FOLLIES recording I'd like to hear... — Page 2

I have in my hands Toni Lamond's second autobio, Still a Gypsy. She lists the cast of that one-night-only, Tony Sheldon-directed FOLLIES but not the roles:

Maggie Fitzgibbon
Jill Perryman
June Salter
Sheila Bradley
Glenda Raymond
Margaret Haggard (replacing an ill Geraldine Morrow)
Nancy Hayes
Leonie Page
Maree Johnston
Sally Clark
Toni Lamond

Reg Livermore
Peter Adams
Lewis Fiander
Jeff Warren
Freddie Parslow
Tony Taylor
Craig Ilott
Tim Rogers

Ross Coleman choreographed and Brian Stacey conducted the Melbourne Symphony.

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"Nothing can. As the legend grows, the show takes on a life of its own. Many people claim to have seen the original production; some say they saw t multiple times. Unless they can prove it with a ticket stub"

I saw the original production but I'm not sure I have the ticket stubs. I do have a lousy recording I made of the show up through the Bolero. While I loved the show, who knew what a legend it would become at that time? So I didn't bother to turn the tape over:)

The next time I saw Follies was a production at Ithaca College in my hometown of Ithaca, NY. We attended the dress rehearsal and a regular performance the following weekend. It was interesting to see college kids playing the older roles. Several months later we ran into the person who played Ben in a downtown Ithaca bar. In discussing the show, he told me that "we had no idea what we were doing."

If I remember correctly, I repeatedly pressed the re-dial button on my telephone for 3 hours and 10 minutes on the day tickets for Follies in Concert went on sale. I got two seats for the Saturday night [2nd] performance. I recall walking past the street behind Avery Fisher Hall on the day before we attended the concert. That red television truck that you can see in the documentary was parked there that day. No one who didn't actually attend the concert can possibly imagine how exciting it was.

I then saw the Paper Mill Playhouse production. It had a lot of good points and it was both sad and wonderful to see Ann Miller again. After that came the Roundabout revival which was a mess for the most part.

The 1987 London production of FOLLIES, the only production that I have ever seen, was to me wonderful. Diana Rigg, Dolores Gray, Daniel Massey, Julia McKenzie, and Dennis Healy were all top notch in my book and the pit orchestra was especially fine. In addition, the sets, lighting and costumes were great. I can't compare it to other productions, but to me it was a thrilling theatrical experience. So, the London cast recording is the one that I like. I have a feeling I am in the minority on this subject.

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^ I wish I could read the revised the script the London production used. I HATE the order of songs they used.

Rath, that night in Melbourne back in 93 at the State theatre was the highlite of my theatre going life ( not even being at opening night of Phantom in New York can top that night )

A who's who of World Class Talent, the lights dimmed and for 2 and half hours magic happened and has yet to be topped.

There was never a recording made, cause Steven asked for it not to be recorded and Tony followed his wishes, which is a pity since i only have memories of that night.

A few years later i had the wonderful chance to work with June Salter on "The Secret Garden" and we spoke often about that night, she listed it as one of the highlites of her career.

That night was the reason theatre happens....Magic

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I do agree about Lee as phyllis in the concert--she seems to be the only one who is paying ANY attention to character in the whole concert

rosscoe, I have only heard amazing things about that performance. It's really too bad it was only one night, and not recorded for posterity.

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As Kringas has heard ad nauseam, I saw the original Broadway production 5 times (in the $2 balcony tickets Hal Prince reserved for students), and I saw the first national tour once (up in Westchester somewhere), and NO I don't have my ticket stubs any more. I really don't care if you believe me or not.

I used to have an original window card too, up on the wall of my teenage bedroom, along with Company and Minnie's Boys and Celebration and Your Own Thing and many minor shows that seemed major to me at the time...all of which got lost or thrown out when my parents moved after I was in college. What can I say? You lose things in life. Isn't that what the show's about? You lose things and then you CHOOSE things. Or is that some other Sondheim show? (Or ALL of them?)

I was 15 and Follies became part of my life, part of who I am, how I view relationships and how I experience and process regret and nostalgia and passion. (Kringas and I were wondering: What is it about 15-year-old-gay boys and Follies? The allure seems to endure.) I dragged friends and relatives to those $2 tickets--and none of them loved it as much as I did, no one seemed as obsessed by it as I was. I would have been so happy if I had been able to log on to a BroadwayWorld and argue about Ethel Shutta vs. Fifi D'Orsay.

Later, after the show closed, when I was in my 20s and I was hopelessly in love, I was Dorothy Collins, leaning against the slantboard, Losing My Mind. When I was brittle and bitchy and breaking up with someone, I was Alexis Smith and WAIT! I was just beginning. When I was faced with big decisions they were the Road I Didn't Take--the words of which seemed so much more profound than Proust or Pound. When I couldn't find the Right Girl (well, Guy), it was because I had the God-Why-Don't-You Blues, but In Buddy's Eyes I was Young and Beautiful. And most of the time, I was a Clever-but-Ever-So-Sad Broadway Baby who was Still Here. Even when it rained, it went pit-pitty-pat, pit-pitty-pat-pitty. I oozed Follies through every pore.

I memorized every tongue-twisting word of The Girls Upstairs and Lucy and Jessie and Love Will See Us Through. They are still engraved in my mind, and I will probably end up in a nursing home someday, drooling and babbling to myself that Lucy wants to be classy and Jessie wants to be Lassie and soul-stirring / bolstering and what-the-hell-was-his-name, you know, the old guy?

I saw the 1985 concert twice--no ticket stubs, again, SORRY--once with a cherished ticket I really couldn't afford and once as the guest of a friend who was working with Great Performances. It was wonderful to see it and hear it again, but where, I wailed, were the ghosts? Where was Boris Aronson's set? Where were Florence Klotz's costumes? Where were those performers who could have been there--for REAL--and who weren't just "still alive" but still great! So what if Carol Burnett was Still Here--she had never been THERE to begin with! She may have been stinko by her pool but not because she'd been called pinko, like Yvonne DeCarlo and the gals of her generation had been.

Where was Ethel Barrymore Colt? Where was Mary McCarty, godamnit!

And where was Michael Bennett's magic?

But I watched the concert, somewhat melancholically, both times, bought the album, bought the CD, the laserdisc, the DVD, the London cast, met Dolores Gray and listened to her stories. I went to the Papermill (which was hard), the Roundabout (which made me ANGRY) and finally decided, that the Follies I loved can never be revived. It's gone, like the ticket stubs and the window card, like Michael Bennett's showgirl ghosts and the Weismann Theater and the rubble of the Roxy and Gloria Swanson.

"Oh dear God," as Sally says, "it is tomorrow."

But you know what? I can't wait to see the Encores Follies. NOT because I think I'll see MY Follies again. I can't wait to see the Encores Follies because I'm going to see YOUR Follies.

And who knows? Maybe YOUR Follies will be good. REALLY good.

I hope so. As Phyllis says, "Hope doesn't grow on trees; we make our own and I am here to tell you it's the hardest thing we'll ever do."

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Updated On: 1/28/07 at 09:02 AM

i know it wasn't very good but i would love to have a recording of the roundabout 2001 production, but that's not possible.

my hope of hopes is that a more complete original 1972 cd will someday magically appear.

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PJ, that I think may have been my most favorite post EVER here. I loved it and may I ask what day you are going to see it at Encores?

Who doesn't enjoy pulling a friend down to sit and chat and use the priceless "Let's dish" line?

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Exactly, PJ!

Lovely post, BTW.

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Re: the Roundabout revival, I was stunned when Blythe Danner was nominated for the Tony when I thought she was the worst of the leads. I found that whole production depressing.

Nothing can ever compare to the original. I know I sound OLD, but what can I say? I AM old.

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