FOLLIES performed with no intermission tonight!- Page 3

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 2:52pm

Intermission or no, I've always found that if I use the restroom at the restaurant or hotel room just before leaving and then use it again when arriving at the theatre, I'm usually safe. I got through the two acts (as done in the Spacey revival) of Iceman Cometh without any undue stress and if you can make through that play, you can make it through anything. (PS: Iceman is one of my favorite plays -- just commenting on the call of nature.)

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 3:00pm

YES!! I saw it at the KC and loved Act 1 but I felt like the actors were all pushing uphill during Act 2, because there really is no ideal place to put the intermission.

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 3:08pm

good to know that FINALLY that was the fix to make the cult classic work, no break for the weary.

[redmustang]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 4:37pm

I haven't seen it yet, but I hope it stays intermissionless. Knowing this, just drink a little less for dinner. What's the big deal?

[dreaming]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 4:43pm

I really want it left that way. I saw it with the intermission and it was fine, but now I want to return and see it without and get the flow of the piece.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 6:50pm

I was at today's matinee, and it is still intermissionless. And rightfully so. I think that's one of the reasons I loved it even more than in DC, as well as because it fits so well in the Marquis, everyone, especially Bernadette, seem much more settled in their roles, and the few bits of new casting help. To that end, Houdyshell and Peil are both wonderful, the montage worked beautifully. I found Lucy and Jessie much more satisfying than in DC. As I said, I think Bernadette has really grown, and has finally found Sally. I think her performance is finally equal to Maxwell's. Loved the show intermissionless, and totally see why it should be that way. The build works far better. Perhaps the better view (last row balcony in DC vs 9th row center, right in front of Eric Schaeffer!) helped me love it more, but I feel like this production is finally whee it needs to be.

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 8:29pm

I saw the original production without an intermission and the audience seemed less than pleased. People were getting up and coming back thoughout the Loveland sequence, which was a distraction to everyone else, and really disupted the mood of what was happening on stage.

So if the show can't hold an audience without an intermision, and doesn't work with one, the only solution would have been/would be to make it shorter. On another thread, I suggested cutting Loveland entirely. Failing that, one could do without several unnecessary/redundant songs like Rain on the Roof/ Ah Paris/ Broadway Baby, One Last Kiss, Don't Look at Me, The Road You Didn't Take, and The Right Girl. The last is so awful it should be cut with or without an intermission.

[binau]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 8:35pm

I can't believe you'd want to cut Loveland (i.e. Loveland, Buddy's Blues, Losing My Mind, Lucy and Jesse and Live Laugh Love?) or One Last Kiss, The Right Girl and The Road You Didn't take. What do you think this show is about :S?

Updated On: 8/24/11 at 08:35 PM

[charlesjguiteau]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 8:37pm

Wow, after eight, you're really of the scorched-earth school of thinking, aren't you? Cut Broadway Baby, One Last Kiss, The Road You Didn't Take et al, and what's the point of doing the show in the first place? And The Right Girl has an incredibly beautiful middle section (Hey Margie...) that I'd hate to lose, no matter how insistent my bladder may get. If all you want is a string of blockbusters you'll have a very monotonous evening, dontcha think?

(Though I kinda sorta agree with you about Rain on the Roof...)
Updated On: 8/24/11 at 08:37 PM

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 8:48pm

You don't need to cut them all, cut a few of them. Think of the overall good of the show, how too many songs that really add little protract a show's running time, and wear out an audience's attention.


As for the Hey, Margie part of The Right Girl, I can't stand that! I cringe every time I hear it. Poor Margie! Updated On: 8/24/11 at 08:48 PM

[zepka102]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 10:55pm

Saw it this afternoon, and as someone who wasn't familiar with the show prior, I feel mixed about the no-intermission decision. I don't think I would have lost anything with that break there, but it does keep you in the right state of mind for the remainder of the show. Excellent production, though.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 11:40pm

Saw the show tonight (for the fourth time) and it really works without an intermission. I was so pleased. You are just so engrossed in the story by that point, that it makes sense to continue on rather than have a break in the action.

This show continues to astound and mezmorize me. I love every single second of it. The cast is perfect and the audience seemed very responsive tonight. I am truly in awe of how amazing Bernadette's Sally is - she is a true star and I cannot say enough positive things about her. I hope she is still working on Broadway for the next 20 years.

...and she graciously signed my window card of LA STRADA tonight...will be going to the frame store tomorrow!!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 11:44pm

Glad you finally experienced it, Zepka!

And I'm glad you saw it without the intermission. Now watch these and imagine me at 15, transfixed by unbelievable stage magic:

Who's That Woman (1971)
http://youtu.be/nhQeVQ6677A

Lucy/Jessie (1971)
http://youtu.be/AmexU4Qd0HM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 11:48pm

And WAT--you've seen it four times! You're going to surpass my 6 times with the original!

And don't you get deeper things each time?

Have you decided which one you are, deep inside: Sally or Phyllis?

(Or are you Lucy or Jessie? Or Margie! Or Carlotta...or...)

[zepka102]

Posted: 8/24/11 at 11:55pm

Thanks, PalJoey! Wish I could go back in time and see the original cast in person.

Loved watching Lucy and Jessie- I am such a huge Jan fan, so it was cool to see the original there!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 12:03am

Jan is so terrific. I wish we could see her doing the Michael Bennett staging of Lucy/Jessie instead of the Warren Carlyle.

She'd end the show on such a more triumphant note.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 12:09am

Yes, PJ, it is highly likely that I will see this show more than six times. I adore it, and although I do not really associate myself with any of the characters yet, I can certainly see how many can. It will be interesting to see this show again 30 years from now when I'll be approaching 60. I have really enjoyed reading the reactions of all ages to this show.

[Insider2]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 12:30am

Really WAT?

Really?

You've seen the show four times and it has been in previews for what, a couple of weeks?

Wow.

How blessed you must be to have so much disposable income to throw around as we inch ever closer to a double dip recession.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't do whatever you want with your tons of cash. Burn it for all I care. But bragging about it on here is just obnoxious, when many are cutting every corner they can in order to pay for wildly overpriced tickets to shows such as this one, let alone rent, bills, and food. This is not the first, second, third, or fourth time you have done this, which is why I am finally taking issue.

I have never understood why people on this board think that bragging about how many times they have seen a single show makes them look all high and mighty, but they must think that this puts them on some sort of theatre A-List, while the rest of us peasants must save our lowly shillings and hope for whatever seat we can get to see something one single time.

In short, why it is necessary for anyone not involed in the show or psychologically obsessive with it (and WHY) to see Follies four times during previews is absolutely beyond my comprehension......unless of course you are some sort of corporate shill. But you've been on here for years, so that's impossible.......of course.....yes....of course..........of course.

PS - Everyone I heard tonight was b*tching before the show started about the lack of intermission, and the guy next to me warned me that he "wasn't going to make it, so be prepared". What a lovely decision the producers have made. A total lack in an audience's faith to be able to be able to remember where we left off fifteen minutes ago.

Unreal.

Let the flames begin.

Updated On: 8/25/11 at 12:30 AM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 12:37am

Just to set the record straight, I am by no means rich. I make a modest salary, and my monthly expenses are rent, cable/internet and food. I spend ALL of the remainder of my income on going to the theater and purchasing window cards, souvenir programs, cast recordings, and old playbills.

I am by no means bragging about how many times I've seen the show, and I am nowhere near A-List. If my post sounded like I was being "high and mighty," that is not what I was going for. I just want to add to the enthusiasm about this show and hopefully encourage others to go as well. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I really thought your comment was uncalled for.

(and I have seen the show once in DC and three times in previews in NY so far - four total)

[Insider2]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 12:46am

Updated On: 8/25/11 at 12:46 AM

[binau]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 12:52am

Obviously it is unlikely he is paying $130+ 4 times when discounts and rush are available. But even if he is, the intention wasn't to show how much money he is spending (I didn't think of that aspect at all when it was posted), but rather how many times he has experienced the show - if that makes sense?

You kind of just scream of jealousy and to use the word 'disposable income' is kind of condescending when people work hard for their $$$ and can choose what they want to spend it on.

But my main point is the first one, that WithoutATrace's intention wasn't to show how much money he is spending but how many times he has seen the show (which has implications on what kind of attitudes he wants to portray that he has towards the show etc..)...if he has seen it 4 times it means he loves the show, not that he has a lot of money to 'throw around'...

EDIT: obviously with the suspiciously blank post above me, the poster has removed their post..

Updated On: 8/25/11 at 12:52 AM

[HBP]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 12:55am

insider.. you should really tone down the douchiness. it is completely unwarranted. WAT (and others), thanks for your insight. i am really excited to see the show next saturday night! (:

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 1:00am

INSIDER2--Who the HELL do you think you are, sounding off like that?

You don't know ANYTHING about WAT--or about any of us.

Some of us work, long hours, at jobs that are usually far from our dreams, to make enough money so that we can survive--and so that we can buy theater tickets.

Why? Because we LOVE it. Because WE LOVE THEATER. Because theater gives us pleasure. Because it helps us deal with the crap in life, like bad health and unemployment and difficult relationships and problems with parents and problems with jobs and problems with having to live in a world with ASSHOLES LIKE YOU!

Maybe we go to shows over and over again and post about it here because we're obsessed. OKAY? Maybe we go because it fills our empty voids--OKAY?!? But even if those are the reasons, who the F*CK are you to judge us? What the F*CK do you think gives you the right to come onto BROADWAYWORLD (of all places) and judge us for how many times we see shows? Who the F*CK do you think you are? WHO THE F*CK ARE YOU, ANYWAY?

We spend money on tickets that other people spend on clothing, on food, on vacation, on cars, on sports equipment, on rock concerts, on clubs, on bars, on beer and liquor and drugs. Some of us spend money we should be spending on doctors or dentists or therapists maybe...but how we spend the little money we have is NONE OF YOUR F*CKING BUSINESS.

To come on here with your cheap, facile "there are starving children in a double-dip recession" cliche...GIVE ME A F*CKING BREAK.

Do we give to charities to help those who are less fortunate? IT'S NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS IF WE DO OR NOT. But I have a feeling we do more good for the world in a day than a bitter thing like you has done in your nasty lifetime.

I won't even go into how multiple-ticket theatergoers help the economy, because YOU DON'T DESERVE A SERIOUS DISCUSSION--ABOUT ANYTHING.

We all have problems in this bad economy. Many of us, including even WAT possibly, have struggled more than you could possibly have known before you decided to sound off so irresponsibly. BUT WE DON'T OWE YOU AN EXPLANATION.

Your holier-than-thou attitude carries no water around here. Get lost, creepy troll.

We've got important things to talk about.

We're talking about Sondheim.

Updated On: 8/25/11 at 01:00 AM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 1:17am

Thank you, PalJoey, qolbinau and HBP. Appreciate the kind words. Insider2's comments will not discourage me from posting about this show again when I see it a fifth time (all discounted tickets).

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/25/11 at 1:20am

My county ranks in the top 5 nationally in terms of unemployment. We're all unemployed out here and my 44-year-old stepson just had to move back into our guest room.

Sorry to add on, but I thought WithoutATrace was simply expressing his enthusiasm for a work that many of the rest of us already love. Good for him! I couldn't be happier to see him share some of the pleasure Follies has given me. In fact his enjoyment gives me pleasure and it doesn't cost me a dime.

I managed to see Sweeney Todd umpteen times while I was an undergraduate in New York. If one lives there, there are ways to make seeing the shows you love more affordable.

But regardless of ticket price, there will always be somebody somewhere who can't afford dinner. If that means we can't enjoy the theater, then this entire board should be shut down.


Updated On: 8/25/11 at 01:20 AM