Elaine Paige Joins FOLLIES on Broadway; Tickets on Sale- Page 2

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 4:45pm

As for the comments about her costume, let's not forget Ben tells Carlotta that her "outfit is a triumph of restraint." She ain't supposed to look super-classy, yo.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 4:53pm

"Oh, right, Cleo - when did she ever not go for the stratosphere?"

Hey if you got it, flaunt it. Obviously Yvonne, Carol, Shirley, Dolores, Ann, Polly, Stritch and now Elaine Paige didn't have it.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:01pm

kdogg, all due respect, but get a sense of humor. I've lived in NYC for almost 30 years and have been buddies with a lot of trannies (drag queens, transvestites, and full-on transsexuals). Believe me, the word is used in love and fun here by many. You personally may not like it, but step back, take a breath, and make a few observations before climbing up on your horse. To a lot of us, it's a word to be used in many ways.

And Phyl - I always thought that Ben's line about Carlotta's outfit being a triumph of restraint was meant to be sincere, not a disguised insult. He actually likes her, remember? To turn it into a cheap joke is not only lowbrow, it makes no sense.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:02pm

That Delores Grey is da bomb, as is Karen Morrow's version also on da tube. They both take the time to tell the story and find the various beats, some funny some bitter but triumphant in the end.
I was very far away from the stage in the Kennedy, I don't remember too many dramatic spots from Paige, she seemed rather upbeat throughout, perhaps sitting close would have made a difference. It will be interesting to see how NYC takes to the Paige (it's her BWay debut, right?)
And as in other cases her "look" is strange at the least.
Word at the Watergate bar was Steve was not happy with Miss P.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:03pm

Oh, and gotham - call me old-fashioned, but I kinda like it when a performer sings the score the way the composer wrote it (unless they're singing the song out of context in a cabaret - then anything goes, whether it works or not).

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:10pm

Apparently, Elaine has her share of detractors in the West End forum. Blimey! from RC in Austin, Texas



YES YES YES!!!
You have no idea how excited I am about this...
Not because I like Elaine Paige, in fact the opposite, it means we get her whiny voice of the Radio 2 airwaves for a while and hopefully the charming and delightful Barbara Windsor will sit in!

Read more: https://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.php?thread=1034194&dt=3&boardid=3#ixzz1RGdMs0Gp

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:13pm

"It will be interesting to see how NYC takes to the Paige (it's her BWay debut, right?)"

No, she was a Norma Replacement in "Sunset Boulevard". I think she went on after Betty Buckley left the show.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:15pm

And Phyl - I always thought that Ben's line about Carlotta's outfit being a triumph of restraint was meant to be sincere, not a disguised insult. He actually likes her, remember? To turn it into a cheap joke is not only lowbrow, it makes no sense.

Well, I think it's sincere, too. I don't think she should look ridiculous (and I didn't think Paige did), but I still always imagining her looking a little over the top. Does that make sense? I feel like in head it does, but I can't figure out the words to explain it properly.



Updated On: 7/5/11 at 05:15 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:18pm

"Oh, and gotham - call me old-fashioned, but I kinda like it when a performer sings the score the way the composer wrote it"

Yes but divas change things up all the time.

LuPone made all sorts of changes during Evita

Gwen Verdon would leave an entire song out of Sweet Charity if she wasn't feeling it

Has Liza Minnelli ever made it to closing night singing what was written?

Lillias White, Queen of the "I'll sing what I feel"

Donna Murphy, Idina Menzel, the list goes on and on of people who have not sung exactly what was written.

Updated On: 7/5/11 at 05:18 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:26pm

Thanks Gotham, I forgot she was the 2(?) replacement, I don't remember her getting buzz in SUNSET at the time.

In this production "triumph of restaint" is definetly a dig, too, too, blue, maribu.

[binau]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:31pm

Discount codes:

http://www.broadwaybox.com/shows/follies_nyc_tickets.aspx

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:31pm

"Thanks Gotham, I forgot she was the 2(?) replacement, I don't remember her getting buzz in SUNSET at the time."

I saw her do Sunset Boulevard. She was ok, not great.

She is remembered for that show on Broadway because the set was so huge and she was so tiny. I think Gerry Alessindrini put something about that in Forbidden Broadway (or at least he was planning to).

[newintown]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:33pm

I agree, curtain - Paige's outfit is absolutely hideous, the only worse one was the bizarre pyjama outfit sported by the disgusting Regine.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 5:41pm

Oh yeah. didn't they lower the handrail so the audience could see her FACE.

[binau]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 8:24pm

Interestingly on the 25th of November, 23rd and 30th of December they have friday Matinees.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 9:32pm

Random question:

How will this affect the billing for the show? Paige's part is small, but I can't imagine a star of her magnitude being below the title. Granted, she's a bigger name in England, but any hardcore musical theater person knows who she is.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 9:37pm

I assume she will keep the 'starring Elaine Paige as Carlotta' box under the title.


http://www.folliesdc.com/#!credits
Updated On: 7/5/11 at 09:37 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 9:55pm

In this production "triumph of restaint" is definetly a dig

But I think it's supposed to be a dig. It's a lighthearted, affectionate dig, but it's a dig nonetheless. He says that outfit as a triumph of restraint, she counters with "haven't seen your picture in the papers lately."

[fflagg]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 10:12pm

A B list cast. Where are the stars??

[theeatah]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 10:13pm

Reading some of these comments about Paige, it sounds like she's REALLY following in De Carlo's footsteps (sitting out Who's That Woman? line/lyric flubs etc.)

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 10:42pm

"I think Gerry Alessindrini put something about that in Forbidden Broadway (or at least he was planning to)."

ELAINE:
One foot more and you'd see my face.
I'm too short for that big staircase.
I'm a bigger star back home.
Here it's so bizarre,
I'm a munchkin star.

ZOE CALDWELL/MARIA CALLAS:
Elaine Paige. I won't have a word said against her, but a three foot Norma Desmond? I ask you!

ELAINE:
I'm not small, it's the sets that got bigger!

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 10:52pm

Thanks for the link, ljay. I always find it weird when they have people above the title and then put a "Starring So-and-So" below the title. A previous example being "Patti LuPone in GYPSY starring Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines." It's like, wait, I thought it was starring Patti LuPone? Politics, politics.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 10:55pm

I don't think I've ever heard those, but just reading them made me laugh out loud! She really was a tiny thing.

That was the first time I'd ever laid eyes on her in my life - and I was in the very first row when I saw it, so her tiny little self was mere feet away from me, with her blue dress that a lot of you really seemed to hate, with the wig and the accent and the not dancing and the giving her lines to Florence Lacey to the night she didn't do the "I had a follies number once speech," but instead inexplicably went on a brief but memorable rant about Tim Rice (who she called out twice by name), to her maybe botoxed face (that got whomever it was that suggested it's comment deleted) -

and I loved her. I LOVED her. I LOVED HER!!!!!!
Updated On: 7/5/11 at 10:55 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 11:15pm

Phyliss, did she really say something about Rice onstage?
I didn't hear that story.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/5/11 at 11:17pm

No, she didn't. But wouldn't it have been dreamy? Sigh.

You wanted to believe it, though. I can tell.
Updated On: 7/5/11 at 11:17 PM