Follies will it transfer?

[AnythingGoes2]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 5:51pm

Any rumours flying?

[Johnnycantdecide]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 5:56pm

I have not heard anything, but I sure hope it does!
Updated On: 6/1/11 at 05:56 PM

[binau]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 6:37pm

How strong were Ragtime's sales at the Kennedy Center?

I mean, Follies appears to have sold/be selling well, but if Ragtime was the same then I guess this is not going to convince producers that the sales will predict sales in NY..

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 6:42pm

To compare Ragtime and Follies is hard though. Follies has some big names attached to it, where Ragtime was pretty much riding on the name of the show and word of mouth.

[binau]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 6:44pm

That's quite true (probably such a relevant difference that the comparison is almost meaningless, since 'stars' are so important on Broadway).

I would be interested to know anyway though if Ragtime was as popular at the Kennedy Center as Follies is..

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 6:50pm

Does the set for this show require a big theatre? I could see this doing better in a smaller house, but from what I have read the set goes out into the audience and everything.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 6:59pm

If I remember correctly, Ragtime sold out its run at the Kennedy Center, or very close to it. Follies is doing well there, obviously, and has a bit of better name recognition for selling tickets, but concerns brought up on the other thread about there having been a recent revival already and this being a hard sell for Broadway, combined with the fact that I think producers will be a little bit cautious of transferring a production out of KC after Ragtime (even though it was popular and was very well received in DC) might make a Follies transfer less likely. That said, I hope it happens.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 7:20pm

RAGTIME
Original Opening: 1998
Original Closing: 2000
Papermill Revival 2005
Revival Opening: 2009

FOLLIES
Papermill Revival: 1998
Roundabout Follies Opening/Closing: 2001
Encores! Concert (4 or 5 nights): 2007
New B'way Revival (IF it happens): 2012

I think it will honestly all depend on if a producer invensts in the show. The timelines are pretty similar (people may be more apt to see Follies over Ragtime because many people have never seen a good production of Follies. It would also help if they added another star to it (another person like Linda Lavin), though Berndadette and Elaine Paige are pretty big (if they stay). Ragtime had no stars in it whatsoever--just a talented cast.

That being said, I really do hope Follies transfers! It was a brilliant production and it, at the very least, deserves a good cast recording to preserve it.
Updated On: 6/1/11 at 07:20 PM

[pinoyidol2006]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 9:37pm

Well, since Ragtime didn't do so hot on Broadway, we can't expect that producers will transfer Follies just because Ragtime did.

Nevertheless, I feel that the Follies cast might just make a transfer profitable (hopefully). However, all I really want is to have a cast recording with Bernadette Peters singing "Losing My Mind".

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 10:03pm

How much will the Ragtime precedent play a part? As mentioned it was essentially 'star-less", and while Ragtime is a great show, it's not the faous piece Follies (well to musical theatre nuts) is nor does it have Sondheim's name. OK, I know, I know that Sondheim is hardly a big draw for the average person going to see a show in New York, but...

(That said, I can imagine the non success of the recent, fairly miserable, Roundabout revival might play a bigger part...)

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 10:18pm

Follies will certainly need a large theater. The show has a 40 person cast and 30 piece orchestra.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 10:24pm

Someone is posting on ATC that it will not transfer.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1979095

Bernadette seems determine to play this role on Broadway. I assume Bernadette will do what she can, even if that means finding a new production. She was rumored to be interested in also doing Nunn's London production, but her involvement fell through.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 10:32pm

They would use a smaller orchestra, I imagine? Isn't Nunn's production supposed to be a smaller one as he's been doing? Maybe that will transfer instead...

[Brick]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 10:49pm

And with knowledge of a smaller production, I doubt a producer would jump at this one.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 10:52pm

As far as I know, It has never been publicly stated that Nunn's production will be smaller.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 10:54pm

I'm very glad that I'm seeing this in DC if this news is true. To paraphrase Noel Coward a bit here, why do the wrong productions of Follies play Broadway, while the right productions stay in DC? (or Papermill/Encores, as it were...)

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 11:19pm

As far as I know, It has never been publicly stated that Nunn's production will be smaller.

He's keeping it a secret?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 11:27pm

In addition to Trevor Nunn's production at the Haymarket (which is a theatre about the size of the Eisenhower in DC, if not bigger) there is also Gary Griffith's production in the fall at Chicago Shakespeare Festival and a rumored possible production next year in Paris. I'd like to hope that at least one of these stagings will be more visionary than Schaeffer's production in DC and will ultimately be more worthy of coming into NYC.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 11:29pm

But isn't the Nunn production going to be at the Theatre Royal Haymarket? That's a pretty small theatre - about the size of the Lyceum in New York.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 11:36pm

I would say the Haymarket is about the same size as the Eisenhower in DC. They are both intimate houses for a show of FOLLIES size and scope

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 11:46pm

So, I should probably get to DC? I've never seen Follies, but I def want to, but I can't really afford a huge expensive ticket.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 11:47pm

Well are you closer to Chicago? Gary Griffith's production might be better and its apparently going to be just as lavish.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 11:54pm

But will it have Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein, and Elaine Paige?

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 11:55pm

Or Regine...

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 6/1/11 at 11:59pm

Exactly. And while I enjoyed getting to see all those people you mention in the DC production, for my money only Jan Maxwell was truly 'ideal' for her role.

Honestly, Shaeffer's production only proved to me that way too much emphasis is placed on star casting whenever FOLLIES is produced (half of whom inevitably end up being in some way miscast) when clearly the real issue is having a director with a real vision for the material at the helm. To me that is the major shortcoming of the DC production of FOLLIES. I'm not sure Griffiths (or Nunn) will be that visionary, but if they were I'd be much more interested in seeing their productions even if they had lesser names than the DC staging.
Updated On: 6/2/11 at 11:59 PM