Gary Griffin's Follies- Page 2

[AC126748]

Posted: 10/1/11 at 5:27pm

No great tragedy there.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 10/1/11 at 5:44pm

Regarding the size of the orchestra, that number is about what would be expected from a show like this. We aren't lucky enough here to have shows with big enough budgets for orchestras double that size, although we are lucky enough to have ticket prices half of those on Broadway. A few months ago, I saw a production of Merrily We Roll Along in a very tiny theatre with an orchestra of four people. While it's nice to have a big orchestra, an orchestra of 12 is serviceable with a moderate budget. Perhaps it's just because I've become used to it, but I really don't notice when there is an orchestra this size, assuming every musician is good.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/2/11 at 12:52am

Without DeeDee and Sandra, Hattie and Solange will have to dance "Who's That Woman?" - which is kind of ridiculous. Unless, they just plan on doing the number with Stella, Sally, Phyllis, Carlotta, and Emily.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 10/2/11 at 12:58am

"Without DeeDee and Sandra, Hattie and Solange will have to dance "Who's That Woman?""


In that case, they might as well just add Heidi in too so she isn't the only broad not dancing.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 10/2/11 at 2:27am

I think what's the most important thing to remember is not that size of the orchestra, the casting, how big the cast is, etc...

but really, the big deal that one of the most revered and beloved pieces of the musical theatre is getting large-scale revivals simutaneously in two major theatrical communities...when for years, it seemed something lost to the air, and impossible to produce due to its grandeur. Just that is reason to be happy. Good for today's producers, and good for Mr. Sondheim's lovely piece. I hope that we, from here on, try to embrace each production of "Follies" that comes our way as something special - a rare candy, and enjoy it while we can.

[AC126748]

Posted: 10/2/11 at 11:22pm

There's a photo of Barrett and O'Connor in costume on Brent's Facebook page. They certainly look every inch of a Ben and Phyllis!

[binau]

Posted: 10/2/11 at 11:25pm

Yep

[musikman]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 11:23am

edit: blargh. Does anyone know how you post photos on here that are files on your computer and not a link from a website?

Updated On: 10/3/11 at 11:23 AM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 11:34am

You'll have to upload it to an image hosting site (like tinypic).

[musikman]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 11:39am

[IMG]



Thanks for the help !!!

Updated On: 10/3/11 at 11:39 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 12:04pm

Geez, that blonde wig is something awful.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 12:06pm

I was gonna say. Sally is haunted by the ghost of the 3 dollar Marilyn Monroe wig.

I love Susan Moniz though and she will be fabulous in the role. Hopefully just bad early publicity costume.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 2:40pm

The size of the orchestra is about right for that space, which simply doesn't have the room for a large orchestra unless it's a concert with no staging at all. This isn't a huge theatre. I have no idea what the pit is like, but unless it's the size of the entire thrust, which I doubt, you'd be hard-pressed to fit much more than 12.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 3:21pm

Those pictures demonstrate why Florence Klotz had the ghosts dressed only in black-and-white and shades of gray until Loveland.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 5:56pm

Mister Matt, the Shakespeare has no pit--they're putting the orchestra on the stage. But still, for a 550 seat theatre, an orchestra of 12 is a good number. People seem to be forgetting (or not knowing) that the theatre is quite small. According to the website, "only nine rows separate the most distant seat from the actors on stage, and the gallery is suspended just 20 feet above the action." It's a very intimate space, and 28 musicians like they have on Broadway would just be too much.

On the Chicago Shakes facebook page, they recently posted a couple of Follies-related pictures from their season preview event:

A costume from the show


and a picture of Hollis Resnik singing I'm Still Here

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 6:02pm

"Those pictures demonstrate why Florence Klotz had the ghosts dressed only in black-and-white and shades of gray until Loveland."

Amen, Joey. Or at least put them in pastels as is the case with the current revival. It's going to look awfully flashy.

And it looks like that is Sally's real dress for the show...at least it's better than that red thing Bernie wore in DC.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 10:09am

I do like the concept of the second photograph, even if it doesn't quite come off.

Any word on which version of the book they're using yet?

Will it have to be the same one as the current Broadway revival?

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 7:35pm

I emailed the theatre and got this response:

"Clearly, you are an aficionado and I am happy to report that our production remains faithful to the original—with the approved Sondheim score and book by Goldman that also just received a new Broadway production. It is not the London production version."

So I'm not sure if that means the original book or the Broadway/Encores book.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 11:19pm

"the big deal that one of the most revered and beloved pieces of the musical theatre is getting large-scale revivals simutaneously in two major theatrical communities...when for years, it seemed something lost to the air, and impossible to produce due to its grandeur."

The show received a good many regional productions during the '80s and '90s. I knew about some of them, but I wasn't aware of just how many there were until I was doing some research recently. Some of them were more or less the same production, remounted with casting variations, but the show was done a lot.

Here's a list of one that I know about:

Pittsburgh CLO, 1983, directed by Susan Schulman, with Kathryn Hays, Ross Petty, SuEllen Estey, Russ Tamblyn

San Jose Civic Light Opera, 1987, directed by Dianna Shuster, with Gretchen Wyler, Sam Stoneburner, Teri Ralston, Harvey Evans, Sheila Smith

Theatre Under the Stars, Houston, 1987, directed by Charles Abbott, with Juliet Prowse, John Cullum, Marilyn Maye, Harvey Evans, Patrice Munsel

Candelight Dinner Theatre, Chicago, 1988, directed by William Pullinsi

Michigan Opera Theatre, 1988, directed by Charles Abbott, with Juliet Prowse, Ron Raines, Nancy Dussault, John-Charles Kelly, Edie Adams

Long Beach Civic Light Opera, 1990, directed by Fran Soeder, with Juliet Prowse, Ed Evanko, Shani Wallis, Harvey Evans, Karen Morrow

Starlight Musical Theatre, San Diego, 1990, directed by William Pullinsi, with Ami Silvestre, Dennis Kelly, Teri Ralston, Ron Beattie, Marilyn Maye (as Carlotta this time)

Houston Theatre Under the Stars and Seattle's Fifth Avenue Theatre, 1995, directed by Charles Abbott, with Constance Towers, Walter Charles, Judy Kaye, John-Charles Kelly, Karen Morrow

Then there was Paper Mill in 1998 and Signature in 2003, and various concert versions, including the one with Virginia Sandifur, Kurt Peterson, Marti Rolph, and Harvey Evans, and the Reprise production with Patty Duke, Bob Gunton, Vicki Carr and Harry Groener.

So while it's unusual to have two major productions simultaneously, the show wasn't all that lost.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 11:34pm

Mister Matt, the Shakespeare has no pit

That's odd. I don't remember an onstage orchestra for Night Music or Three Musketeers.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 12:13am

There was also a production in Boston in the early '00s with Len Cariou as Ben (I think most of the cast was local aside from him)

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 12:49am

Yes, that was a concert version for which, it seems, Cariou was underprepared, though apparently in good voice. I do wish it had been him rather than Hearn in the New York Philharmonic concert.

[LW2]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 1:21am

Thanks for posting photos. Ms. O'Connor, at least in that photo, reminds me of Bebe Neuwirth, and dear sweet baby Jesus, Brent Barrett is a gorgeous GORGEOUS man. Be still my loins.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 9:19am

Thanks Danny.

That seems to suggest that the current script will become the (latest) officially sanctioned version.

And that presumably means the current Broadway production is frozen.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 9:27am

"Yes, that was a concert version for which, it seems, Cariou was underprepared, though apparently in good voice. I do wish it had been him rather than Hearn in the New York Philharmonic concert."

I actually know the fella who music-directed it.