The Official Kennedy Center FOLLIES Thread- Page 2

[everythingISpossible]

Posted: 5/6/11 at 11:52pm

I bought tickets over the phone the day they went on sale to the general public. May 11th (My birthday!) evening performance. Can. Not. Wait.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/6/11 at 11:59pm

It is now 11:58pm on Friday evening and some FANTASTIC house seats were just released for Sunday at 7:30pm!

[Feldzieg]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 2:51pm

Does anybody know if there is still a chance to get tickets for less than 85$? I could go on a weekday night or matinee, doesn't matter when. Do they have a rush? I know that the Kennedy Center has some kind of special offer for folks under 25 (which excludes me). Is it possible to get Follies tickets over this offering? If yes, maybe I can sneak in with someone younger than me :)

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 4:02pm

All the $45 tickets sold out months ago.

Under-25 is one ticket per person, and you have to show your ID at the box office when you pick up your tickets the day of. It also says UNDER 25 all over the ticket, so ushers would probably raise an eyebrow if a middle-aged audience member tried to use it after buying it off a kid.

[nealb1]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 4:16pm

I'm seeing it on Sunday, May 29th. Really looking forward to it.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 6:18pm

I'll be going Memorial Day weekend, I can't wait! I love the Kennedy Center, hope all of you first timers enjoy it too. :)

[LoveDemBroadwayShows2]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 6:50pm

Does anyone know if the Eisenhower has a stage door that is accessible? Also, if yes, do the actors usually comes out to greet?

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 7:26pm

An early tweet


"jordanc Jordan Coughenour
For those wondering about stage for #follies @kencen, it seems to be 3-tiered, w/ a dark blue torn apart curtain shrouding half the stage."

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 7:31pm

"Jordanc Jordan Coughenour
Also on #follies set: decaying columns on either side of stage w/metal platform on one. Blue tapestries lining sides of house orchestra."

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 7:37pm

I just jizzed. Thank you, Derek McLane.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 7:50pm

A friend who saw some of the sequences during tech this week reported that Terri White nearly rips the roof off of the theater with "Who's That Woman?"

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 8:16pm

Excited to see this next weekend. Also seeing both performances next Saturday. KC virgin here.

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 8:25pm

^Seeing the evening show. I was talking to ljay and apparently we're all in balcony row B, it'll be so nice to meet you two!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 9:53pm

"Does anyone know if the Eisenhower has a stage door that is accessible?"

On the exterior of the building, facing the Watergate complex. I think it's the only door on that whole side, but it's right around the corner from the front.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 9:59pm

I cannot wait for production photos to be released. Derek McLane's work is almost always spectacular (excluding Grease).

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 10:50pm

Hey! Just got back from the first preview. I'll separate the report into a non-spoiler and a tell-all section, because even if you know the show well going in, there's a few take-your-breath away moments.

NON-SPOILER

First, the costumes. Always essential in Follies, so it's a good place to start. Sally's main dress is a plain red with a slightly curving collar. It goes to about the mid-calf region. Not low cut or sassy at all, but certainly not dowdy either- just plain. Phyllis is in a gorgeous champagne dress- not that black one that's on the website. It's sparkly with a low cut V neck and a slit up the middle of the bottom. Very sexy. The women look gorgeous onstage together in their dresses. There is a rainbow of colors, with purple, blue, emerald and others represented. When they line up together for the first time, it's really a wonderful sight. Bernadette's 'Losing My Mind' dress seems to be the black one on the website listed as Phyllis's. It's a dark purple(?) color with a vertical jewel strap. Very gorgeous. Phyllis's 'Lucy and Jessie' dress is firey- literally- its sort with detached pleats at the bottom and comes up the chest with flames. Got some 'oh wows!' in the audience. I'll cover the follies girls in the spoiler's section....

The set: Like was said below, there is no real curtain for the show. Half the stage is in a dark blue ripped curtain pre-opening. In the back corner of the stage, there is a pile of junk- chairs, lights, etc. There are three levels. THe first is accessible by metal stairs, the third is not. The stage is framed on either side by what appear to be decaying columns. At first they seem solid brown, but some lighting tricks reveal they are actually sparkly and green a bit at the top, a neat effect. The set really gets the whole dilapidated theatre look, with broken lining bars and such.

The actors:
HOLY SHIZ. Bernadette Peters was FANTASTIC. I didn't have full faith in her during the first act- 'In Buddy's Eyes' was a bit weak, really, but she really came out in the second. It wasn't a flashy performance at all, and I realized slowly that was a good thing. (SPOILER) I think I've seen 'Losing My Mind' performed at so many talent shows that its lost its real meaning to me, but Bernadette really restored it to its purpose- Sally is forcing herself to find meaning in this love that isn't really there. It was restrained and perfect, and I just can't even describe how powerful it really was.

Jan Maxwell channeling Carol Channing a bit with Phyllis- but only at first. I think more than ever before, we got to really see the aggressive sarcasm of the character. I've always thought Phyllis has the weakest folly, but Lucy & Jessie was fabulous- lot's of nice dancing from the chorus boys too.

Danny Burnstein was probably my greatest surprise of the night. He was quite malevolent, which I don't think I really expected from him! His folly costume was this wonderful sparkly striped pinsuit. He didn't get as much into the physicality as he was able to convey the emotions of his breakdown on their own with his inflection and facial expressions. Loved Ron Raines as well- he made Ben a very difficult character. I'm not sure I really understood him by the end of the show, but I think that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Other cast: Elaine Page had a bit of a line flub during 'I'm Still Here,' but I don't anticipate it to be a continuing problem. She finished it quite quite well. I think it could still be improved upon, and it didn't quite stop the show in the way it could, but I did enjoy it.

SPOILERS:
'Who's That Woman' was the highlight of the 1st act for me, with the ghost young versions dancing with their older counterparts in a fantastic rotating line. The actress playing Stella totally rocked it out with the tapping- the dancing overall from the ladies was amazingly strong, really!

People literally gasped when the Loveland set came out, or when it was revealed! The change from the theatre to it is incredibly fast, and it got great applause. It plays with proportion a bit, with 3 levels of pink cherry blossoms circling to the back. I found myself getting a bit lost in its vortex at times! The Loveland follies girls outfits were obviously not as opulent as the OBC's, but they were still great to behold. I think my favorite was the lovebirds, which looked like two herons kissing across the middle. Very clever! The follies girls haunted the show throughout- and were very FIERCE doing so. Their eye makeup looked a bit like artfully melted mascara, and they made quite a malevolent presence. There were a great variety of costume changes for them as well, so it for sure didn't seem like there was an skimping on the budget there.

The ghost scenes were done frequently in a pale green light, which added to the eerieness. The young versions of the characters were scarily accurate in their looks and sounds! Sally's was great, because while she could be a dead ringer for a young Bernadette, she didn't try to impersonate her voice to an extent that would have been aggravating.

END SPOILERS

If anyone has any more specific questions, I will try to answer them! This was my first time seeing Follies in its full form. I've seen the original rehearsal footage though and have read 'Everything Was Possible,' so I might be able to answer some more detailed inquiries.

Updated On: 5/7/11 at 10:50 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 10:54pm

SO EXCITED!!! Thanks for your thoughts. Was Bernadette able to hit the notes in TOO MANY MORNINGS?

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 10:59pm

No problem! It's always great to get them all out. I noticed that she faltered a bit near the end of the song with the highest notes- I wouldn't say it was strained, but I could tell it didn't seem to be in her typical range. It happened a bit as well at the end of 'Losing My Mind,' but given the tone of the song, it wasn't really an issue there.

Also, since I KNOW it will be asked. Here's a pic of some merch. There was a ton of it- posters, pillows (???), cloth notebooks, scripts, OBCR, mugs, magnets, a logo t-shirt and a t-shirt with just 'Follies' on it.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:00pm

Katurian, what great feedback! Thank you so much for such a fast report.

What did you think of Terri White's singing in "Who's That Woman"? And how was Linda Lavin's "Broadway Baby"?

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:01pm

Also, sorry for the overall crappy quality of this pic, but it was the best I could do of a 'curtain' picture. It was quite dark onstage! But you can make out the different levels a bit in it.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:03pm

I never EVER buy merchandise. I always think it's ticky-tacky.

I am SO buying one of those pillows.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:04pm

So my personal embargo on no spoilers until I see it lasted until Katurian2's post. I want to live in that merchandise booth.

The pillows! They're hypnotic, right?
Updated On: 5/7/11 at 11:04 PM

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:05pm

Terri White was FANTABULOUS. A total diva moment, and she brought the house down. Her dancing was surprisingly competent, and she really belted the number out. Like I said above, the song was really the highlight of the whole first act for me, which I thought was really unexpected, so I completely enjoyed her performance.

Broadway Baby wasn't the HUGE moment I anticipated, but Linda Lavin did a fine job with it. She brought some new ideas to it, like a bit of a blues-y swing in the middle. She switched genre types throughout it, which I thought was quite clever. At this point, I think people applaud the song itself for being so well known as much as the actress singing it. So, Linda wasn't bad, but I think she was a bit overshadowed by the legacy of the material.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:05pm

I don't know how in the hell I'm going to wait these five weeks until I see this.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 11:05pm

Phyllis, I'm on the same wagon re spoilers...
I.want.those.pillows.NOW.

Thanks so much for the detailed feedback and pics, Katurian2!

Updated On: 5/7/11 at 11:05 PM