#1
Posted: 9/13/11 at 2:51pm
It seems that many of the posters on the FOLLIES thread are basing their opinions on recordings of the show. FOLLIES indeed has a magnificent score.
However, in the original production on Broadway, FOLLIES was boring, dreadful and shockingly sleep inducing.
With all the songs that we have come to know (I'm Still Here, Broadway Baby, etc.), none of them were at all impressionable two weeks into the original Bway run without having heard the songs repeatedly before (we usually fall in love with a Sondheim score after hearing the recording repeatedly.) Anyone I know that was at FOLLIES during the first production, was very disappointed and some would say they hated it. THERE WAS ONLY ONE TRUE SHOWSTOPPER. That was Gene Nelson (who got Tony nominted) doing THE RIGHT GIRL. The choreography and performance were thrilling. Mr. Nelson had to wait quite a while for the applause to subside, we could see him breathing deeply after the workout he just had, before the show continued after his performance of THE RIGHT GIRL. The original production of FOLLIES was done without an intermission and dozens of people left during the performance. I have been told that dozens of people left the show at the Kennedy Center also. I love FOLLIES, because I have fallen in love with the songs from the many recordings. However, there is a good reason FOLLIES did not win the Tony for Best Musical the year it was nominated. It was tedious to sit through and the show was a monumental bore. I was glad when it was over. And yet, when I bought the OCR, like many others, I fell in love with the masterpiece score.
However, in the original production on Broadway, FOLLIES was boring, dreadful and shockingly sleep inducing.
With all the songs that we have come to know (I'm Still Here, Broadway Baby, etc.), none of them were at all impressionable two weeks into the original Bway run without having heard the songs repeatedly before (we usually fall in love with a Sondheim score after hearing the recording repeatedly.) Anyone I know that was at FOLLIES during the first production, was very disappointed and some would say they hated it. THERE WAS ONLY ONE TRUE SHOWSTOPPER. That was Gene Nelson (who got Tony nominted) doing THE RIGHT GIRL. The choreography and performance were thrilling. Mr. Nelson had to wait quite a while for the applause to subside, we could see him breathing deeply after the workout he just had, before the show continued after his performance of THE RIGHT GIRL. The original production of FOLLIES was done without an intermission and dozens of people left during the performance. I have been told that dozens of people left the show at the Kennedy Center also. I love FOLLIES, because I have fallen in love with the songs from the many recordings. However, there is a good reason FOLLIES did not win the Tony for Best Musical the year it was nominated. It was tedious to sit through and the show was a monumental bore. I was glad when it was over. And yet, when I bought the OCR, like many others, I fell in love with the masterpiece score.
"Blow out the candles Robert and make a wish. Want something, want SOMETHING."
