Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen?- Page 11

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 12/8/14 at 11:57pm

^^ Sure - since it's a gimmick song, as chaste as that Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney song. The only kisses are stagey pecks. Not an aficionado of them per se - but I'm certain that there are numerous instances of pairings between them that are much more awkward if the lyrics of the song were to be taken seriously.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 12/9/14 at 12:05am

I love your choices, although I oriented mine more to a beyond-Broadway marketable perspective. I'd kill to see any or all of your choices in a good movie.
(Although I'm convinced these are all fansturbaton until the widow Goldman goes away)
(for reference - those choices are...)

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

Updated On: 12/9/14 at 12:05 AM

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/9/14 at 12:09am

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.

Really? Victoria Clark is quite statuesque. Bernadette is one of the few Sallys since Collins to capture the small "little girl" essence of Sally. Sure she was beautiful and cried too much, but she certainly matched many aspect of Sally as described in the original libretto.

[binau]

Posted: 12/9/14 at 1:08am

She is blonde, petite, pert, sweet-faced and, at forty-nine, still remarkably like the girl she was thirty years ago. This description of Sally pretty much belongs in Bernadette Peters' biography, lol.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 12/9/14 at 3:32am

You are asking a brother and sister to play a long term married couple whose whole schtick is kissing on the mouth during a song?

I wish I could find a clip of it online, but there was sketch that Julia Louis Dreyfus did on SNL back in the 80s in which she played Marie. In the clip, if I'm recalling it correctly, she and Donny are singing a Christmas duet for yet another Donny & Marie special. Starts out innocently, but by the end of the number they're making out furiously.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/12/14 at 10:03pm

I wonder if Aaron Sorkin is going to be the writer to FOLLIES. Any ideas?

[binau]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 4:06pm

Streep asks Sondheim:

Streep: So what other one of your musicals do you think would make a good movie? And are there any old ladies in it?

It was a joke, but there is at least the suggestion that she is interested in doing another Sondheim role. And if Follies doesn't perfectly describe a Sondheim show with old ladies in it, what does?

Interestingly/annoyingly, Sondheim started talking about an old Company anecdote rather than plugging Follies...

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-stephen-sondheim-meryl-streep-into-the-woods-20141214-story.html#page=4

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 5:19pm

Love this interchange between Meryl and Steve:

Streep: But there's a new language, which started with MTV and with music videos ...

Sondheim: But do these songs tell — are they part of telling a story?

Streep: Some of them are.

Sondheim: Well, OK, if you say so.

Streep: I'm staking my life on this.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 1:01am

@PalJoey, that was one of my favorite moments in the interview alongside Rob Marshall talking about how he met Sondheim and how INTO THE WOODS was on his mind for years after he finished CHICAGO.

EDIT: When I think about it now, Alfie Bowe could make a better Roscoe than anyone today, at least he's a tenor. Updated On: 12/14/14 at 01:01 AM

[binau]

Posted: 12/28/14 at 1:16am

I've been thinking about an immense someone made earlier in this thread, that FOLLIES is 'cinematic' and I really don't know how cinematic it is. Sure some of the book scenes etc., but I cant think of anything much less cinematic than ghosts, the Loveland sequence etc.

If this movie ever gets done I reckon there will be some crazy diverse opinions on it because it isn't going to be simple at all.

If ITW is financially successful and Meryl Streep gets onboard I wonder if it could really happen.

I wonder if they get Sam Mendes back as rumoured Bernadette would have a greater chance of playing Sally given their working history.

Updated On: 12/28/14 at 01:16 AM

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 12/28/14 at 2:06am

My opinions on Bernadette starring in a Follies movie:

[IMG]

It needs to happen. But she can't cry.

Updated On: 12/28/14 at 02:06 AM

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 12/28/14 at 2:31am

"Sure some of the book scenes etc., but I cant think of anything much less cinematic than ghosts, the Loveland sequence etc. "

But does Chicago seem like it would work well on screen? I would really love to see what Rob Marshall could do with Follies.

I'd like to offer up the suggestion of Kristin Chenoweth as Sally. She has the right sweet demeanor that Sally gives off upon first depression. She's short and "cute" and peppy. And I'd love to see her go unhinged and crazy. She definitely has the vocal chops, and she could give an entrancing "Losing My Mind," I imagine. It's a lot less musical comedy than what she's known for, but I think she has the range to do it justice.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/28/14 at 2:32am

I love, adore, and worship Bernadette Peters, but if this movie ever happened and regardless of who directed it, she would in no way whatsoever, in any world except qolbinau's fantasy world be cast in the film. The earth is round, get over it. This film needs big stars in the four leads if it was ever hoping to get financed (it never will), think more Angelina Jolie, Robert Downey Jr, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams. Not Bernadette Peters, Jerry O'Connell, etc etc etc etc.

[binau]

Posted: 12/28/14 at 7:21am

Just as you may expect After Eight to comment on every Once and Sondheim thread, you can probably expect that I am going to be pushing Bernadette's casting in anything that is even vaguely suitable for her (or perhaps even not) until either I stop breathing or she stops breathing. Sorry folks.

In any case, if they are casting A-list stars they better be able to sing. I love Seeeney Todd but I'm over actors who can't really sing.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 12:47pm

Since INTO THE WOODS is making a killing at the box office so far, I think Hollywood might want some film musicals more than ever. After watching the film, there is no possible way that FOLLIES couldn't be made by Rob Marshall, besides wasn't this a project he asked Sondheim about when they met one another after CHICAGO came out?

[Bucky Builder]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 1:09pm

I don't really know if Into The Woods is any indication that Hollywood wants more film musicals. Movie musicals have been doing pretty well since Chicago. It's not like in the 90's when they were very scarce. Yes Into the woods is making great money but people said the same thing about how "Hollywood wants more musicals now!" when Les Mis came out. It seems to me that Hollywood and mainstream audiences have now accepted musical films for the most part.

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 3:07pm

It's more a sea change that musical theatre, and I'm including film and television in that phrase, is seeping back into mainstream culture.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 5:39pm

INTO THE WOODS being a hit has little to do with getting FOLLIES off the ground from a financial perspective. INTO THE WOODS has always been more accessible than FOLLIES, I just think it's a little deluded to say that because one worked the other one will easily get funding or that it'll turn a profit. I think other projects, like DAMN YANKEES, GUYS & DOLLS, even long shots like GYPSY and Marshall's once intended CABARET are much more likely to get financed than FOLLIES.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 6:02pm

Just saw Into the Woods and liked it very, very much, but I still don't want him to do Follies.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 6:15pm

@PalJoey, What did you think of the movie? Care to tell us more?

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 6:45pm

After seeing Into the Woods, I'm not so sure that Marshall is right for Follies.
I don't think that he's a particularly good director.

He was, in my opinion, one of the biggest weak points of ITW. I found his direction bland and uninspired. The woods looked fake and some scenes were simply awful because of how they were shot.

Sadly he's probably the only director willing to take on Follies.

[binau]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 6:51pm

Sam Mendes has expressed interest in the past.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/2/15 at 6:53pm

Okay but I don't think there is anything in my delayed reactions that will be at all remarkable after every other Sondheim lover has weighed in.

I was mostly happy that the various depths and profundities of the lyrics came through, despite the cut songs. And the only one of those I missed was "No More," which I think could have been fashioned into a brilliant solo of self-realization for James Corden, bit it would have required a new set of lyrics by Sondheim.

I loved all the performances except Johnny Depp. James Corden absolutely blew me away--even though I've been a fan of his since History Boys, I didn't think he would THIS good.

All the women were great, from Meryl down to Cinderella's sisters. Lilla Crawford surprised me several times, Chris Pine surprised me in simply rising to the level of the material, Billy Magnussen delighted me with line readings like "Your hair...I like it."

The music sounded magnificent, the movie unfolded as a musical, the fairy tales were tied together at the end, perhaps even more satisfyingly than they are tied together in the stage play.

I think it made musical fans out of moviegoers and Sondheim fans out of Disneygoers.

I am happy. Ever after.

[Showface]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 10:03pm

Well, another rumor (bouncing off the Rob Marshall rumor has resurfaced). By this point, it definitely seems clear Rob Marshall is interested, and you know who was asked about it?Meryl Streep.

The article says "Rob Marshall, who directed the hit Disney movie Into The Woods, wants to make it — and Meryl Streep (Oscar-nominated for her performance as the Witch in Marshall’s film) might be involved.
I asked her about it and she warned that it’s a long way off."

Also, Streep also said that she likes Company, and when asked if she'd ever sing Ladies Who Lunch (which I would LOVE to see her perform),but she said that she likes Being Alive best, which belongs to the male lead however.

Again, it's unlikely that this will come to fruition. About the ages: I still think they should age the characters in the (rumored) film.





Link

[Bucky Builder]

Posted: 1/15/15 at 10:11pm

You already know you will worship the film and make up your mind about how perfect it is before even seeing it, so why even bother, showface?