Collins does her excellent work on those very book songs I wasn't "getting". As my appreciation for Sondheim's minimalism increased, so did my appreciation of Collins' performance.

Apparently I wasn't alone, since Smith won the Tony.

#60

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/8/14 at 3:52pm

Many people who enjoy Follies as I do only "get" either Sally or Phyllis. Not to say that they aren't smart enough to understand, but I think the understanding of both characters comes with age. Phyllis is the easier character to "get", I think. After all, Alexis stalked the stage in a stunning red dress, firing one liners and insults, and then is revealed in a leg showing dance number to finally let loose. Dorothy wore a frumpy pink dress and was given the more nuanced role - which she performed beautifully. She isn't particularly funny, she is the symbol of Follies - an older woman revisting her youth and attempting to regain what she used to have. She is a little weird and unstable - and her mad scene (following "Mornings") is difficult to understand to the casual viewer - and I believe only Collins truly understood it. By the time "Losing My Mind" comes around, everyone already knows that Sally has loved Ben for years, so it's less a shock as when Phyllis begins to show off her body.
Phyllis is easier to understand, and I think in 1971, people tended to recognize that.

"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir

#61

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/9/14 at 10:54pm

One does not cry her way through a Torch Song. The tears are long cried out by then. Look to two of the best examples musical theatre has to offer- Julie in SHOW BOAT does not cry her way through "Bill", nor does Fanny in FUNNY GIRL cry her way through "The Music That Makes Me Dance"(stage)/"My Man"(film). "Losing My Mind" serves as an excellent example of the Torch Song. Besides, these songs fall into "performance" mode, where tears don't belong.

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....

#62

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/10/14 at 12:32am

Re: Bernadette crying - she did the same damn thing with "Send in the Clowns" when I saw her in the dreary ALNM revival, ruining that big moment.
Thank God I have the memory of seeing the exquisite original production with that wonderful cast and the enormously appealing Glynis John's definitive performnce of the song. Talk about an audience reaction! And then the audience cheers after the reprisal/reunion with Len Cariou. Sigh.

#63

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/11/14 at 7:43pm

Hi there,
This is Dorothy's daughter Melissa again. Just wanted you to know that the story of Alexis telling Mom she didn't realize how good she was as Sally is true. Meant the world to Mom!

#64

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/11/14 at 8:11pm

I'm so happy to hear that, Melissa. I read it in Everything Was Possible and had always hoped it was true. Your mother was a truly remarkable performer and person - filled with class and nuance. I still think she's one of the only performers to truly understand Sally. Thank you for the stories.

"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir

#65

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/11/14 at 8:13pm

Re: Bernadette in ALNM, yes the crying was so great and as Sondheim said when asked about Peters vs Zeta-Jones, Bernadette can really act a song. I remember the moment she realised and her eyes starting squinting. It was just wonderful. Will never understand the love for the obc vocal performance..might be something that has to be seen but it's not a pleasant listening experience for me. She is certainly an actor and not a singer.

Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.

#66

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/11/14 at 10:25pm

Just discovered this gem.
Tribute

"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir

#67

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/12/14 at 12:25am

Sondheim said when asked about Peters vs Zeta-Jones, Bernadette can really act a song.

That's because she restrains herself from crying when he accompanies her.

#68

Dorothy Collins

Posted: 11/12/14 at 12:35am

When did Sondheim say that? I vaguely remember that comment. I'm sure he didn't mean it as a dig to CZJ, as he was the one to personally call her and offer her the role in the revival.

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