FOLLIES- National Theatre Live — Page 6

Agree 100%. This Hattie really did hit the vocals well each time I saw it live (and the audience ate it up), but did not get the humor out of the song that Houdyshell did.

Updated On: 12/16/17 at 02:54 PM

Interesting to read everyone's responses to the show. I personally was a little disappointed, considering the hype regarding how close it was to the "original show" (which I am really tired of hearing about). I can't help but wonder if the memories of the original 1971 show have become embellished over time. But anyways:

1. Imelda Staunton was absolutely flabbergasting. She was so good, and took over the stage whenever she appeared. I had seen Bernadette a few years ago, and thought she was totally miscast. Imelda, to me, was perfect as slightly addled Phoenix housewife with some dreams and delusions.

2. I thought there were too many ghosts and younger versions of the characters, making the staging busy and sometimes hard to follow.

3. Music was fabulous. I didn't notice the music overpowering the singers, but that is not what I general pay attention to.

4. The actress who played Phyllis did not impress me at first, but really came into her own. In general, I thought the two female leads nailed it.

5. The "breakdowns" of the leads as the show went on just didn't do it for me. I kept thinking, "Oh come on! Suck it up and move on!" But that's the practical Midwestern girl in me.

6. Maybe I would have liked it more if live, I know a huge show like that when filmed can't truly reflect it's greatness. Interestingly, I loved the film of "Falsettos", which I also recently saw, and have watched over and over again. I don't really have any emotional connection to this production.

Are you two finished?

Aww Sweetie

I should of guessed with your copy and paste skills, my undergraduates do that too.

Thankfully my Mphil and Doctorate negates the need to plagiarize. Original content and contribution to the academy and all that jazz.

But you keep keepin’ On, sweetie, you may graduate one day,

I finally saw the screening last night and think it's as fine as Follies as we're liable to see.

But seeing it really allowed me to put my finger on a major issue I have with the piece, particularly today: the fact that I cannot read Sally as being anything other than mentally ill, based on her actions in the show and the information we get from Buddy regarding her behavior at home (with clear manic and depressive episodes as well as erratic and irrational behavior). However, the show treats her problems as equal or comparable to Phyllis, Buddy, and Ben's personal failings. I think this is pretty much just due to the understanding of mental illness in the late 60s and early 70s, when Follies was being written (this also makes whatever mental illness Sally suffers from lack specificity and just become a general sort of crazy). But it throws everything off-balance to me. Phyllis, Buddy, and Ben are capable of a change or realization that Sally is not and this isn't something that show is able to deal with.

Gizmo6 said: "Aww Sweetie

I should of guessed with your copy and paste skills, my undergraduates do that too.

Thankfully my Mphil and Doctorate negates the need to plagiarize. Original content and contribution to the academy and all that jazz.

But you keep keepin’ On, sweetie, you may graduate one day,"



I'll see your doctorate and raise your Mphil with an MFA
and Cphil.

If I'm guilty of cut-and-paste, a man of your claimed
erudition ought to be able to cite the source of my
borrowings.

***

As long as we have brought Brecht into the discussion,
we should note that Sondheim SAYS he hates Brecht
and avoids emulating him in all cases. Me thinks Mr.
Sondheim doth protest too much, as nobody has used
"Brechtian" devices (i.e., elements he made popular,
but didn't invent, as Herr Piscator will gladly tell you)
to greater effect in the American musical theater.

I suppose Sondheim is focussed on Brecht's alleged
polemics, but Brecht himself learned early on that
theater wasn't a good medium for teaching political
doctrine or for inspiring the masses to mount the
battlements. This is why Brecht concentrated on
provoking critical thinking rather than pushing
political dogma--something *I* would argue Sondheim
does as well.

Gizmo6 said: "I should of guessed with your copy and paste skills, my undergraduates do that too."

Really not trying to jump into this, but you really teach undergrads with that grammar?

Kad, I later thought of Blanche as well. She's a much
better example than Lady Macbeth, if only because
Blanche lives in a world with psychoanalysis.

But I can't agree that FOLLIES is "more realistic" or
more specific about Sally than STREETCAR is a-
bout Blanche. The compulsory, self-destructive prom-
iscuity, the compulsive bathing, the hysterical out-
breaks, thinking she's going to somehow marry Mitch
and still avoid being seen in normal lighting, etc., are
all symptoms of something, but what?

Surely Sally isn't the first neurotic who simply refuses
to get help or even accept anything is wrong with her.
Her Follies number is even called "Losing My Mind".

Of course, Phyllis diagnoses herself with a type of
theatrical MPD. Perhaps madness is just a metaphor
in Loveland.

Scripps2 said: "With respect to the performances of the actors playing Solange and Hattie, they were deliberately directed not to make star turns of their songs. Ditto Carlotta and other characters with stand-alone songs."

I totally believe you, but I find that direction odd
in the case of Carlotta. In fact, we know that if a
star hadn't been playing Carlotta, "I'm Still Here"
would never have been written.

To a somewhat lesser extent, the same is true
of "Ah, Paris" and "Broadway Baby". Both
D'Orsay and Shutta had been stars in their
day.

But I have praised the production in previous
posts for the clarity with which it presents the
four principals. Perhaps "taming" the rest of
cast was the price for achieving that focus.

Kad said: "I finally saw the screening last night and think it's as fine as Follies as we're liable to see.

But seeing it really allowed me to put my finger on a major issue I have with the piece, particularly today: the fact that I cannot read Sally as being anything other than mentally ill, based on her actions in the show and the information we get from Buddy regarding her behavior at home (with clear manic and depressive episodes as well as erratic and irrational behavior). However, the show treats her problems as equal or comparable to Phyllis, Buddy, and Ben's personal failings. I think this is pretty much just due to the understanding of mental illness in the late 60s and early 70s, when Follies was being written (this also makes whatever mental illness Sally suffers from lack specificity and just become a general sort of crazy). But it throws everything off-balance to me.Phyllis,Buddy, and Ben are capable of a change or realizationthat Sally is not and thisisn't something that show is able to deal with."



This is interesting. I am going to disagree with you amphatically, but my this may be based on the fact that Dorothy Collins was not an actress. I have seen Follies live 10 or 11 times, 5 with Dorothy Collins. I have not seen Imelda Staunton yet, but by all accounts, she is playing her as over-the-top as she played Mama Rose. Bernadette Peters played her at the very least as a person pretty close to either jumping off or falling off the roof. Her desperation seemed much more extreme than Collins' and McKenzie's interpretstions. I do not remember anything about Judith Ivey's performance or the person at the Papermill, which does not speak well for their performances.

Having seen Julia N. McKenzie twice and Dorothy Collins 5 times, I never once thought they were playing her as someone who would have been termed mentally ill. I though they both played her as someone painfully unhappy with her life. She has deluded herself into believing that she could get Ben back and fix everything up. Unhappy and a little delusional does not translate into mental illness for me; if it does,then I know a few more mentally ill people the I am probably entitled to.

Re Collins' inexperience as an actress, it may be that that 'mental illness' is what the author's were trying for, and that she couldn't pull it off; it may be, as you have suggested, that they didn't understand mental illness and superficialized it.

As written and as performed when I saw it, I felt that she was an incredibly sad / unfulfilled person who had convinced herself she still had a chance for happiness. (I really do remember McKenzie playing the role the same way).

Ironically, I would have said that Sally was not dissimilar to the character of DeeDee played by Shirley MacLaine in The Turning Point. Dissatisfied with the way her life turned out, that she had not stayed to be a ballet star (her delusional counterpart to Sally's Ben), unhappy despite having successfully raised two well-adjusted children. I saw her as very unfulfilled, but not mentally ill. To me, they were practically twin sisters, as written and as performed (by Collins and McKenzie / MacLaine.

I've seen my share of Follies productions dating back to the original as a kid and obviously paid more attention to the details and characterizations as I aged and developed my own relationships. I'm not sure if it was the close ups or the direction for this specific production but I came away from the screenings ( saw it three times with different sets of friends who wanted to see what the hell I've been talking about all these years) with more of a sense of the alcohol talking than mental illness. Why even in her Follies number Sally was attached to a drink. By the last scene Sally can be considered literally soused. Seeing it several times I was very aware of how much drinking was being done.

I loved this production but it by no means captured the original - this production was darker and drearier than any production I've seen. I thought the two male leads were the best paring I've seen but the Phyllis and Sally while very good - not the best I've seen. The Sally brought the tone down a touch below the fine line it should have threaded. She gave away her obsessiveness and depression too soon. The Phyllis had the cadence down but lacked personality - not to mention being saddled with very bad costume choices.

I still dream of an opera scaled production with extras filling in the party scenes and Follies numbers. The opening should have an on stage band, waiters and waitresses scurrying, coat check girls, photographers, all a part of a party to end all parties with imposing six foot tall Follies girls strategically placed. I had hoped this production would cross the pond for Sondheim's 90th in two years but this still isn't "the" production.

Updated On: 12/26/17 at 10:59 PM