FOLLIES Dream Cast — Page 2

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#26

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/7/04 at 9:49pm

barbra cook would fit the part of Heidi (the woman who sings one more kiss) since that part would be closer for her age. the only thing is it's such a small part she probably would never take it.

#27

HBO should assemble a killer cast, take the cast & crew to Flushing (Queens NY ) & film the show in the derelict RKO Keiths theater. They have a real decaying theater which would give the movie unbelievable atmosphere & would save them the cost of building a set. Just a thought

Poster Emeritus

#28

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/7/04 at 10:00pm

I was quite happy with the last Broadway revival but people who saw the original say there was just no contest.

My best friend and I saw the show in London. After we got home to NY, we would often go to the park and lay in Sheep Meadow casting the perfect production of FOLLIES. We made several alive and dead casts. Many of those in our alive cast are dead now.

" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."

#29

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 9:46am

Roxy, I LOVE your idea.

#30

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 12:41pm

FYI -- The original Sally and Phyllis -- Dorothy Collins and Alexis Smith -- were very attractive and very trim. Age-wise, Smith was 50 and Collins was 45. Many consider their performances (and the 1971 production as a whole) to be definitive.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#31

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 1:09pm

Dorothy Collins BETTER than Barbara Cook?

Forget the vocalizing, Cook can ACT circles around Collins.

"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."

#32

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 1:24pm

I've never seen Barbara Cook act -- other than the London production of "Carrie" back in '88, she hasn't acted in anything in more than three decades.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#33

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 1:33pm

Besides FOLLIES, has anyone ever see Dorothy Collins ACT in ANYTHING?

(Being a Vocalist on YOUR HIT PARADE doesn't count! :) )

"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."

#34

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 1:39pm

Well, Collins did get a Tony nomination for her performance in FOLLIES (losing to her co-star Alexis Smith). Cook never actually played the role (only performed it in concert) so one could hardly call her Sally definitive. Collins's performance however was very highly acclaimed and is at least the equal of any subsequent Sally.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#35

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 1:48pm

Margo,

I'm still stuck on the acting/singing pieces of the role!

I saw Judith Ivey as Sally, who is a very accomplished actress and I thought nailed the part to the floor.

Of course, as a singer, Ms. Ivey has the vocal range of Walter Matthau.

"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."

#36

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 1:50pm

Don't knock Walter Matthau. Did you ever see him in PHANTOM? Amazing.

"Noah, someday we'll talk again. But there's things we'll never say. That sorrow deep inside you. It inside me, too. And it never go away. You be okay. You'll learn how to lose things..."

#37

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 1:51pm

No! When did Matthau ever play PHANTOM???

"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."

#38

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 3:07pm

Regarding Dorothy Collins:

A new regional theatre was opening in Texas with a production of Follies and invited both Alexis Smith and Dorothy Collins. Both came and were seated next to each other. At intermission (there was one in this production), Alexis grabbed Dorothy by the arm and dragged her down to women bathroom, pulled her into a stall, locked the door and said, "Dorothy, I have to apologize. Until tonight I never realized how good you were."

#39

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 3:13pm

Very funny story, GHerbert.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#40

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 3:13pm

I personally LOVE Donna McKechnie's rendition of Sally's songs on the PMP recording.

When watching Barbara Cook sing them, I always felt I was watching a master class instead of something completely theatrical.

"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."

#41

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 3:19pm

Cook, of course, sounds stunning (her "Losing My Mind" gives me goosebumps), but unfortunately we'll never know how good a Sally she would have been in the context of the show. One wonders if her vocal interpretation of the music might have been different had she actually played the role in a production somewhere.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#42

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 3:25pm

I thought McKechnie was terrific...and she was Sondheim's choice for the role. He has said that she never gets the credit she deserves for being a fine actress. And the sight of McKechnie kicking up her heels in "Who's That Woman?" for which Jerry Mitchell recreated Michael Bennett's choreography ... well, for me it provided some of the resonant layers of performer and role that were present in the original Broadway casting.

"Gif me the cobra jool!"

Updated On: 10/8/04 at 03:25 PM

#43

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 3:26pm

Absolutely, Margo.

The thing that kills me about McKechnie's IN BUDDY'S EYES are the slight giggles she gets during the 'every morning, don't faint...' section. It's just so natural and heartbreaking.

Cook sings the songs beautifully. But it's those little character touches that truly makes those songs come alive.

"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."

#44

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 8:31pm

I was lucky eough to see Donna do it at Papermill and she was phenomenal. Dee Hoty was also terrific!

I also saw it in London in Julia Mackenzie was pretty amazing too. Diana Rigg acted well but sang poorly.

Follies is a tough show vocally. I bet that Vicki Frederick would be a great Phyllis.

#45

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 9:03pm

Well, I wasn't even born when Gene Nelson did "Follies," but he did get a Tony nomination for it, so he couldn't have been that bad (and back then getting nominated for a Tony actually really meant something). In any case, he had to have been better than Treat Williams in the revival, who was completely miscast.

#46

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/8/04 at 10:14pm

I agree, Baritone. I saw Treat, and during entire show he looked like he was lost in a crowded bus terminal.

"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."

#47

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/9/04 at 2:37am

Williams was probably miscast, but I felt sympathy for him since all the idiot choreographer could come up with him to do for his big solo was for him to throw chairs around the stage. Huh? If that was because he couldn't do a real dance solo, then why the hell was he cast in the first place?

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#48

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/9/04 at 2:51am

omg,margo,not only was everyone miscast in the revival,but the choreographer was a meglomaniac loon(well,actually,I did love carol in 'who's that woman',&blythe did her best-and in the lesser roles,donald saddler & betty who sang bway baby was pretty good too).
But,face it,"Follies" is flawed to begin with..

#49

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/9/04 at 3:28am

Yes, but most of Sondheim's show's have flawed books (or at least books that don't even begin to do justice to the genius of his scores).

I got into arguments over Carol Woods and Who's That Woman? ("Oh, there's no way a black woman would be in a follies show in the 30s or 40s" -- Sondheim himself signed off on Woods' casting so f--- you).

I was absolutely blown away by Joan Roberts doing "One More Kiss" (pretty much unseen and forgotten in NYC since OKLAHOMA 60 years before, who knew she was still alive? Who thought to even look for her? And, for gods sakes, where on earth did all of that VOICE come from???).

And Polly Bergen just destroyed me with "I'm Still Here."

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#50

re: FOLLIES Dream Cast

Posted: 10/9/04 at 9:42am

I believe Harry Groener, who did a concert version in Los Angeles, is the perfect Buddy. At least he could really dance the role, as opposed to throwing chairs like Treat Williams did during "The Right Girl".

Debra Monk would be a great Sally.

Maybe Terrence Mann as Ben (a CATS reunion with Groener?).

Dee Hoty (who did it at Papermill)seems ideal as Phyllis.

Or maybe James Naughton as Ben - for a CITY OF ANGELS reunion with Hoty?

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