FOLLIES - Anything is Possible

[Jaynrand]

Posted: 10/16/03 at 8:39am

I just finished reading this book by Ted Chapin. He was an acquaintance of Sondheim and Prince through his family and was given a job as a "gofer" for the original production of "Follies."

He kept a journal as part of a college project and has finally organized it into a book all these years later.

I loved the book. It is a great account of a musical "out of town" back in the 1970's with good portraits of Prince, Sondheim, and Michael Bennett and the stars.

Lots of great photos. If you are interested in theatre at all, I think you would like it. If you a FOLLIES fan, it is a must! Updated On: 10/16/03 at 08:39 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/16/03 at 8:45am

Oh those family connections!!

[Zola LaPlaya]

Posted: 10/16/03 at 9:37am

A journal of ones experience with Follies?

Perhaps I have been wrong about Miss Juliana's diary. However, I shudder to think (and rather doubt) that it, too, will become part of the literature of 21st century American musical theater.

z

[Jaynrand]

Posted: 10/16/03 at 9:41am

Sorry you didn't like it, Zola.

[tpdc]

Posted: 10/16/03 at 1:20pm

It is a great book. I couldn't put it down. I've read reviews that call it the best theater book since The Season.

[TEACHEROFTHEATER]

Posted: 10/17/03 at 1:48pm

[tpdc]

Posted: 10/17/03 at 2:13pm

William Goldman.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 10/17/03 at 2:14pm

Goldman, William (not the playwright of LION IN WINTER fame, his brother the screenwriter, i believe). It's about the 1967-1968 NYC season. Great book! Can't wait to read this new FOLLIES one. And can see no reason to bash Julia's journal in order to reference the topic of this thread.

Updated On: 10/17/03 at 02:14 PM

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 10/17/03 at 3:38pm

I read somewhere that one of Bennett’s big obstacles in rehearsing FOLLIES was the age of his cast. Ethel Shutta would do “Broadway Baby” once in rehearsal, and then sit down, thinking she was finished. She was about 80, I think. Yvonne DeCarlo couldn’t remember a dance step from one day to the next. Probably had problems with Fifi D’Orsay, too.

[tpdc]

Posted: 10/17/03 at 3:53pm

Shutta was younger than that. She seems to have been a character. She liked Chapin and he liked her. He was also tight with Yvonne. Yvonne and Dorothy Collins come off as quite charming in the book. D'Orsay was difficult and Shutta seems to have had a bit of a rivalry with her. Fifi's number originally came after Broadway Baby. But Baby and Who's That Woman were showstoppers from the very beginning. So by the time they switched the order of the numbers, Fifi was resigned to the switch. Fifi's number also longer originally. Chapin prints alternate lyrics for some of the songs in the book. I'm Still Here was originally just called I'm Here. It's all very engrossing. The photos are great. I know I'll read this cover to cover again.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 10/17/03 at 4:31pm

Most of the Follies principals, on stage and off, come off well and I think that can be traced to Hal Prince. He acted like a pro during a very difficult gestation. He does not come off like a screamer or a nasty soul at all, but a calm, reasoned and especially smart ship's captain. Someone who was in charge and who got everyone on the same wavelength.

Fifi it seems, could barely remember how her name was spelled much less lyrics, complicated choreography or where her entrances were. How much of this was a ploy, dear reader, is up to us. Most of the actors worked very hard and really thought about what they were doing. Ethel Shutta comes across as an old pro who brooked no crap, knew her lines and blocking and knew to show up and stop the show every performance.

During the run of the show the woman who played Old Vanessa often subbed in Who's That Woman? because the other ladies often didn't have the stamina to turn it out 8 times a week.

Boris Aronson's two rules (in a heavy Russian accent):
1 - "Every show has a wictim."
2 - "Don't be the wictim."

The book is a must for us all. So little time and so much to learn.

[alterego]

Posted: 10/18/03 at 3:12am

When Yvonne de Carlo finished in Follies in LA in 1972 she went to Melbourne (Australia) to succeed Cyd Charise in No, No, Nanette. Cyd Charisse had a extra dance number inserted into the show for her, so when Yvonne arrived the producers decided that Yvonne should do an extra number. She was determined to do I'm Still Here from Follies (!). It took some persuasion but eventually she did the more appropriate Vincent Youmans song More Than You Know.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/18/03 at 6:55am

Is there anything in the book about the tour that starred Vivian Blaine & Lynn Bari?

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 10/18/03 at 5:53pm

i never knew there was a tour. i knew that Blaine had gone into COMPANY in the Stritch role...

Maggie, you should check out the casts of the two Houston productions. Very interesting! Ken Berry had to leave one of them, as he couldn't stay sober enough to make rehearsals.

[tpdc]

Posted: 10/18/03 at 11:02pm

TxTwo Step, did you see the Houston production with Juliet Prowse, Marilyn Maye, Harvey Evans, Patrice Munsel, Licia Albanese and John Cullum? I did and loved it. I thought Cullum was brilliant. I didn't know there was another one. When was that and who was in it other than Berry? Was it staged by the same people?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/18/03 at 11:13pm

I saw the original & the recent revival. The original was in a class by itself but the revival was not that bad. I thought the opening was brilliant with Weissman with the flashlight coming up to the stage. We sat upstairs & from our vantage point, it really did look like the theater was a derelict. Having visited many shuttered theaters over the years , I could identify with him.

I really would love for HBO to do a definitive version with a killer cast & actually filmed in a derelict theater. There are many that are all over the city. There is one in Flushing NY that immediately comes to mind. It is an old vaudeville theater that opened Christmas Day 1925 & has a great history & a veritible who's who of famous stars that once graced its stages

[tpdc]

Posted: 10/18/03 at 11:28pm

Oh yes, I'd love for HBO to do a film of FOLLIES. I was hoping that with Rob Marshall's success as a film director he might want to try amd make film of FOLLIES. I think it would have to be made for HBO. I don't think it's "hot" enough for Miramax to do a big push like they did for CHICAGO. Now who would you cast in a FOLLIES film?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/18/03 at 11:38pm

Bob Cuccioli's got the pipes & would be one of the male leads. As soon as I think of the rest, I will advise.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 10/19/03 at 8:43pm

i love that idea, ROXY! and TPDC i did not see that production but have heard the anecdotes about it. That same place here in Houston has done the show at least twice, maybe three times. i hope they do it again soon!

[WOSQ]

Posted: 10/20/03 at 9:40am

I saw the tour with Vivian Blaine, Lynn Bari, Robert Alda, Jane Kean, Selma Diamond, Hildegarde, and Don Liberto. Directed by Christopher Hewitt and done in the round. Produced by Ken Gaston who developed a reputation so bad and disreputable that local bookers later wouldn't take his shows without a co-producer.

In a word--awful.

And I do not mean passably awful, I mean among the legendarily bad productions I have seen in my 40+ years of theatre-going. Certainly on a "Worst Ten" list.

Misbegotten.

Who needs lethal injection when there was this tour of Follies? And it was the only national tour ever.

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 10/20/03 at 9:49am

I also would like to see a first-class cable or PBS production of FOLLIES. There's a problem, however -- all of the "golden age" stars that really fit the roles are dying off! Because, despite protestations that are sure to resound, one of the great draws of productions of FOLLIES is to see folks like Ann Miller, Joan Roberts, Marge Champion, etc. Who would we cast in the show now? Bonnie Franklin? Suzanne Pleshette? Cindy Williams? Ann B. Davis? Florence Henderson? (Actually, if Florence Henderson could still sing, she'd be an interesting choice.)