FOLLIES - The Intermission is Back- Page 5

[justoldbill]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 11:07am

They're not acting like zanies at the theatre. They're acting like zanies in a chat room. That's different. And, I think, allowable.

[bk]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 11:40am

Apparently you haven't been to the theatre lately. When I attended Follies and Catch Me If You Can a few weeks ago, both audiences were filled with screaming, whooping "zanies" - it was so irritating. You cannot not know what I'm talking about or perhaps you enjoy being obtuse and convoluting someone's words, which I think are more than clear. I'm talking about loud, unnecessary, disruptive AUDIENCE behavior at musicals, where everyone is intent on making sure they're screaming and cheering louder than the next person. One idiot at Follies tried to lead a standing ovation after Who's That Woman - ONE guy stood up - what a jerk. And I must say, he was a middle-aged man who should know better.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 11:46am

One friend recently asked why "Loveland" looked like it was taking place in Satan's intestines. Another friend remarked that it was the show's Spooky Mormon Hell Dream.

Only in New York, kids, only in New York.



Martha: (to George) "Abstruce. In the sense of recondite. Don't tell me words."

Updated On: 9/2/11 at 11:46 AM

[HBP]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 12:28pm

wow. why does everyone always at each other's throats on this board? tranquilos.

on topic: has the intermission been back all week? the last comment was from tuesday. thanks.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 1:13pm

"You cannot not know what I'm talking about ..."

Bruce, how can you not know that not everybody experiences and reacts to things in the exact same way you do?

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 1:51pm

"Buddy walks in on them."

So THATS what Schaeffer meant, AC126748...Buddy never walked in during the DC production, it just ended with the beautiful last note of Too Many Mornings. thank you. Can't wait to see this. Updated On: 9/2/11 at 01:51 PM

[justoldbill]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 2:02pm

I seem to recall that in Washington, Buddy did come onstage to see Ben and Sally embracing at the end of "Too Many Mornings", at least the night I saw it.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 2:08pm

I was at last Friday's performance -- the intermission was back and Buddy did see Ben canoodling with Sally. With or without an intermission, Follies is a fairly long show, but I can't think of any place else that would make for an appropriate break. Just after I'm Still Here? It's a lose-lose situation. And warts and all, it's still a masterpiece.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 2:11pm

Abstruse.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 2:20pm

Buddy definitely walked in at the end of Act 1 (both young and adult Buddy) when I saw it in DC, and I was under the impression that it was like that the entire run. Could be mistaken, though.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 2:25pm

I thought I remembered it that way from DC as well. It's certainly scripted that way.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 4:13pm

Buddy (and Young Buddy) definitely walked in on Ben and Sally in DC. I made sure to check, as it's one of my favorite moments in the show. It's definitely in the stage directions of at least one of the scripts.

The only thing that might be slightly different for Broadway is: on the final chord, the lights go down, and only Buddy is lit in a spotlight. I don't remember that in DC, and it really looks great.

The scene leading into the song has been restaged; it now takes place on stage left. Also, Ron and Bernadette are more passionate than ever now, they do more kissing during the brief pause before the final verse. And I still love how Ron passionately kisses Bernadette after she says "If you don't kiss me, I think I'm gonna die." I've never seen that in any other production.
Updated On: 9/2/11 at 04:13 PM

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 4:51pm

OK - sorry, I guess I must have missed that part about Ben coming on and interrupting at the end of act 1 in DC, as my attention was so stuck on Raines and Peters at that moment.

the spotlight must be the new part. That must look great.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 5:00pm

Where do old people go to the bathroom? Depends.

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 5:55pm

Just finished watching a video from DC and Buddy 100% walks onstage from the upstage door at the end of Too Many Mornings.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 5:58pm

^ Yup! It's like that on my video too. If Buddy did not walk on and see Sally and Ben, the Act 1 finale would not have the "punch" it needs.

[bk]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 1:46am

"Bruce, how can you not know that not everybody experiences and reacts to things in the exact same way you do?"

Because on this very board many people have posted the exact same thoughts, and if one is being clear in what they are saying and another is purposely convoluting the words and points, then it has nothing to do with reacting the same way I do. Thanks for posting, though - it's always enjoyable.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 6:55am

^ Yup! It's like that on my video too. If Buddy did not walk on and see Sally and Ben, the Act 1 finale would not have the "punch" it needs.

Trouble is, bringing Buddy on to see them for a first-act curtain is hokey. It's old-fashioned, melodrama: "Oh, no! My husband!" "Aha! She IS untrue!"

It turns Follies into soap-opera.

It makes whatever grand-ness the musical had in the first act prior to that seem petty and brings the whole enterprise down to a low level of quality from which it can never bounce back.

The intermission makes Follies MORE like what its detractors feel about it, not less.

Heartbreaking.