FOLLIES 1971 Video Footage (and some Merrily 1981) — Page 3

It's from delagrandejatte's photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28698051@N08/sets/72157607260354041/with/2852598508/

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Boris Aronson and Florence Klotz should be awarded Sainthood.

I've been listening to the soundboard recording and I've become a huge fan. Forgive me if it sounds like a dumb question:

Back in the 70's how did they mic shows? I'm assuming that they didn't use body mics for performers then. When I'm listening to the Follies recording I'm hearing stomps which leads me to believe that they mounted floor mics everywhere into the set. Is this correct?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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More photos

Oh thanks for that link, Chewy. I love this one:



And doesn't this one speak volumes about the relationship between these geniuses?

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pj, Boris Aronson's model of the Loveland set shows wood ribs in the fan-like portals. Since you saw the original production 5 times, do you remember if the portals actually FANNED open, or did they just fly in from upstage to downstage as other photos of the sequence suggest?

(I know Boris DID use the fanning-open idea later for the tree Gedde Wattanabe climbed in Pacific Overtures for "Someone in a Tree". That was a true coup-de-theatre when the bare tree trunk (of the old man) suddenly burst into stunnning pink blossoms for the boy's memory with the simple opening of the gorgeously painted fan mounted atop it.)

I'm going through about 15 DVD's that I've gotten over the years with all the footage posted here and more and I'm going to try to compile them into one long dvd. Before I do that though, I was wondering if there was any footage anywhere of "Too Many Mornings" or "Don't Look at Me"?

Updated On: 5/23/11 at 01:36 PM

"Back in the 70's how did they mic shows? I'm assuming that they didn't use body mics for performers then. When I'm listening to the Follies recording I'm hearing stomps which leads me to believe that they mounted floor mics everywhere into the set. Is this correct?"

If you read Everything Was Possible by Ted Chapin (highly recommended, a really great book), I'm sure many of your questions about the show will be answered, this on included. I'm too lazy to look it up, but I believe he said that the first body mic was used in the 1960s, but they weren't common much later. In this show, they used floor mics and hid a bunch of mics in the set, pointed at where people would be singing.

Also, just to add to the confusion, in Everything Was Possible, he does say that there was a camera filming part of a tech rehearsal or something in Boston, though he noted that the following day, Dorothy's wig was changed. So, if this is different from the footage now believed to be from LA, it would be interested to see what has come of this actual Boston footage.

Here's another recently added clip of the Montage from 1971 via youtube-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fvkHB3MA4s

The previously posted (striking) photo of Boris Aronson's set (the final scene) can be found in THE THEATRE ART OF BORIS ARONSON by Frank Rich and Lisa Aronson, now out of print, but usually (and affordably) available through sites like Alibris and ABE books. It's a coffee table-style volume covering Aronson's entire career, and well worth any price.

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Updated On: 6/7/11 at 11:37 AM

I don't think I have, either. It's like they really ARE ghosts.

I feel like of the last four clips posted, all the footage is new to me except for some of the Broadway Baby and Ah Paree clips. Any time it looks like it's coming from stage left, I guess, where it's really sharp quality, I've never seen. I think I've seen some of those Lucy and Jessie clips, but the Loveland and Buddy's Blues looks new to me.

Watching the clip of the montage makes me wonder if the finale was changed for the Kennedy Center because of Regine. Maybe it was just too much for her. I didn't totally hate the way they did it in DC, but the original ending is a lot more joyous, I think.

Was that picture taken in an asylum?

It makes a good story, though.

http://youtu.be/CmAttoJ_kmY

The Right Girl.