Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?- Page 10
Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
indytallguy
Broadway Star Joined: 7/13/08
#225Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 11:38am
I love Bernadette and loved her Sally, but her voice was taxed in that role more than I would want to see captured on film. Just watch some of it on YouTube.
I know Carlotta would get star casting, but I thought Hollis Resnik knocked it out of the park in the recent Chicago Shakespeare Theatre production.
#226Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 12:15pmWould Bernadette promise not to cry while she sings "Losing My Mind"? Cause that would look embarrassingly amateurish on film.
#227Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 12:16pm
The older they go with the cast in general the less likely they are to pull in a wide movie audience. And a FOLLIES movie would cost too much money to not consider that. (And by consider, I mean not get a "green light.")
They shouldn't cast Jennifer Lawrence as Phyllis, but I bet (if it ever actually happens) they will cast it as young as possible without being too young for the part.
In other words, 40s to late-50s for most of the roles. Not 60s to 70s or 80s (with one or two exceptions, maybe).
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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#228Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 4:13pm
"I love Bernadette and loved her Sally, but her voice was taxed in that role more than I would want to see captured on film. Just watch some of it on YouTube"
Bernadette singing FOLLIES in a studio is going to be a lot stronger in voice than many/any of the non-singers listed in this thread. If you want to have a stronger singer than Bernadette you would have to go to Broadway powerhouses like Victoria Clark, which I'm skeptical they'd ever do, to be honest.
"Would Bernadette promise not to cry while she sings "Losing My Mind"? Cause that would look embarrassingly amateurish on film."
I would hope that a director would guide her performance (that's what they are there for, right?) - a few other things should go, most notably the "I. Don't. Have. To. Fight. With. You" Phyl lines - they were just bizarre.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 12/8/14 at 04:13 PM
#229Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 4:16pmBUT WILL SHE PROMISE NOT TO CRY?!?
#230Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 4:21pm
She should cry in the appropriate moments. Assuming it wasn't misguided direction I do wonder why directors don't intervene if they notice issues. Is it because Bernadette had the 'power' being the star of the show? In a film-setting if she was ever cast, she would have no power there.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 12/8/14 at 04:21 PM
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#232Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 4:52pm
^A little rude.
Bernadette could be a great Sally, but she took the character in an odd direction. I don't know if this was her or the director, but it didn't read the way that they may have meant it to.
I would also like to see her play Sally in the movie. If paired with a different director, she may find the great Sally that she has somewhere in her. I also think that Follies should only star real broadway actors who have lived on the stage and not necessarily infront of a camera. I think that it would add something to the film.
After Chicago and Into the Woods, people will go see a Marshall film without huge stars. Bernadette Peters is already pretty well known and if the film looks good, it could be a success.
#233Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 4:55pmBernadette is simply not a Sally.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#234Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 4:56pmNot to mention that she'll be in her 70s by this time this movie gets made.
#235Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 5:03pm
Follies, much like Company, is a show about age, but age at the time it was written. Much like Bobby, being 35, is suddenly realizing he is middle-aged, the characters in Follies, ages 45-55 for the protagonists, are realizing that they are elderly. They are old and have grown somewhat stout and worn out as they left middle age behind.
In the 1970s, this was a thing that made more sense than it does now, because 35 and 50 were different, medically and socially, than they are today. Lifespans are extending. People are younger longer. (Look at Pippin for another example: 66-year-old Berthe was a "feisty relic" in the original, but an "active, athletic and vibrant senior" today.)
You can either cast older and have them claimed to be younger, cast at the age and just go with the fact that people won't think about it, or cast older and make the stated or implied ages older than they are. But to leave it unstated is to risk an irony that doesn't belong in this particular piece.
#236Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 5:51pm
I also think that Follies should only star real broadway actors who have lived on the stage and not necessarily infront of a camera.
Why is that? Doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, now does it? The characters in Follies aren't Broadway stars, and this would be a movie, not a stage show. Should Into The Woods only have cast real-life fairy tale characters?
This movie is only a twinkle in Rob Marshall's eye at this stage, maybe not even that.
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#237Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 6:04pmIt makes no sense at all. Just like saying that "movie folk" have no business on the stage.
#238Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 6:10pm
The original stars weren't all stage veterans. Two of the leads were movie stars, one was a recording artist, and Carlotta was best known from TV.
The supporting characters and Ben were all stage veterans though.
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Updated On: 12/8/14 at 06:10 PM
#239Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 6:11pmRight. But it's cool to be against film folk doing anything related to the stage. Even films about the stage.
#240Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 6:12pm
I'm saying that it may add something special to the movie.
It's a chance to let broadway actors shine onstage in roles where it makes sense to do so.
I just know that when they make this film and cast movie stars, you'll all be complaining that they aren't good enough and should have casted stronger singers.
Can't wait to see that. And many of you DO act like movie actors shouldn't act on stage.
#241Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 6:16pmI do think that it should be like the original production. Get starry (but competent) names for the four leads and Carlotta but fill out the rest with at least people who have some stage background.
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#242Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 6:19pm
"It's a chance to let broadway actors shine onstage in roles where it makes sense to do so."
And will you be the person fronting the tens of millions of dollars necessary to back the film since a major studio would never make a film like this without huge stars? It's all well and good to say "I like those there Broadway peoples and they should get work in these there broadway movies" but it's another thing to live here in reality with the rest of us.
#243Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 6:57pm
I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any movie stars casted. I'm saying that you could easily throw Bernadette in the mix as Sally alongside a nice mix of broadway and movie stars.
This probably won't ever happen but I can dream.
#244Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 7:31pm
Getting her to promise that she won't cry while she sings probably won't ever ever happen either, but I can dream that Bernadette will go back to being the flawlessly tasteful performer she was in Sunday in the Park before she gave in to her current self-indulgent histrionics...but I can dream too.
#245Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 7:51pmThe crying was low on my list of issues with her performance as Sally. She didn't look the part, her characterization was all wrong, and her voice didn't suit her the score at all. She's just not the right age or type.
MarkBearSF
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/25/11
#246Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 11:31pm
Phyllis & Ben: K.Z. Jones & Hugh Jackman
Sally & Buddy: Kristin Chenoweth & Norbert Leo Butz
Carlotta: Cher
Hattie: Bernadette
Stella: Madonna
Solange: Grace Jones
The Whitmans: Donnie & Marie (seriously)
...in my dreams.
nasty_khakis
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/15/07
#247Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 11:47pmYou are asking a brother and sister to play a long term married couple whose whole schtick is kissing on the mouth during a song?
MarkBearSF
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/25/11
#248Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 11:52pm
...and...
Young Phyllis & Ben: Emily Blunt & Jeremy Jordan
Young Sally & Buddy: Laura Osnes & Matthew Morrison
Heidi & Young Heidi: Barbara Cook & ??
#249Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?
Posted: 12/8/14 at 11:53pm
I would rather have Victoria Clark as Sally over Bernadette, she's the closest to get the role as much as Dorothy Collins did in 1971.
Casting update:
Phyllis and Ben: Kate Winslet and Kelsey Grammer
Sally and Buddy: Amy Adams and Nathan Fillion
Carlotta: Nicole Kidman or Meryl Streep
Stella: Kathy Bates
Hattie: Jayne Houdyshell
Salonge: Marion Cotillard
Heidi: Shirley Jones
Emily and Theodore: Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter
Dimitri: Christopher Plummer
Roscoe: Nathan Gunn
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