FOLLIES Begins Rehearsals Today; Casting Complete!- Page 3

[AndersonTours]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 2:49pm

I hope they keep elements of the old number as well. For example, the boys dancing was athletic, sexy and wonderful. On the other hand, they just cannot give Maxwell a lot of dancing because that is not her strong suit. The number fell every time she attempted to dance. Eventually, it was a tad painful to watch. This is not a knock on Maxwell, it is a knock on Shaeffer and Carlyle for putting her in that position. She's obviously incredibly talented, give her moves & direction that work for her.
Lucy & Jessie needed changing and, simply, I hope they keep the good stuff (the boys dancing) & change the stuff that didn't work (Maxwell's dancing).

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 4:27pm

I hope they keep none of it and start from scratch.

"The Story of Lucy and Jessie" is about many things, but the one thing it is NOT about is athletic/sexy/wonderful dancing boys.

If that's what you're looking for, go to Broadway Bares. But "Lucy and Jessie" is about Phyllis.

Updated On: 7/31/11 at 04:27 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 8:18pm

I wouldn't hold my breath for the Bolero, there has been no casting news for Vincent or Vanessa.
I pray they get rid of that walkove Jan did into the guy's arms, it was so awkward and I feared for her life. In Maxwell's case they need to use her strength, her presense, timimg and statuesque form.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 8:26pm

If included, The Whitmans will dance the Bolero. Just as they did in the Roundabout and Encores! productions.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 9:03pm

Perhaps that's why they recast Theodore when Terrence Currier was fine in the role...they might've been looking for a dancer to match Susan Watson for the Bolero.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 9:10pm

"In Maxwell's case they need to use her strength, her presense, timimg and statuesque form."


So... "Ah, But Underneath"?

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 9:24pm

I think Lucy and Jessie can be done without too much dance. Lee Remick's version was great, and the dance was minimal.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 9:42pm

I did not see the Roundabout version, how do the Whitmans become Vincent and Vanessa? Or do they do it as the Whitmans?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 9:45pm

Yes, they do it as the Whitmans.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 9:54pm

I just got back from going out to dinner with my family at Telepan, an outstanding restaurant on the southeast corner of 69th and Columbus. Who was sitting at the table next to us? Elaine Paige! She seemed to be enjoying her dinner as well.

Can't wait to see her on stage next Sunday!

[AndersonTours]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 11:21pm

With all due respect, I hope they create something that we've never seen before and surprises us. If you knew how to do that you would say, instead all you do is say what doesn't work. Again, with all due respect, because I actually think all the comments you post are quite intelligent and insightful.
Yes, "Lucy & Jessie" is about Phyllis, but I hope they decide to express it in a way that you & I have not thought of. The dancers worked, to me, despite what you think. Bennett had those guys in there too and doing similar things. Except he had a huge set shift to distract as well. The number was not much better, IMHO. Bennet for all his genius wasn't quite able to make this one work perfectly either. It's a damn hard nut to crack, granted. I certainly don't have the answers, lol. Truth be told, this is one of those numbers, like "The Right Girl", that has yet to be truly found. Having said that, I think "The Right Girl" in the KC production is the closest they've ever come to making it work. From what my husband tells me, who produces & knows people involved, Sondheim feels the same way. They just need to rethink "Lucy & Jessie" in order to make it work for Ms. Maxwell and this production. And make it make sense. Now, how to do that, lol? Ah, well.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/31/11 at 11:33pm

With not quite as much respect, you are wrong. "Lucy and Jessie" and "The Right Girl: are NOT unsolved numbers that "yet to be solved."

Michael Bennett, who was a genius on the level of Robbins and Fosse, solved BOTH those numbers. Just watch:

The Story of Lucy and Jesse, staged by Michael Bennett, performed by Alexis Smith and Company:

http://youtu.be/AmexU4Qd0HM


The Right Girl, staged by Michael Bennett, performed by Gene Nelson:

http://youtu.be/CmAttoJ_kmY

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 12:04am

I think Bennett's staging of LUCY AND JESSIE is what clenched the TONY for the excellent Ms. Smith, and Carlyle's is what wrecked Ms. Maxwell from a complete Tour de'Force.
And I adore Mr. B. , and will be rooting again for him at TONY time, but there has to be a better solution for a non-dancer to make that number work.
I am cautiously excited to see the changes, but would be more excited if there were rumors that some better choreographer was helping out.
Back to this: Did the older Whitman's dance the Bolero, or did they have ghosts?

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 12:06am

The Whitman's do indeed dance it with their ghosts.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 7:57am

Bennett's staging of "Lucy and Jessie" was a precursor to his conception of "One" in A Chorus Line: the idea of the chorus being there only to illuminate the "singular sensation" in front of them.

Shockingly, he had the chorus boys (and the girls too, dressed as boys) facing upstage for the ENTIRE number. Watch it again: They NEVER turn downstage:

http://youtu.be/6TxLGIdv85I

It was Bennett's solution for creating a dance number around Alexis Smith--who was not a dancer but had great legs.

Warren Carlyle makes the dancers look good while the leading lady struggles to keep up. But Bennett made Alexis Smith look not merely good but also great--great enough, as CurtainPullDowner said, to clinch the Tony.

The chorus facing upstage the entire time forced the audience's attention on Smith's face (and legs), But the stage picture was still enlivened by their arm and leg movements and their shifting body positions. They were completely background for the audience. And the number completely told the story of the song.

Watch as Smith does the signature and specific hand choreography that Bennett was famous for, which Yvonne De Carlo referred to as "those marvelous Michael Bennett gestures." Here arm shifts and body position show the difference between Lucy and Jessie with irony and humor that are as sophisticated and clever as Sondheim's lyrics.

In the end, with numbers, like this, "The Right Girl," and "Who's That Woman," what you can see in the scratchy videos from the 1971 production is that Michael Bennett's staging rose to the level of Stephen Sondheim's writing.

That's a high bar to jump, and something we'll all be lucky if we see again.

Updated On: 8/2/11 at 07:57 AM

[AndersonTours]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 11:46pm

I love people like you, Pal Joey. If one doesn't agree with you, they're "wrong". So funny and a little sad.
For the record, the person who told me that "The Right Girl" had never quite been figured out was Stephen Sondheim. So suck it. And, no, I'm not making that up. He told me on the opening night of Follies at the Kennedy Center, which I was lucky enough to attend with my husband. We were introduced at the party afterwards and I sat at his table. Frank Rich & Alex Witchell were also at the table. Sondheim told me that this production was the closest The Right Girl had ever come to being successful. I wanted him to go into detail, and I so wish he had, but he did not. But he did say that.
So, if SS thinks that the number was never really successful, I'm going to trust him, and not you. Sorry, Joey, but it was from the horse's mouth. Now, you may disagree with that opinion. But I like Sondheim's opinion on the matter (because I've always agreed) and think it's probably more accurate than yours.
Again, no offense. But we are talking about art after all.
In all fairness, I did not like Lucy & Jessie in DC and SS didn't mention the number and he may very well feel as you do, that Bennett's staging was perfection. To me, it isn't. I actually have problems with the number itself. Not SS at his best, but that's my opinion. You may feel it is SS at his best. And, guess what? Neither of us, is "wrong".
And, with that, I take my leave from this thread.
PS. The choreographer's name is Warren Carlyle, not Warren Christopher. Easy mistake to make.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:28am

I don't think you can say that it's a matter of a number being "solved" or not. There are always multiple ways to arrive at a good result. The original choreography of both Lucy & Jesse and The Right Girl was quite good, but like everything in the world, it's not necessarily perfect. In Lucy & Jesse, a little more movement from Phyllis would have made it more exciting for me. When reading Everything Was Possible, I imagined The Right Girl to be much bigger than the video makes it out to be. I think you need Buddy to be utilizing the entire space. Maybe I'm wrong, but everything is subjective.

And, for what it's worth, Sondheim isn't necessarily the best critic of his own work. He often says that the best song he's written is Someone in a Tree, which I have to disagree with (and I'm sure many others will, too). He really hates most of his lyrics for West Side Story, which are generally regarded quite highly, though he does raise some fair points.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 7:18am

That must have been very exciting for you for you and your husband on opening night of Follies in DC, to sit with Steve and Frank and Alex...

...and Bobby and Jackie and Jack and Ethel and Ted and Eunice and Pat and Joan and Steve and Peter and Jean and Sarge and Joe and Rose and rows and rows and rows and rows and rows and rows and rows

[theeatah]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 7:50am

Didn't Bennett have to simplify his choreography for The Right Girl because Gene Nelson, despite his best efforts, couldn't handle it?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 9:36am

Sondheim is definitely someone who I've come to take with a grain of salt when it comes to his opinions of his own work.

He's also being quoted a lot these days as saying "insert here" is the best "insert here" he's seen of his work. Recently I've read that he thought Caroline O'Connor was the best Mrs. Lovett he's seen; and that the Paris NIGHT MUSIC was the best he's seen, and now Danny Burstein's "The Right Girl" is the best he's seen.

Nothing wrong with being positive and maybe he's truly at a place in his life where he's relaxed and just enjoying the thrill of experiencing these productions and his work without the critical eye he had in years past.

But I would take all of his comments at this point in his life at a fairly surface value.