Follies Bway Transfer Update - Will They Take The St. James? — Page 2

^ I'm almost certain the original "happy" London production of FOLLIES was a success.

The last revival on Broadway was 2001. It's been 6 years. Very quick, but not as quick as Les Mis, which was only 3 years.

^ Yeah. But people also never thought Encores! would do follies.

So I think anything is possible, or should I say everything is possible. Pun intended.

but if you have no expectation, you can never have a disappointment.

- One of my favorite Sondheim lyrics. And you're right, it relates wonderfully to this topic.

Updated On: 2/14/07 at 08:51 PM

Though I don't think she (or any actress of her generation) could do anything as brilliant as what she did with Fosca, her Phyllis was superb in every way possible. I don't have enough words to rave about her performance.

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The Weisslers pay their leads big money.

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"Also I'm pretty sure that bringing back a show that played for 16 years only 3 years after it closes is A LOT different than a show playing for less than 2 years in 1971 and less than a year in 2001."

You're right, it makes more sense to bring back a hugely successful show than one that has flopped twice (the last time only 6 years ago).

"I'm almost certain the original "happy" London production of FOLLIES was a success."

The London production opened July 1987 and closed 7 months later, more quickly than the original Broadway production.

If this concert version does transfer, then it is possible it could do fairly well as Follies has always worked better in concert since people only attend to hear the score and not the book, which is entirely understandable.

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What I said about the Les Miserables and Follies runs could be interpreted to mean that it is more financially sound to produce a 21 year strong success worldwide than a 2-time flop in America, which I very much agree with.

However, I meant it more along the vein of, "Why bring back something that has played for that long when there is so much that could be seen of Follies?" I am very aware that it has about a 99% chance of never seeing a profit, but obviously as a fan I'd take whatever I could get just to see that over something that has had its glory.

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I would love to see this happen but i think Polly bergen
should come back to play carlotta she did a terrific job in the
roundabout production and more or less I agree with Elaine s
Strich's theory about who should be singing the song, no offense
Polly .

"FOLLIES can't play at the St. James, because Christine Baranski is opening there in MAME. Right after the productions of HAIR and BYE BYE BIRDIE from Encores open."

Mame needed that revival. So do Birdie and Hair.

"Would Mel Brooks give up the St. James for the transition period between The Producers and Young Frankenstein which is only a couple of months. Not likely."

Sadly.

Re-open the Hellinger. Rename, refresh, and reopen the beloved and underused theatre.

Broadway needs more theatres to hold more shows = more money and more long runs. Here's an idea for the Weisslers:

When, you want to open a show, buy the Hellingerand put in a revival and have it run for about a year and not worry about doing short runs between shows.

Isn't it a 10 year lease?

Just don't let it be renewed.

I actually liked Baranski during the book scenes, she just didn't get "I'm Still Here" and didn't have the voice to sing it either. However, she was age appropriate for the role.

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