FOLLIES- National Theatre Live — Page 2

I have to wait until December too. Thanks to everyone able to post impressions.

Too bad about the extreme closeups, which I hated in the Maria Friedman "Merrily We Roll Along." I think camera people are used to thinking of filming along the lines of TV and movies, where so often the extreme close-up is part of the script.

Next to Collins, Staunton was the best Sally I've ever seen (13th or so time). High strung, delusional, angry, all with perfectly human, intelligent acting choices. And, though not sung the best, her "Losing My Mind" worked in spades. Chills!!!

Nobody else rose to the occasion, except Dee as she warmed up. Liked her "Leave You". Again, good acting choices. She started too fast and missed many choice moments in the script. And she is severely let down by a boring, snoozily choreographed Lucy and Jessie.

Quast was barely there and the Buddy was saddled by a particularly unmemorable "The Right Girl".

Maybe it's better live, but the set was particularly ugly and obtrusive. All I remember from the film was a sea of brown and turntables that never stop. Irritating. And Loveland barely registers. All 5 sections.

Worst of all is the horrible sound balancing for the film. For so many songs, the vocals recede so there's very little aural impact.

Choreography is negligent and only filler. And Excuse me? They deleted the "Mirror" in "The Mirror Number". Really? Fine if you replace the idea with something else showstopping. They don't.

Very reminiscent of the Schaeffer Broadway Disaster. Why waste all that time and energy on a snooze. Staunton deserved better.

I thought this was good! It did seem a little brown and flat but I liked the use of the turntable and the variation of the space, particularly bringing in the theater seats and lighting the destroyed seats at the back of the stage. Staunton was terrific, if a little manic, and I mostly liked the rest of the ensemble, though I could barely understand a word of "Ah, Paris!". The semi-loss of the mirror concept in Who's That Woman was a bit of a tragedy, as was scaling down Lucy and Jessie, and it felt like the chaos scene was slightly underplayed, though that may have been a fault of the camerawork. I wasn't too hot on the Loveland set, but I didn't hate it. Still, after all the detail and effort put into the rest of the set, it's a little bit of a slap to just get a couple curtains and some rows of LEDs.



But those mostly amount to a pile of nitpicks - it's likely that no Follies could possibly live up to the magnificent ghost of the original, which looms over every revival. The final moments of Losing My Mind are brilliant, Dee is a razor-sharp Phyllis, and the pacing never flags, which is a small miracle for a show that's so fractured, testy, and intermissionless. It's definitely one of the best of the filmed Sondheim revivals.

Saw the show live at the Olivier three weeks ago and in the cinema last night. Both work well. What you lose in atmosphere not being in the theatre you gain with the intimacy of the cinema version. Also saw details I missed live. Loveland set on screen looks much better than it does in the theatre. Most cast very good except Solange who was awful both times. Imelda Staunton was heartbreaking as Sally. Both In Buddy's Eyes and Losing My Mind were terrific. Glad to see they had replaced the drag Margie and Sally.

About 2:30, no intermission.

I saw the live broadcast in Kew Gardens yesterday at 2:00 PM. I attended the last matinee of the original Prince/Bennett production as an eighth grader on a $2.00 student rush ticket from the stage left box and I was hooked for life. I’ve seen many productions over the years, 1985 Fisher Theater in Detroit, 1987 West End production, 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse, 2001 Roundabout Revival, 2003 Signature Theater, 2005 Barrington Stage, 2007 Encores!, 2011 Kennedy Center. While no production has completely captured the magic and wonder of that Saturday afternoon or demonstrated the same degree of theatrical creativity or genius – a high bar which may never be topped – the new National production came pretty close in the drama and atmosphere department.

I was amazed at how well this director, cast and production team made the original intermission-less script work. Reattaching that center section where the intermission has been placed packed a major punch of continuity. The song “The Right Girl” springing from the scene before was so right and warranted vs being a dance spot for the original Buddy. This production solved the dance issue in that song and deepened the past and present self-relationships like no other production has. The overture/prelude up thru Beautiful Girls sets the style and depth of the staging with the ghosts interacting with their future. The ghosts are used more here than in any production and for me and the filming it was more than welcome – many goose bumps were induced.

I found the filming to be perfection, that may be because of my familiarity with the show but I welcomed the close-ups – it was the one new aspect of this viewing/production – to be closer than even a first row seat could allow. I would like to see this version in person to get the sheer size of it all – something a recording will never provide. I also found the sound to be wonderful, yes the orchestra is fully present but why shouldn’t it be? The score was played beautifully and sounded fantastic – a surprise for these simulcasts.

I was not real familiar with any of the actors and kinda loved that, it added to the realistic tone of the production. I didn’t need to see thru a star or a go-to Broadway player. Phillip Quast as Ben was probably the best Ben I’ve seen since the original. I followed Buddy’s arc as played by Peter Forbes with more sympathy (partly because this production’s Sally gave good cause) than any Buddy before and his two songs were a highlight. Imelda Staunton’s Sally is a work of art if a little too edgy/crusty for my taste. She act/sings the heck out of a bitter take on “Losing My Mind” but I could have used some sweetness to offset Phyllis’ ice coldness. Dorothy Collins and Bernadette Peters had softer personas which showed a naivety that cracked under the heartbreak of delivering that song. I picked up on the heartbreak from Imelda from her first song. It’s a choice that works for this production. Janie Dee played Phyllis a bit frigidly and delivered a great “Could I Leave You”. This Phyllis was more the CEO than a socialite hostess of the 60’s and I was surprised by her dancing elan. Using young Phyllis in “The Story of Lucy & Jessie” was a nice touch.

Of the supporting cameo performances Tracie Bennett’s “I’m Still Here” was breathtaking, every word, every note had meaning. Josephine Barstow was heartbreaking as Heidi, she and Alison Langer gave us a gorgeous “One More Kiss”. I missed a belting voice on “Who’s That Woman” and sense of eccentricity on “Ah Paris”.

Overall the best Follies I have seen in a long time - I remember being especially taken with the 2003 Signature production in their old garage theater space and very disappointed in the Kennedy Center revival that found its way to Broadway. This Follies is filled with textures and depth and the added intimacy of the camera work gave me a perspective and new layer of appreciation for this master work. I will be seeing it several more times over the next few weeks and hope to be able to obtain a copy in the future.

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I adored it.... yes there were minor niggles, likethe constant revolve during the party, Carlotta being slightly OTT and a few other minor things. But superlative.

Finding out Weisman took advantage of the chorus girls took on a whole new meaning this month!

What a glorious review Up In One. I really hope you get to see the show live before the run concludes - to experience not just the scale but also the lingering looks and rounded performances that I can only imagine would escape a taped showing focusing on the action 'in the spotlight'. Not only was Josephine Barstow's "One More Kiss" a heartbreakingly beautiful theatrical coup but her longing, haunting gaze and performance every second she was on stage was magnetic.

I think it's always a privilige to get to see Follies live, whenever a major production is mounted, but for moments like these it's truely an experience to be cherished for life.

In fact this runs 2 hours and 10 minutes, the rest is interviews and trailers before the show starts...

Just saw this, and I found it to be beautiful. Yes, it has a couple of bumps, but it's a truly great production. It's so nice to hear that original script and to see it without the interruption of an intermission.

Some thoughts:
Imelda Staunton is wonderful, as always, but gives us a manic depressive, belty, and unstable Sally as opposed to a sweet voiced, delusional, housewife having a bit of a mid life crisis. Her performance is heartbreaking. The four leads are wonderful, but especially the actor who plays Buddy. He made the role extremely sympathetic and quite likeable. He also sings the role wonderfully.
I loved the costumes and I thought the set was great. The Loveland set actually really resembled an actual Follies set, but I understand the want to have something a bit more extravagant. I just thought it was a first rate production and much better than the cold, lifeless 2011 revival.

I would love to see this move into the Vivian Beaumont after My Fair Lady. I could see this being quite a hit. I wonder if that would be possible.

Exactly. I mean, I’m waiting to see the show live near the end of the run to comment - but I’m puzzled at what seems like inconsistency for how people are responding to Staunton vs Bernadette. Bernadette had the voice - yes she is aging (as is the character, apparently) - but she has the base level needed for the lyrical soprano notes while Staunton does not - yet she gets a free pass? Bernadette probably played the role closer to a ‘manic depressive’ yet was criticised for these choices. Bernadette was criticised for sulking a little through Losing My Mind as if she was playing her character - yet Staunton can bark through it (apparently) and get accolades.

Maybe I’ll get it when I see it. But the same thing happened with her Gypsy - one of the worst sung and yet no one seems to care.

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Updated On: 11/19/17 at 04:21 PM

Why is she wearing green though?