Follies Papermill Production

[TheBalladeer]

Posted: 1/23/04 at 11:09am

Hi,

I just bought this CD, and it is fascinating! Did anyone see this production at Papermill? And if so, did it include the Roscoe/Young Roscoe number? And does anyone know if you can do a production of Follies, or get the rights to a production of Follies that includes these alternate scenes/numbers? Just curious.


Cheers,
The Balladeer

[magruder]

Posted: 1/23/04 at 11:16am

"Bring on the Girls" and those other appendix numbers on the CD were not included in the Paper Mill production. Apart from "Lucy and Jessie" which was replaced by "Ah, But Underneath" in the Paper Mill production and is part of the published and licensed Follies score, I don't think the other songs are available for licensing for a production of Follies. Several of them are published though (and "Who Could Be Blue?"/"Little White House" is just such a pretty duet, I wish more people would sing it).

[tpdc]

Posted: 1/23/04 at 1:42pm

The liscensed version of FOLLIES is now what the Roundabout did. When Signature did this last year, it even used the same orchestrations and arrangements.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/24/04 at 3:50pm

As I recall, this was to have been recorded for PBS but talk of an impending Broadway revival scotched the idea. What I would not give to have a video of this ( or the recent revival ) of this Sondheim classic.. It is a truly landmark musical. In my mind, it is Sondheim's best work. I would trade recordings of ITTW or Sunday in the Park With George for a version of Follies. It is a truly landmark musical & to not have it perserved on video in some form is criminal. Steer clear of the Follies Concert DVD . The songs are chopped up. To hear what was done to "I'm Still Here " was criminal . Better to remember it on CD than to watch the butchered version on DVD

Updated On: 1/24/04 at 03:50 PM

[tpdc]

Posted: 1/24/04 at 5:11pm

As much as I'd love to have FOLLIES on video, I am glad the recent Broadway revival was not preserved. I liked it much better than a lot of people did, but it was the weakest version of the show I've seen. I do wish they had let Polly Bergen do the full version live of I'm Still Here on the Tonys though.

Posted: 1/25/04 at 12:22am

I recall seeing several productions of FOLLIES.

First was the old Equity Library Theatre
Next was Papermill
Most recent was the last Broadway production

It's always being edited but the score holds up extremely well no matter who performs it.

True classic in many ways.

Bulldog

[tpdc]

Posted: 1/25/04 at 12:34am

Bulldog, I agree that FOLLIES is a classic but did you think the book numbers really worked in the Roudabout revival? I thought Betty Garrett, Joan Roberts and especially Polly Bergen landed their numbers but the four leads made the book numbers a chore to sit through (though I thought Danner was superb in the book scenes).

Posted: 1/25/04 at 12:54am

Book scenes didn't work for me either. I didn't like the Roundabout production at all, except for listening to the score live. Blythe was good, Bergen did her numbers very well in my opinion.

The fact is that in my experience nearly all Roundabout productions leave a lot to be desired. Damed bad for the most part. They always get some name talent for sure, but more often than not they just don't know what to do with it. Stars under lousy to mediocore direction. I avoid Roundabout whenever I can help it.

Bulldog

[logan30]

Posted: 1/25/04 at 3:51pm

Producer Roger Berlind wanted to transfer the Paper Mill production to Broadway. Sondheim ok'd the proposal but writer James Goldman loathed the production and nixed the idea. Goldman gave his approval for the Roundabout production but died before the show opened. One can't help but wonder if he would have thought the Roundabout did a better job than Paper Mill.

[magruder]

Posted: 1/25/04 at 4:11pm

James Goldman didn't loathe the production at Paper Mill. In fact, he worked directly on it, revising his book. The road block was placed by Goldman's wife, Bobby, who controls the rights for her husband's works, and had promised the New York rights to Roundabout.