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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: IvyLeagueDropout 01:33 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - larry13 12:55 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| Forgive my ignorance, but did the Follies concert in 1985 not also perform the script? Was it literally just a concert of the music, and not an Encores!-esque minimalist presentation of the actual show? The reason I ask is that if the show was just music, then I can't imagine them casting anyone they didn't want singing the song the way the creative team wanted to hear it. If the concert was more than just music, then I presume they liked what the performers brought to the role overall, including but not limited to song interpretation. As for Stritch and I'm Still Here, I am fascinated by her performance of it. In At Liberty she performs it giving off a Carlotta style sense of having had a tumultuous life in and out of showbiz. At the Sondheim 80th birthday celebration (where I think she was a good 5 or more years older, and notably more frail) she sings it with a robust relief to that she's still alive and glad to be out here one more time. Honestly, her mannerisms and demeanor in the last minute of that performance are probably a lot closer to Shutta's Broadway Baby than any time Stritch ever performed that song. I'm not sure if any notes were transposed or not; Stritch kind of goes back and forth between legit singing and song-speak. And she might be the only performer I've ever heard with a song-speak belt. Kind of a hyper shout-speak. |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 03:28 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - IvyLeagueDropout 01:33 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| "Forgive my ignorance, but did the Follies concert in 1985 not also perform the script? Was it literally just a concert of the music, and not an Encores!-esque minimalist presentation of the actual show?" I'm pretty sure there was only minimal dialogue included. "The reason I ask is that if the show was just music, then I can't imagine them casting anyone they didn't want singing the song the way the creative team wanted to hear it. If the concert was more than just music, then I presume they liked what the performers brought to the role overall, including but not limited to song interpretation." I think -- and I'm sure some people would strongly disagree with me -- that some of the roles were cast more for star quality and box-office draw than appropriateness for those roles. |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 08:56 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - Michael_Portantiere 03:28 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| I'm pretty sure there was only minimal dialogue included. And a lot of it reconceived/newly written for the concert. Including that whole weird last monologue by Weissman involving the reprise of "Beautiful Girls." |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 09:08 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - Chromolume 08:56 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| ***And a lot of it reconceived/newly written for the concert. Including that whole weird last monologue by Weissman involving the reprise of "Beautiful Girls."*** Yes, thanks. I hadn't mentioned that new section, which I hate like poison. Presumably done under some terribly misguided notion that the concert needed to finish with a more substantial musical ending than the deeply sad and moving (and absolutely perfect) "Hi....girls....Ben.....Sally?" |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:27 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - Michael_Portantiere 09:08 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| The worst thing is that I know of at least one director that tacked that ending onto a full production of the show. Or, should I say an overstuffed production which included a number of the cut songs. Dreadful. | |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:52 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - Chromolume 09:27 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| ***The worst thing is that I know of at least one director that tacked that ending onto a full production of the show. Or, should I say an overstuffed production which included a number of the cut songs. Dreadful.*** I hope that person is no longer working. |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 01:08 am EDT 04/11/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - Michael_Portantiere 11:52 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| I don't know. This was a community theatre production back in 1991 - I can't even remember the director's name. (I was the pianist in the pit, coming in at the last minute to fill in.) | |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: pecansforall 03:54 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - Michael_Portantiere 03:28 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| I don't why but I seem to recall that the show wasn't originally envisioned as the huge and legendary event that it became. Over time, as casting began to fall into place the already excited word-of-mouth became more and more rabid. And then I think an album deal was made. And then the PBS deal was made. In the documentary Carol Burnett says something like they all thought it was going to be an easy gig but then they realized/learned that everything was going to be documented and recorded. I could be wrong. But there is no question that this is one of the most legendary events in Broadway history. |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: larry13 04:17 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - pecansforall 03:54 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| Burnett herself has also told the story that she originally thought it was just going to be a recording and that not until her friend Beverly Sills told her she was "coming to see it" did she realize that it was going to be a concert event. | |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 09:11 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - larry13 04:17 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| ***Burnett herself has also told the story that she originally thought it was just going to be a recording and that not until her friend Beverly Sills told her she was "coming to see it" did she realize that it was going to be a concert event.*** I have heard/read that before, and I still don't understand how such a misunderstanding could have been remotely possible. |
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| re: A few FOLLIES thoughts | |
| Posted by: pecansforall 04:23 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: A few FOLLIES thoughts - larry13 04:17 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| Ah! Thanks for the clarification on what Burnett said. You are correct. | |
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