The Official Kennedy Center FOLLIES Thread- Page 6

[E.Davis]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:22am

The dress that Phyllis is wearing in her folly is very reminiscent of Sutton's "Blow Gabriel Blow" dress. Can anyone who actually saw the production attest to that.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:28am

Yeah, actually that's a fantastic point. The chest rise is VERY close to Sutton's dress. The fringe is different though. Suttons (as I recall) was very small streamer-like fringe, whereas Phyllis's was thicker pleats. I'm not sure what they are technically called, but the closest thing I could think to compare them to would be the ones on Cyd Charisse's green dress in 'Singin' in the Rain,' though of course what Phyllis is wearing is much shorter.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:31am

It was the bodice that caught my eye and made me think of Sutton, does it have the blatant and kind of tacky flames that her dress has or is it more elegant?

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:41am

hah- Well, I don't think they're tacky, but yes, there is a definite flame element to the bodice. They are a different formation than Sutton's though. Sutton's dress seemed to have thicker rises, whereas what Phyllis was wearing as I recall were smaller and there were more of them. I do think that it was a really fun dress- if we were to call Sutton's tacky, I think the bottom actually sort of fixes the problem.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:43am

After the discussion of Peters' red dress, I went back this morning to the Kennedy Center website to take a look at it again, and the sketch has been removed.

I wonder if they are possibly rethinking that costume...

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:47am

^ You're right! They have properly labeled the other dress as "Sally's Folly," and have added Phyllis' Folly dress.

If they ARE rethinking Sally's party dress, I hope it's fixed by Saturday!

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:47am

Interesting... I really liked the presence of red on the stage mixed with the other colors, but compared to past dresses Sallys have worn, it was on the extremely classy side.

[lynnetoomey]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:49am

Saw the show last evening form a great seat (Row N) in the orchestra. TONS of good stuff on that stage. Certainly had an early preview feel, but the goods are there for this to be a rather stunning revival.

In no particular order:
Danny Burstein is giving the finest performance that I have seen. The role fits him like a glove. Finally a role that will elevate him to leading man status.

Jan Maxwell is here usual note-perfect self. I knew she sang, but was surprised how good the vouch really is.

Bernadette....Im a fan, so I'm a bit biased, but this performance coming on the heels of her inspired Desiree is a stunning achievement
.

Ron Raines... the voice is RIDICULOUS

Other stand- outs for me were Terii White and Rosalind Elias. "One More Kiss"
is chilling.

A few quibbles,...I found the lighting gorgeous, but VERY dark, and I had a hard time focusing on the action at times. The woman playing Solange was not up to it, and was rather uncomfortable to watch.

The orchestra is world class (as usual for the Kennedy Center), and the sound mix is spot-on.

FInally, I was not prepared to be so moved. The final scene is heartbreaking in a way I've never felt in previous viewings of "Follies". Incredibly moving and thought provoking. So nice to spend an evening watching some SERIOUS musical theatre, I truly hope this production has a life beyond Washington DC

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:51am

It sounds like the red dress was certainly a bold departure for the character (not saying that in itself is a bad thing) but I could also see it being a point of quibble with the representatives of the original creative team...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:52am

Interesting. They took down Sally's red dress and replaced it with Phyllis's red dress.

And both dresses are now correctly labeled: the purple gown as "Sally's Folly" and the short spangly red one as "Phyllis's Folly."

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 12:17pm

Isn't that the point of the Folly outfits though, to be such a dramatic departure from what the characters are projecting throughout the rest of the show? Maybe that's why Sally's red dress here isn't working- it's too pretty to make the transformation into her folly outfit as dramatic as it could be... even though her folly dress is beyond gorgeous. But obviously Ben's shiny purple top hat & tails are not what he's been exuding either.

I loved Phyllis's red dress, and after looking at the OBC design again, it seems like a natural and flashy evolution for the costume to go through. Her champagne party dress and the red are nicely tied together by the abundance of sparkles on both too! Plus, Jan Maxwell and Jan Maxwell's Legs seriously work the costume.

[E.Davis]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 1:47pm

Does her bag make an appearance in the show?

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 4:39pm

what are the costumes like for the men in the non-Follies numbers?

and what is Elaine Paige's costume like? Is she in a wig or her normal hair?

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 4:41pm

ALSO - sometimes for Broadway Baby they try to extend it out into a full solo number (aka - what they did in the concert version with Elaine STritch). Do they use the original version here (with the others coming in at the last verse) or is it a big solo number?

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 4:55pm

Bag? I don't recall Phyllis with a bag... maybe I missed something and another person can comment on that...

Elaine Paige is in this wonderfully gaudy blue dress with feathers on the sleeves. It really works with the character. I'm going to hazard a guess and say it was her real hair- but like I said earlier, I'm terrible at guessing those things.

The men are really just wearing the standard tuxes or white shirts/black pants for the young versions for the non-follies numbers. Nothing too exciting from them until we get to Buddy's folly and the crazy orange striped suit.

The version of Broadway Baby was the only one I've ever heard- just the one actress standing and singing the entire thing herself as on the OBCR. No other cast members come in, she just finishes the song herself. She really rocks it too- lot's of funny voices and as I said before, this weird bluesy thing she does in the middle that's quite quirky, but works.

Updated On: 5/9/11 at 04:55 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 4:57pm

No other cast members come in, she just finishes the song herself.

UGH. They don't finish with the counterpart montage of vocals? That kind of make me mad.

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 5:32pm

Thanks for all your wonderful comments and observations. As you can imagine, we in the press in DC are very excited about this production and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will transfer. I am going on press night on the 21st and I assume the first reviews will be out the next day. Being a columnist and interviewer, I am really eager to see how our local critics respond. I was thrilled to have the first in-depth interview with Elaine Page (see below) and look forward to doing at least one more soon. So keep your comments coming and thanks for making the trip to DC. And check out all the other shows playing in DC this month. We are so glad you will be coming to see Follies.
Interview with Elaine Page on DC Theatre Scene

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 5:42pm

Nope- it was most certainly a complete solo. I'd never even heard of it being a montage. idk, but it got quite a large amount of applause. I thought it was aptly done.

[binau]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 5:44pm

They recorded the 'montage' on the Paper Mill Follies if you are interested in hearing it.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 6:17pm

You can see a little of what the montage looked like in the original production at about the 2:30 point in the 13:25 FOLLIES IN MINIATURE video:

Watch:
http://www.megavideo.com/?d=M23T9W3A
Download:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M23T9W3A


You can see a little of Fifi D'Orsay and Ethel Shutta at the 10:00 point in the 29:23 FOLLIES DUBBED ORIGINAL CAST video:

Watch:
http://www.megavideo.com/?d=3KYAU3J4
Download:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=86EMLTJZ


And you can see more of them and the Montage starting at about the 14:30 point in the FOLLIES BOSTON SOUND video:

Watch:
http://www.megavideo.com/?d=RUY9WFWG
Download
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RUY9WFWG

Updated On: 5/9/11 at 06:17 PM

[elmore3003]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 6:45pm

"Ron Raines... the voice is RIDICULOUS"

And this means?

[Katurian2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 7:15pm

Oh Oh wow, I'd never seen that footage before. Thanks, PalJoey! Hm, I can't really judge based on that small segment alone, but I think Broadway Baby is such an iconic song at this point that it would be a shame to have its ending stepped on. But yes, as it is now, Ah, Paris! is sung in full alone, and then Broadway Baby is sung in full alone, after which it goes to a short conversation between Sally and Ben with the 'all the opera singer talk about is food,' bit followed by 'The Road You Didn't Take.'

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 8:03pm

Post updated with 28:55 Boston rehearsal footage, watch or download.

I also made the 29:23 Original Dubbed available for watching.

Updated On: 5/9/11 at 08:03 PM

[SondheimFan5]

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

Elmore - the Ron Raines thing means Ron Raines has an amazing voice. Which he does.

[Mamie]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:49pm

I was honestly thinking about giving up my KC membership when the rumors started that they were going to do Follies. This one rumor has kept me hanging on and this year 3 of my subscription choices were for different performances of "Follies". Now it sounds like I didn't get enough! I'm really excited about perf #1 this week!