FOLLIES - The Intermission is Back- Page 2

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:03pm

Spelling Bee is licensed with an optional intermission. Papermill used it. It was kind of pointless.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:17pm

Most of the intermisionless shows are licensed with an optional intermission, including A Chorus Line and 1776, among others already mentioned.

[morosco]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:49pm

Grand Hotel was 2 hours with no intermission wasn't it?

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:58pm

Historical note: IIRC Sondheim has said that the first act curtain was supposed to come down on a gunshot, with the audience not knowing who had been shot.

When they dropped the murder mystery plot, they never found another moment that really justified a break while keeping the audience wondering what will happen next.

[morosco]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 7:04pm

besty, where is the optional A CHORUS LINE intermission placed? Is there any dialogue changes referencing the break in the action?

Posted: 8/27/11 at 7:08pm

In regards to the *ahem* pee issue, is Follies that much longer than other one act musicals? Obviously it is longer than Sondheim's Passion (and I suspect Road Show, but am not sure). The Fosse cut of the filmed Pippin (not the edit that was released) runs to about 2 hours and 15 minutes with bows. I think Chorus Line, with bows, is about that long as well...

I hate to say, but I'm notorious for having a small bladder amongst my friends, but I don't find that length of time too hard going--I just have to remember not to have wine or coffee with dinner before and save that for after :P

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 7:17pm

morosco, the optional intermission for "A Chorus Line" happens on the bump of the "Montage (Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen)" sequence. Act 2 picks up with the very next line. It's a very awkward Act 2 start.

Posted: 8/27/11 at 7:17pm

"I like an intermission. It makes it feel like an evening out. You can stop and discuss the show and read the program again now that you know the show better, etc."

I admit, I like this aspect of an intermission too--you get a chance to discuss the show, absorb what's happening, etc(for the record I've also appreciated the pop concerts I've gone to that have had one). That said, some shows really benefit artistically from not having one, and I do fall into the camp that believes Follies is one of them.

Having not been to a Broadway house yet, I assume (from the fact they let you bring in food and drink apparently) they're pretty lax and if you did have to run out desperately to use the washroom, as much of a pain as it is and an interuption for youa nd others, they'd let you back in?

(I went on an awkward date a long time back where I was extremely uncomfortable and foolishly drank WAY too much wine at dinner--and then we went to see a production of Don Giovanni... I think about 25 minutes in I already desperately had to go, and the first act was something like an hour and 50 minutes. Finally about midway through I thought I would just sneak off--we were in the back on an asle anyway--only to not be let back in till intermission, something I hadn't even thought of happening. My date thought I had taken off...)

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 12:37am

I was there last night and can attest to the re-addition of the intermission.

Honestly, the intermission really threw off my investment in the production as a whole. It drops the audience at the wrong time and picks up at the wrong time. It destroys any momentum being built up. It even ruins the transition to Loveland. Really was looking forward to it being intermissionless and was very disappointed when the lights came up.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 1:52am

People see 2+ hour movies and don't piss. If I had a small bladder, incontinence issues or whatever and I was going to see an intermission-less show, I'd really just wear an adult diaper and go to town-isn't that what they were made for?

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 1:57am

It even ruins the transition to Loveland.

Well, I wouldn't go that far. It certainly affects the big buildup to the transition, but I don't think it ruins it.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:18am

I wonder if the intermission would function better earlier in the evening. I know they futzed with it a lot during the original production (notably, if I remember correctly, bringing the curtain down after "Who's That Woman?", and raising it a few bars back into the song). The issue is that Follies is designed as a sort of gradual descent, Loveland being the ultimate destination, and removing the audience from the hazy world of the party on-stage as late as "Too Many Mornings" doesn't allow enough time to reset the mood. Somebody suggested once the intermission should begin with "Bolero d'Amour", which is probably a good idea, both for finding an appropriate place for it and for reintroducing the mood.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:45am

Chronic non infectious cystis
Insufficient levels of estrogen in post-menopausal women, resulting in thinning of the lining (i.e., the mucous membranes) and an increase in sensitivity of the vagina and the urethra (the tube leading from the bladder to the outside of the body)
SIZE OF THE BLADDER HAS LITTLE OR NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!!

And I'm not quite ready for Depends, thank you all so kindly.
So 'll just eliminate(sic) this show from consideration.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 3:10am

Also, to those suggesting that people can watch a three hour film with no intermission, remember that it's much easier to leave a cinema to go to the bathroom than it is to leave a theatre.

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 5:11am

True, but still doesn't justify having one just because of what the audience bladders might feel like.

I still think intermission is a way to make money off booze and souvenirs. Besides, the logistics of everyone getting out and back again are a nightmare. Just learn to pee before.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 1:14pm

I have seen A Chorus Line, Spelling Bee, and Follies done with intermissions. The only one of the three that I thought doesn't work with an intermission is Follies. None of the three really have intermissions for the show's structure, so I would probably enjoy them more without intermissions, but it worked ok in those two shows. In A Chorus Line, placing the intermission after the Montage has the obvious point of ending with the audience cheering, but it also leaves the audience with the end of adolescence/losing their youthful innocence, so you're asking what happens next, if that makes sense. Also, after the intermission, you're refreshed and quite attentive for Paul's Monologue and Music and the Mirror (or at least I think this audience was more than they probably would have been, had there been no intermission). I really can't justify having an intermission anywhere in Spelling Bee, but it just doesn't have any negative effect on my enjoyment. It was my first time seeing the show, and maybe it just became my expectation, but seeing other productions without intermissions made it feel quite long.

Follies does lose a lot from having an intermission. Follies is so atmospheric that being drawn away from it. What I really love about Follies without an intermission is how it goes from the peaceful Too Many Mornings to Buddy's quickly escalating anger that builds into The Right Girl--that sudden change of emotion in the scene is just thrilling. With an intermission, the curtain goes up and what took a minute to completely change dynamic took another 15 minutes. Of course, you also have the whole descent into Loveland thing that works best without an intermission. And the fact that there's no really great spot to put the intermission.

[bk]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 1:54pm

We live in a liquid society. People cannot be without their water bottles or Starbucks or whatever for more than five minutes. I've never seen anything like it. It's no wonder they have to pee every ten minutes.

Somehow entire generations got along fine without guzzling gallons of liquid eighteen hours a day.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:34pm

Yeah, but they got away with keeping people as slaves, too.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:43pm

So we abolished slaves and suddenly got thirsty?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:45pm

I just pointing out that just because entire generations before us did something doesn't necessarily make them superior.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:47pm

I didn't get that he meant they were "superior," just that they survived without having to hydrate every five minutes.

On the other hand, look at their average life expectancy ...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:48pm

They need to extra hydration because they are doing extra work since the slaves aren't doing them anymore. Duh!

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:54pm

But that's what the illegal aliens are for!

[bk]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 2:56pm

Dear Phyllis Rogers Stone:

You are too obtuse for even me.

Could I leave you? Yes. Will I leave you? Will I leave you?

Guess.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 3:07pm

See ya!