Follies on NPR

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Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 12:46am

Oh how I wish I caught the Chicago Production or could make it to NY.
First Listen: 'Follies (New Broadway Cast Recording)'

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 6:33am

This is great! Thank you! Like a moron, I didn't pre-order this.

I wish you could make it up to NY to see the show. It's wonderful!

"I'm the swell swab on the poop deck."

So glad they did this. I've never ever been a fan of this show.. still am not but the recording is well done. I just don't get this thing.

Edit:

So got through the whole thing..urggg never again.. ever... ever...ever... So cured me from wanting to see it live.

Updated On: 11/22/11 at 10:13 AM

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 10:47am

Listening now. The recording sounds great. Very nice sound quality.

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 10:54am

Not my favorite either, Metropolis, by a long shot...but I have to say I enjoyed the Chicago Shakespeare production (in October) better than the one on Broadway (in August). That was a production worth seeing.

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 11:00am

So got through the whole thing..urggg never again.. ever... ever...ever... So cured me from wanting to see it live.

Really? What didn't you like about it?

"I'm the swell swab on the poop deck."

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 11:23am

Well first off I love that half of the whole "Leave you.. leave you.. leave you" song on disk two found its way into Last Midnight of Into the Woods.... (not wanting to start anything.. I'm just saying EVERYONE recycles.) And oh my Lord of the Rings what the f was that gods awful strange 'opera' One More Kiss thing... I thought I was going to have to cage up my dog. So aside form some of the more cringe worthy lyrics in the talking/singing part I just found to much of the score to be one note. Sure there are a few good torch songs but a bunch of the score sounds a bit Company warmed over. It suffers from great songs and then kinda really awful ones.

FOR ME I think the whole divorce, I'm going to marry you right on the spot is far fetched and frankly just down right silly. I know they have loved each other for years..blah..blah..blah... whatever, it just feels a bit weak of a plot point for me. I feel that this show kind of suffers from being just being a bunch of uninteresting fifty somethings whining that they are unhappy... ok... big deal. I think there are much better shows out there that deal with the complexity of relationships without just beating you over the head with characters that if you knew in real life you would want to smack.

Updated On: 11/22/11 at 11:23 AM

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 11:41am

"I think the whole divorce, I'm going to marry you right on the spot is far fetched and frankly just down right silly. I know they have loved each other for years..blah..blah..blah... whatever, it just feels a bit weak of a plot point for me."

That isn't a plot point, Sally is delusional, Ben neither loves her or ever says he is going to marry her. Ben did not love Sally for years, Sally did harbor an intense obsession with Ben.

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 11:51am

Ok, so I loved the production in New York, but will not be buying this. I dislike cast recordings with so much dialogue. I can usually make it through one listening and then it is onto the shelf.

Perhaps I'll cherry pick some tracks if they are available as singles.

I had the same problem with the recent Company recording. Too much dialogue.

#10

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 11:53am

ALittleCareless- ok so WHY should I care?

#11

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 12:02pm

You don't have to care. I was just correcting misconceptions about the plot.

#12

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 12:13pm

Ok, so I loved the production in New York, but will not be buying this. I dislike cast recordings with so much dialogue. I can usually make it through one listening and then it is onto the shelf.

Interesting. I enjoy hearing the dialogue; it sets me up for the next song.

I feel that this show kind of suffers from being just being a bunch of uninteresting fifty somethings whining that they are unhappy... ok... big deal. I think there are much better shows out there that deal with the complexity of relationships without just beating you over the head with characters that if you knew in real life you would want to smack.

It seems as though people either really love, or really hate this show. As has been said by others, it does have a sort of cult following. Although, this production is my first exposure to FOLLIES. I guess I'm part of the cult now

"I'm the swell swab on the poop deck."

#13

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 12:15pm

Conversely, I love dialog on cast albums. I love how much they really give me a feel for the context of the song and the flow of the story.

#14

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 12:21pm

I'm probably in the minority, but I really don't like it. For me, I want to hear the songs and not the dialogue. After a listen or two, I start to get annoyed with the dialogue -- my brain just wants to get to the music.

I just want to listen to the music all the way through without alot of dialogue breaks. It's very disruptive for me.

#15

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 2:09pm

I still don't like Ron Raines in this. He's slightly less wooden then in DC. Too bad we couldn't have had Brent Barrett.

The dialogue makes me remember the performance I just saw which happens to be this past Sunday.

#16

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 3:13pm

Thinking that Sally and Ben are "in love" is just such a fundamental misunderstanding....I mean how would the entire Loveland sequence even make much sense if you thought Ben loved Sally?

I don't know, I still think (as I posted in another thread) that people do not 'get' this show.

Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.

#17

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 3:17pm

I am 3/4 through and enjoying it very much. I love recordings that include dialouge.

Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#18

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 3:42pm

For the record, I "get" the show and still hate it. I think the whole thing is an utter bore with some tuneful songs.

Also, this recording is not good. I am not impressed (even by Jan, whom I loved live).

#19

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 3:50pm

"...cringe worthy lyrics...."?!?!?

Oh, children, please.

#20

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 3:52pm

I've just finished Act One, and I'm loving it so much! I can't wait to get it!

#21

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 3:57pm

"...gods awful strange 'opera' One More Kiss thing..."

Just goes to show ya...I personally think this song is the defining moment in Follies, and the thing I look forward to the most.

I think Follies has a cult following not because it's so phenomenal, but because, of all of Sondheim's shows, it has the most potential to be phenomenal. But it never is. It's a brilliant notion, with brilliant ideas and moments that was just never put together in quite the right way to make it as satisfying as you want it to be...and know it could have been.

Sondheim should have spent less time futzing with those Misner boys and put a little effort into a reworking of this.

Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.

#22

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 4:00pm

Damn, Paige's I'M STILL HERE sounded fabulous. FABULOUS.

And she got all the words right!! (kidding...she got them right when I saw her).

#23

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 4:15pm

artscallion, I'm not assuming the same is true for others, but I know "One Last Kiss" was the song in the original production that was most difficult for me to enjoy. At the time, I had little knowledge of operettas or operas (and let's face it, without an intermission, it's pretty late in the evening for an operetta ballad).

On the other hand, I now find it magnificent and I understand why you find it so central to the show. The problem was my lack of experience, not the song.

#24

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 5:32pm

"I think Follies has a cult following not because it's so phenomenal, but because, of all of Sondheim's shows, it has the most potential to be phenomenal. But it never is. It's a brilliant notion, with brilliant ideas and moments that was just never put together in quite the right way to make it as satisfying as you want it to be...and know it could have been.

Sondheim should have spent less time futzing with those Misner boys and put a little effort into a reworking of this."

I agree with that--at least I feel Follies is a flawed masterpiece, and that will always be part of its allure, but (while I do kinda feel that he spent SO long on Wise Guys/Bounce/Road Show, despite the fact that I've finally started to like Road Show best), I don't agree with your last statement.

He's always been game to work with collaborators on changing Follies, but I feel he thinks he's done the best he can with it and frankly I'm someone who still thinks the original script (even compared to the current one which largely harkens back to it) is still the best, and let's just leave it there. Certainly, I get the feeling Sondheim doesn't feel there's more he can do with it.

And I've ALWAYS loved "One More Kiss" (not so keen on on One Last Kiss from Birdie

) . I'm glad Sondheim insisted they record it for the first cast album even if it didn't fit on the LP release. To me it kinda sums up the show--but I guess even as a kid I did love the operetta style it pastiches. Frankly it's SO short anyway, that I don't think coming 90 or so minutes into the show is too late in the evening for it...

#25

Follies on NPR

Posted: 11/22/11 at 5:34pm

"Ok, so I loved the production in New York, but will not be buying this. I dislike cast recordings with so much dialogue. I can usually make it through one listening and then it is onto the shelf.

Perhaps I'll cherry pick some tracks if they are available as singles.

I had the same problem with the recent Company recording. Too much dialogue."

Sometimes this bothers me too, but in the case of both Company and especially Follies, I feel like we already have decent and/or great recordings that do basically just show off the songs, that I kinda like having this as an alternative. It depends if I want to sit down and sorta relive the show, or just listen to the songs.

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