Also saw the matinee today - and sorry kids, I'm afraid I can't join the parade on this one. Aside from some very nice performances and a fabulous orchestra, this is on the whole an uninspired production plagued by the same flat, literal minded concept and direction that plagued the Roundabout revival.
A few positives - the four leads are all solid, with especial kudos going to, yes the goddess Jan Maxwell and Bernadette Peters who if not completely at home in this role is incapable of not shining moments of truthful insight into any of her performances.
The costumes for the showgirl Ghosts are stunning - maybe topping Flossie's designs of the original.
What musical theatre delight in hearing this score played by a such a full, fabulous orchestra. Is there even a theatre in the city that could still house that many musicians?
But given the resources, and the budget, this should have been a FOLLIES for the ages and its not. And I have to place the blame at the feet of Eric Schaeffer, who has just made an err in judgement in conceiving, like Matthew Warchus, FOLLIES as a literal reunion set in a literal theatre rather than the impressionistic landscape of the emotional mind Bennett, Price and Goldman created breathtakingly in the original.
Instead of Aronson's fascinating multilayered fan of platforms and endless black corridors, Schaeffer's production is first off landlocked in a tight boxed in theatre set - complete with brick back wall and piles of realistic rubble. If the show had been staged in the Opera House, perhaps this wouldn't have presented such a lumbering obstacle. Entrances are either stage right or stage left - no magic - no surprise. There are three (flat) levels on the back wall, poorly utilized (mostly reserved for the showgirl ghosts who are stuck hanging out there the entire evening).
But there is nothing haunting about Schaeffer's vision here. In his pursuit for reality, Schaeffer eschews all surrealistic beauty - all double layered subtext of the 'we' haunted by the ghosts of our ever livingt past. Unlike Bennett's brilliant staging, the ghosts of the party guests are barely even present. For those of you unfamiliar with Prince's concept, each of the women in that production had a ghost counter part that shadowed, mirrored, commented - ever attached to their still living, breathing, decaying modern selves. Except for a brief turn in "Who's That Woman" (completely uninspired here - enter right, exit left) the ghosts of the past are generic moths hanging from the rafters.
Its a major part of the original concept that in excising, removes almost instantly and fussily a lot of the magic in the construction of the evening -relegating the dialogue to a seemingly unlinked and unfulfilling episode of randomly connected one liners.
As ljay mentions, this production does indeed use the Encores script - which removes some of the most insightful lines from the original, a problem made greater here because of the lack of subtextual depth in this literal interpretation.
But nothing here is given the kind of detail work, FOLLIES needs to haunt its audiences. The costumes of the returning party guests look like they did a run at TJ MAX. With the exception of Jan Maxwell's stunning gold hourglass, none of what they are wearing say anything about who these characters are or have become. Peters looks lovely in her red dress. She should wear it to the after party, but its not an organic fit for the character of Sally.
Ditto - Jan Maxwell's "Lucy and Jessie" dress that is oddly unflattering on her (and it must be noted as wonderful an actress as Miss Maxwell is, she would have been much better served by the non dancing"Ah, But Underneath" -
She's not especially helped by a Loveland set that consists of three proscenium arches of tissue flowers. Not exactly a transporting experience.
Its a shame because a lot of the talent on stage here are nearly ideal for these roles. Elaine Paige (who did get through "Im Still Here" without flubbing the lyrics) is a glamourous Carlotta. Linda Lavin (a little too glamourous as Hattie) knocks "Broadway Baby" out of the park. Danny Burstein is a likable Buddy (though again, "The Right Girl" really does require a dancer or there is no there-there) and Ron Raines sings like the ghost of Alfred Drake as Ben. The four younger counterparts are eerie in their likenesses.
Some good things for certain - but not good enough. Perhaps my standards for FOLLIES are too high and Im too haunted by what I know about the original production -- but this production at the Kennedy Center should have been more.
Updated On: 5/14/11 at 06:00 PM
