"Follies" pics- Page 3

[lildogs]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 3:03pm

Hey, Gyp, look I brought you flowers...green, red, blue....

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 3:04pm

He's busy giggling, wriggling out of his tights.

[lildogs]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 3:15pm

He's always laughing gaily

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 3:19pm

I'm not a fan of the London recording either. Except, and that is a big EXCEPT, for Julia McKenzie's version of "In Buddy's Eyes." Unbeatable!!

[lildogs]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 3:23pm

I fell in love with her during FRESH/FRENCH FIELDS...hilarious!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 3:26pm

I can't really stand the London cast recording. Though it does include "Country House," which I really wanted Murphy and Garber to sing at the Encores! presentation.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 3:32pm

I don't really care for that song. It just seems out of place in the show, and all the tricky wordplay sort of glosses over the fact that there's nothing to it. "And you can't afford to be bored with your board." Really? Meh.

Please note that this is simply my opintion of the SONG itself and no reflection on how I might feel about those who do enjoy the song.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 3:32pm

Not a fan of McKenzie, Ray? It took a while for me to appreciate her.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 3:41pm

Please note that this is simply my opintion of the SONG itself and no reflection on how I might feel about those who do enjoy the song.

Haha, Phyllis, have I mentioned how much I <3 you?
I actually agree that there is nothing much to the song...okay, Phyllis wants kids we learn that in a simple line of dialogue during her conversation with Buddy, and yes her relationship with Ben is chilly and distant, we learn that...well...throughout the whole show. I just wanted more stuff for Donna to sing at the concert...sad, I know.

Jewishboy, I don't mind McKenzie, but I think she's a poor man's Angela Lansbury/Dorothy Collins/Barbara Cook. I don't see much on her Sally that someone like Collins or Cook or Clark or even Donna McKechnie (whom I don't think is a good actress yet when she is in the right role she can do wonders) didn't improve on. She's good but I don't "get" her.

[lildogs]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:07pm

I'm not a fan of "Country House" either, Matt. And I'm with you on that lyric.

What about the "Lucy and Jessie"/"Ah, But Underneath"/"Uptown, Downtown" debate?

I rate them in that order btw.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:13pm

I for one like "Uptown,Downtown" the best. Followed by "Lucy and Jessie" and then "Ah, But Underneath."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:18pm

My order is the same as Jewishboy's. Uptown and Lucy are practically the same song, in my opinion, but there's something about Uptown that gives it the edge. Ah But Underneath is okay, but I've never liked it as Phyllis's Folly.

[lildogs]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:20pm

The main thing I like about Underneath is that I think it could be staged in a lot of fun ways...like a strip tease...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:24pm

I think that's the only way to stage it.

I realize that in some instances the actress playing Phyllis isn't that great of a dancer, which Ah But Underneath can mitigate, but although the brunt of the lyrics are about becoming what one's man wants to see, I always thought the end line was problematic - "sometimes when the wrappings fall there's nothing underneath at all." Are we to take that to mean that Phyllis is empty inside, when she's just spent two hours showing us how she's not?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:33pm

I would never have taken the time in college to memorize a Pig Latin version of "Ah but Underneath" or Uptown Downtown," no matter what drugs were offered me.

But "Ucy-Lay and Essie-Jay" was unsy-fay!

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:38pm

Dee Hoty did the striptease to "Ah, But Underneath" at Paper Mill, but I didnt like it...I prefer Lucy and Jessie and really like Uptown/Downtown.

[lildogs]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:39pm

Well, I think it's about her duplicity--just like Lucy and Uptown. She keeps one side completely hidden--not terribly theatrical and difficult to play, but that's Sondheim fer ya.

I think the last line is more like "even IF I (Phyllis) revealed my true self, you'd still see an empty person."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:47pm

That does make sense, lil. I just prefer the other songs over it. :)

What about the monstrosity known as "Make the Most of Your Music"?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 4:54pm

Ok, this thread went from gay to Liberace a little too quickly. Now I'm a little bit frightened.

[lildogs]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 5:01pm

Ugh...COMPOSE!!! WTF??

Nothing beats Ben's breakdown in LLL....that scene and Who's That Woman are the ones I'd kill to see from the original production.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 5:07pm

Even with my complete audio of the awful London production, I STILL can't figure out how they get back to reality from the Follies sequence.

[BNN]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 5:14pm

Even watching the video on bluegobo I can't even figure out how they get into that sequence without hurting themselves! Although I have yet to see the original transition but I've heard it enough times to know it ellicits applause!

edit: Ok, that picture was a bit too big, but it still makes me smile.

Updated On: 5/29/08 at 05:14 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 5:46pm

I love that picture too, though I'd love it even more if you could re-size it :)

I love "Ah, But Underneath!" as a stand-alone song, but I see Phyllis' point and I have to agree that it isn't completely right as Phyllis' Folly. As a song in itself though, I prefer it over "Uptown/Downtown." I still think "Lucy and Jessie" is a perfect song, and I love every second of it, there is just something about it that makes me feel excited every time I listen to it.
"Make the Most..." is just...wow, NO! "Live, Laugh, and Love" is perfect, especially with Ben asking the conductor for the lyrics.
Does anyone else wish "It Wasn't Meant to Happen" had remained in the show? I don't know where you could place it though, but it is such a great song, I love Craig Lucas' rendition in the MARRY ME A LITTLE cast recording. I assume it's a song for Sally?

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 5/29/08 at 1:12am

For a while, I was quite the "Lucy and Jessie" purist, "but lately, just lately....." I've been totally feeling the jive from "Uptown, Downtown" much more heavily. The drums sound so big band and even with more wilder undertones in musicality than L&J. Boston sounds as though it was much more drum heavy overall (to an unnecessary point at times), but in any case the actual pastiche has an older sound and even the lyrics reflect more period imagery than "Jessie wants to be Lassie" does. The trumpets still give off that sound in either number, but the spirit of Follies is moving me towards a whole new line of thinking. Quick, get the local Folliology doctor, I'm falling for Hyphenated Harriet fast!

As for "Ah, But Underneath," it still is too coolly sophisticated with Phyllis still hiding something and teasing the audience. The character is so wry as it is, it just doesn't feel like the right fit needed to completely reveal the truth in herself and the troubles she faces the way the other songs can and do in Loveland.

All three are powerful and I love them in separate ways, but in the end there can only be one Nouveau to rule them all...or dressy Jessie?

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/29/08 at 8:29am

Here's a great rendition of the song "Uptown, Downtown" sung by Millicent Martin.


Millie Martin "Uptown, Downtown"