Wow - Encores is doing FOLLIES — Page 3

I thought Yvonne de Carlo was dead...

Nope.

She's still HEEEERRRRRRREEE!!!!!!

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Even though I agree with PJ and EH on every point (LOVE LIFE really cries to be done, and I'd love to see PANAMA HATTIE, FLAHOOLEY and Ken Mandlebaum's fave THE GOLDEN APPLE) for some reason, I am not displeased with the admittedly wishy-washy choice, because for all its flaws, FOLLIES is one of my favorite scores ever.

I love the other choices, and wonder if the "Revue Selection" has been done because many of the elements of so many Broadway revues have been lost. Just a supposition.

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As far as FOLLIES goes, no one said it better than John Simon in his review of the original production:

"In a just and wiser world, it is not LES MIZ, PHANTOM, and CATS that would be forever; instead, there would be one sold-out theater playing FOLLIES always. ALWAYS."

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"In a just and wiser world, it is not LES MIZ, PHANTOM, and CATS that would be forever; instead, there would be one sold-out theater playing FOLLIES always. ALWAYS."

John Simon actually wrote that about the Paper Mill revival. He was one of the critics who dismissed the original production, but he's done a turnaround on quite a few Sondheim musicals.

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I, like Munkstrap, have never seen it in any live form and am looking forward to this one.

Though I wish that ENCORES would take Ethan Mordden's suggestion and do a season of shows that never made it to Broadway. Like Alan Jay Lerner's "Lolita, My Love", Schmidt and Jones'"Colette" or "Grover's Corners"...

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Supposedly Sondheim really dislikes Buckley, so I doubt you will see her involved with this production (for the record I think she'd make a much more interesting Sally than Phyllis).

Actually, the cast for the Roundabout production was largely Sondheim's doing. He picked most of the cast with Polly Bergin and Judith Ivey, who most people didn't really care for, being his absolute first choices for those roles.

So in a way, hopefully Sondheim won't be casting director for this staging.

Supposedly Sandy Duncan gave a fantastic audition for Sally for the Roundabout. I wonder if she'll be considered for Encores. I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of Maria Friedman...

I know many people on this board hate the idea of color blind casting..but I'm not one of them.

I would love to see Dihann Carroll as Phyllis. She has a hard glamour to her that matches the character.

She may be a little too old for the role now.. but then again, I wouldn't complain if played Carlotta.

Updated On: 7/2/06 at 05:43 PM

I saw Judy Kaye playing Sally to Constance Towers' Phyllis a number of years ago. Kaye, who I've enjoyed in everything I've seen her in from "On the 20th Century","Phantom" and "Ragtime", did absolutely nothing for me in the role. She was a BLAND and matronly Sally that was more butch than fragile. Her singing was fine but she was simply miscast. However the highlight of the show was Karen Morrow's "I'm Still Here". She sounded amazing recently singing "I Had a Ball" at Onna White's memorium so her pipes are still in great shape. My vote for Morrow at "Encores".

I can;t wait- what a dream it would be to see this on stage at least.

Wow, I'm really surprised at all the venom for Follies...geez...if you don't want to go, there's plenty of folks who'll take your seat, me being one of them. I'd also be happy to see another Sweeney revival as well...Encores has to fill the seats and titles like Flahooey, Panama Hattie, and Love Life don't exactly scream box office. It's show BIZ folks, they got bills to pay.

I agree that the Roundabout revival was lackluster at best, but ALOT of people didn't see Papermill's production and even fewer saw the original Broadway version.

I also agree with Flahooley that we could use a little color in the cast:

Chita as Solange
Eartha as Carlotta
Priscilla Lopez and Thommie Walsh as the Whitmans
Stritchie as Hattie
this is kinda wacky, but Chris Walken as Buddy
let's go with Meryl as Phyllis and Glenn as Sally
Spacey for Ben
and I love the idea of Sills as Heidi!

Chita Rivera's rendition of "Ah, Paris!" would be devine and fierce, she would do wonders with this number.
I'd love to see Donna Murphy as Phyllis, Megan Mullally or Joanna Gleason as Sally, Carole Bishop as Hattie, Bernadette Peters as Stella, and Bea Arthur as Carlotta.

I've heard some pretty odd casting ideas over the years (and some have been in this thread), but Bette Midler as Sally has got to rank pretty high.