"Follies" Questions- Page 3

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 7:57pm

Heidi "One More Kiss"

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 7:59pm

and finally replacement Carlotta Eartha Kitt (Her I'm Still Here is on youtube)

[ahmelie]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 8:03pm

Great pictures!

There are also some fantastic Follies videos on bluegobo.com

[Boq101]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 8:20pm

One More Kiss is amazing, I love that song to death

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 8:24pm

Yeah I can't believe original album producer Dick Jones (though to his credit he did try to push Capitol to make it a 2 album release--man I wish Hal wasn't mad at Columbia though as they definetly would have given it two discs) thought so little of One More Kiss that it was the first song he suggested be cut from the album. Sondheim got so mad he insisted it be recorded and thankfully it was added to the CD release--to me it's a perfect 2 minute encapsulation of the very theme of Follies
Updated On: 6/3/07 at 08:24 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 8:45pm

I agree, Eric. I love "One More Kiss," it pretty much summarizes the major theme in FOLLIES: "never look back, never look back." I mean, how could they have thought that cutting this song from the recording would be a good idea?

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 10:12pm

I've never read the London script, but I do have a bootleg version of the show. After reading about how the book was entirely re-written and how only one or two lines of the original were kept, it turns out that most of them were just re-worded. For no real reason.

In the end it's like having your favorite candy bar come in both dark and milk chocolate.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 11:57pm

I'm glad that a lot of others have expressed some adoration for "One More Kiss." I know that a year or so ago on some of those old "Least Favorite Song" threads, a few people actually had listed that! I agree completely with those who say it does capture in such a gorgeous number, the theme of Follies, as well as a simple and yet effective use of the Old/Young characters simultaneously. Aside from the 1987 London recording, I've yet to hear a rendition that I dislike of it.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 12:33am

What do you dislike aboutits performance on the 1987?

[me2]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 11:57am

Great pictures, EricMontreal! Thanks, also, for bookmarking my blog.

Re: The Revival

Like I said, I walked in completely unknowledgeable of the show. You could be right, but I was just so breathless from the concept of the show and the music that I didn't really know what to look for in the sets. I guess it was a blessing because I left in awe rather than disappointed.
Broadway Blog: A (Hopefully) Intelligent Discussion of Broadway

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 12:39pm

I do like the song "One More Kiss" and all it says, but I do think it's a song that's easily plucked out. I can see why it wouldn't have been included on the original album when pressed for time. I've always loved the line "All things beautiful must die," which I always thought tied in nicely with the line (from "Beautiful Girls") "Beauty can't be hindered from taking its toll."

[fgreene1938]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 12:50pm

Sally didn't try to kill herself at the party, but we learn that she tried in the past. Originally, the show ran without an intermission. Now, the break comes right after "Too Many Mornings." This is how the City Center Encores! production was performed, but everything else was as close to the original as possible....and it was SPECTACULAR!!!

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/4/07 at 12:57pm

but we learn that she tried in the past.

In the current script, all references to Sally attempting suicide are removed.

[me2]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 8:18pm

Wow . . . It took forever to find this thread again. I finally did it. It took me FOREVER and stretched over several weeks, but I posted my blog entry on FOLLIES.
Broadway Blog: The Road They Didn’t Take (Fixing Follies)

[C is for Company]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 9:03pm

What a read! And thanks for this bump too!

The one thing I read that I could possibly respond to is the 42nd Street/Follies girls show with Ben as the questionable lead. Although structurally it may seem as if he is the pivotal character to which all of the spokes on the wheel orbit around, the ladies are the ones who steal the show in that typical spectacular fashion.

I agree about the fastidious "resolve" that never really adds up to what we have just seen. However, in the original script there are significantly different endings for the characters. The 2001 revival holds the title of the worst ending in my opinion, of all the versions I have been exposed to. The original held a great deal of promise in regards to Ben and Phyllis and left much questioning into the future of Sally. However, there is a conclusion there in that there's no Ben for Sally, not now- not ever.

I loved the choreographic solutions proposed as well, except I think the point about wanting such closure doesn't fit the ominous mood of the musical itself. All night long, there are these fantasies of the past and this lurking feeling that really lingers in the atmosphere. To brighten it up with a clear-cut ending defies what a lot of the piece has already presented and thus not fit with the show. Plus, with the original ending and all that has occurred in it, the younger counterparts contribute to one of the most chilling, wonderful conclusions of any musical How can you sacrifice that!?

I really loved the last paragraph in the "Problems" section. Very smart ideas you presented and I wholly think you are on the mark with them. An overall fun scenario you have presented, very fresh and enjoyable to read.

Updated On: 6/27/07 at 09:03 PM

[me2]

Posted: 6/28/07 at 1:31pm

Thanks for your input! I so wish I had the original libretto. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I libretto shop wherever I can, so I'm sure I'll find it someday.

Thanks for reading. It was a fun exercise to see what I could do with it. After all that work, I'm glad people are reading it.
Broadway Blog: Fixing Follies

[Sondheim Geek]

Posted: 6/28/07 at 1:34pm

Eric - LOVE those pictures!

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 6/28/07 at 5:36pm

I am impressed with all the scholarly input by so many people, especially EricMontreal. You people know this show inside out and upside down, like I know GYPSY, having seen it so many times with different casts.

I just want to say that I saw FOLLIES in London in 1987, knowing nothing about it except for its high reputation. It is the only production that I have ever seen and I loved it. The leads were sensational: Diana Rigg and Daniel Massey, Julia McKenzie and Dennis Healey, and Dolores Gray. The production values were very high, with magnificent sets and costumes, excellent choreography, and a first rate pit orchestra. I also remember that the sound design was particularly good, with no distortion or over miking(which can drive me crazy). I don't remember all of the details that you posters know by heart. I just know that it was a terrific afternoon at the theatre.

Incidentally, I spoke to Dennis Healey when he was appearing in a play at the old Roundabout Theatre and mentioned how much I loved the London FOLLIES. He told me that there had been plans to bring the production to Broadway, but that Frank Rich, then powerful critic for the NY Times, had reviewed the London FOLLIES very negatively and the producers were afraid that he would damage any NY production that was attempted. That is so sad. The power of the NY Times drama critic continues today.

[suttonfoster]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 7:06pm

I have some questions- at the end of the show, why does sally go back with buddy. i mean obviously she doesn't love him and she can't have ben but why does she go back and why does phyllis stick with ben after what he did? can someone also explain the last four songs??

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 7:14pm

The last 6 songs are LOVELAND. A Ziegfield extravaganza where the lead character express their "folly"/issue in a follies styled number! Essentially, it is the nervous breakdown of the four lead characters. Brilliance.

Updated On: 8/12/11 at 07:14 PM

[suttonfoster]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 7:22pm

but why do they stay with eachother in the end? also, can you explain each follies number? i don't really understand them. and is sally mentally unstable?

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 7:30pm

I don't know which version you mean. I mostly know the original, and doctoral dissertations have been written trying to answer your questions.

But in brief, the last four songs represent each of the leading characters finally recognizing the "folly" of his or her life.

Buddy only wants the girl who doesn't want him.

Sally has spent her life mooning over her first love (Ben).

Phyllis is torn between her working class origins and the sophisticate she has become. She is struck with "buyer's remorse", to oversimplify, as her middle-aged existence may be the envy of others, but it feels less alive to her.

Ben's song is a lie and represents the lies he tells himself. He is exactly the man his song says he isn't. He has never learned to "live, laugh and love." Under the pressure of the evening, however, he can't maintain the masquerade and breaks under the stress.

It's also significant that all four are "performing," as part of the problem of each is the "performance" they have chosen in real life.

Ben's breakdown is the equivalent of a psychiatric "break through" and the quiet ending is his (and our) moment of catharsis. What I took from that moment was that when all was said and done, Ben reached out to Phyllis--and Phyllis reached back.

Sally turns to Buddy because he is her only option. Which is precisely what she did in the past. (IIRC, the original implies that when they were young, Ben got her pregnant and walked away with Phyllis, Sally tried to commit suicide and Buddy stepped in to pick up the pieces. I always assumed that the eldest of Sally and Buddy's children was really sired by Ben; either that or she lost Ben's child in the suicide attempt. It's been 40 years.)

But because Sally and Buddy are merely doing what they'd done before, their ending seems less hopeful than that of Ben and Phyllis. Seeing the show, I had no doubt that Ben and Phyllis were at the beginning of a new relationship, one based more on honesty, but that they both had realized how much they loved one another.

Why do Ben and Phyllis stay together in the end? Because they have always loved each other and because each understands the other better than anyone else. And what's more, the"juicy Lucy" or "underneath" part of Phyllis is exactly what Ben needs to learn how to live.

***

Oh, and since this is my first post in this thread, I want to add that while I have seen a few productions of Follies since 1971, I don't know all the revised versions.

But I never understood why critics insisted Goldman's book was a problem. I thought it was brilliant.

Updated On: 8/12/11 at 07:30 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 7:33pm

In short

Buddy's Blues: Buddy really loves Sally, not Margie. But Sally gives him nothing in return.
Losing My Mind: Sally is losing her mind over her love for Ben.
Lucy and Jessie: Phyllis cannot find a happy medium between her younger self and who she has become.
Live, Laugh, Love: Ben can't love anyone, not even himself.

Yes, Sally is mentally unstable.

There is hope for Phyllis and Ben, it seems like they will try to work things out. Sally will return to her unhappy life in Phoenix, with Buddy. Things are less hopeful for them, but where else can Sally go? She admits that there is no Ben for her in her life. Buddy takes care her, so she's not going to stay in New York and become homeless.

Updated On: 8/12/11 at 07:33 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 7:35pm

Wow, great post, Gaveston2.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/12/11 at 7:41pm

Thanks, but you said the same thing in far fewer words.

I think we might also add the issue of social economic class. (Just like an American, I avoided the issue in my post.)

One of the things that was palpable throughout the evening was that each couple actually married the right person. It was their "folly" not to know it.

And a big part of that had to do with class. In the past, Ben was having a secret affair with Sally, but married Phyllis at least in part because she was as ambitious as he. They became like the "Kennedys" together.

Sally really does belong with Ben in Phoenix; they are classic American middle-class types. (But of course she can't let go of "what might have been.")