FOLLIES Begins Rehearsals Today; Casting Complete!- Page 2

[theatreguy]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 10:09am

Walking by the marquee yesterday, it looked to me like Bernadette Peters was pink, Jan Maxwell was purple, Danny Burstein was red and Ron Raines was orange.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 10:19am

Maybe it's purple because Jan Maxwell is a queen.

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 2:56pm

Weird that this article mentions all Tony nominated actresses, yet only a "Terri White as Stella Deems." Does the author not know that Terri earned a Tony nomination for “Barnum"?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 2:58pm

Not according to IBDB.....

http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=83476

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 3:29pm

I guess this article got it wrong...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/nyregion/27bigcity.html

So, now, almost a year to the day after she last slept on a bench, Ms. White is back on Broadway, in a play she first performed in as a child, at the St. James Theater — the very place she earned her Tony nomination for “Barnum.”

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 3:36pm

There's a correction.

Correction: October 29, 2009
The Big City column on Tuesday, about Terri White, an actress who is back on Broadway in “Finian’s Rainbow” a year after an eviction left her homeless, overstated her professional achievements, based on information provided by Ms. White. Although she was featured in the Tony-nominated “Barnum” in 1980, she did not herself earn a nomination.

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 7/19/11 at 3:39pm

Ahhh thanks for the correction ljay....shows you can't believe everything you read. She still deserved a nomination

[theatreguy]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 11:53pm

RE the Marquee, walked by today and they've changed the colors of the boxes for Peters and Maxwell. Peters is now in a red box (to match Danny Burstein) and Maxwell has an orange box (to match Ron Raines). Maxwell's name no longer awkwardly sticks out.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/28/11 at 11:59pm

Wow, interesting. As of yesterday, her box was still purple.

For those who care, the set has been loaded in. The theater doors were open yesterday, and the Loveland drops were down. They are the same drops, but purple has been added to the color scheme. There may be more of the tissue paper flowers, not positive though.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 12:16am

For those that are still curious, Jayne Houdyshell's comments in this Playbill article lead me to believe they've re-thought their position on having "Broadway Baby" revert back to being part of the trio medley rather than the solo spot Linda Lavin had in D.C.:

Question: How did this role in Follies come about for you?

Jayne Houdyshell: Well, it was quite out of the blue and a wonderful kind of surprise. I was just coming up on the closing of The Importance of Being Earnest. I guess it was the last week I was in the show, and my agents got a call wondering if I would be interested in coming in to sing for Hattie in Follies… Basically, [music director] Jim Moore just needed me to come in and sing the song to make sure that the key was right for me because they're doing the trio — the medley — with those three songs in the show, and it wasn't possible to change keys, so it kind of came down to whether or not I could hit the note, I think. [Laughs.] And, I went in and had a very brief meeting with him and sang through the song a couple of times and got the job! So, it was really fast and unexpected and a wonderful, wonderful surprise...

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/153099

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 12:18am

THANK GOD.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 12:23am

Houdyshell confirms it later in the interview directly. It's back to the medley spot:

Question: I know in DC they didn't do the song's traditional placement as part of a medley of three songs…

Houdyshell: Yes, it's being restored to its original form, and it's really fun to work on it. Everyone involved in the number is sensational and fun to work with, and Warren, our choreographer, had great ideas about how it should be staged and how that all comes out, so yes, that's what's happening with that number now.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/153099

Updated On: 7/29/11 at 12:23 AM

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 12:29am

Well, good! Meanwhile, I'm getting more and more interested to see how Houdyshell is in this role.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 12:33am

Houdyshell is a terrific actress. I'm looking forward to seeing her take on this role.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 12:52am

She's adorable. And she understands the character--and the show!--PERFECTLY.

I don't know what I want to say because it's so early for me. I don't want to misrepresent her… I guess the clues that I'm taking about who she is are the little brief things that are given in the libretto and the text — she's lived a full life and had numerous marriages and, I think, at least a handful of children and has grandchildren, and is a very proud grandmother. I think she is one of those gals that was a headliner, and she loved the business when she was in it, but when she moved into the time in her life when it was about home and family, I think she retired gracefully and really has enjoyed her later years. I don't think her identity is tied up in show business certainly in the way it was when she was a younger woman, but I think the event of this reunion with the people that she knew in her younger days — it has the same impact on her that it does on everyone else who comes back for this reunion. It's a moment in time when one is able to relive a golden time in one's younger days, and not many people have the opportunity to do that. That's one of the extraordinary events of the play, and I think, at least for Hattie anyway, for the character of Hattie, this is a golden moment for her — to return and see all these people and be able to pull out the number one more time. [Laughs.]

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 1:03am

I think this production/transfer is really making the steps in the right direction.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 7:43pm

There are some rumors on ATC.

- The Bolero is being reinstated.
- At least one major number is being restaged.
- Some original book material may be returning!!

I think this transfer is going to be much improved from what was seen in DC.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1996869 Updated On: 7/29/11 at 07:43 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 7:50pm

- At least one major number is being restaged

It would have to be "Lucy and Jessie," don't you think?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 7:55pm

Yep!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 8:02pm

I wish it were two, but that one would do.

[wiggum2]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 8:38pm

Paljoey,
What would the other one be besides Lucy and Jesse?
I have never seen any version of Follies so I'm excited to see it since I didn't get to DC in time.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/29/11 at 9:48pm

I bet Joey is refering to WHO'S THAT WOMAN? Though it was allright and White in top form, the inclusion of the ghost dancers was less than thrilling.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 7:33am

Yes, "Who's That Woman."

Wiggum, watch how Michael Bennett brings in the ghosts in this clip from the original production.

It's bad quality but you can see the ghosts of the older women in the same formation, facing the upstage wall, and Stella's ghost upstage of them, performing the song with youthful verve. At first, Bennett keeps the focus on the older women. At first they are fine, but as the music changes for the tap break and the dancing becomes more intricate, he weaves in the younger ghosts.

Finally, the young ghosts burst through and ultimately intermingle with their older selves, in a jaw-dropping mixture of the past and the present. It was the the entire show in one musical number, a true coup de theatre:

http://youtu.be/nhQeVQ6677A

Updated On: 7/31/11 at 07:33 AM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 11:42am

Why not have a stage curtain with the famous Gloria Swanson photo of her standing in the rubble of the Roxy?

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:16am

I hope that "Lucy and Jessie" retains at least some elements of what the number was before, because I really liked some of it, barring the bits where Maxwell looked less than comfortable with the dance. And if it's true, it would be very interesting to see the Bolero back.