follies changes...from DC to NYC

[once a month]

Posted: 9/8/11 at 2:51pm

After seeing and loving Follies over the past weekend, I found the changes to be such an improvement! At first I was bummed they lost Linda Lavin, but Jayne Houdyshells Broadway Baby was a revelation. Hell, the entire segment from Rain on the Roof (Susan Watson & Don Correia) through Ah, Paris (Mary Beth Peil) to Broadway Baby was so much better than before. They also added an ending to the segment, incorporating all three songs in an official and uplifitng ending to the scene. Also, I loved Who's That Woman in both cases, but the NYC version seemed a bit less polished which was exactly how it should be portrayed with a few 'forgotten' moves or facing in the wrong direction which seemed much more realistic. The sheer joy of the number left me elated and to be honest, I've been on a cloud ever since.

And NO...I have not seen the original , just the past couple of revivals. The production left me incredible moved.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 9/8/11 at 6:12pm

"They also added an ending to the segment, incorporating all three songs in an official and uplifitng ending to the scene"

This is the way the song/montage was written...the KC just cut the 'Montage' for the end. The montage was included for the Encores and Papermill productions.


I too love the changes that I've seen/heard of so far (my tickets are for just after opening night). Will be very interested to see this, I thought it was stunning in DC.

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/8/11 at 8:25pm

I'm just glad they changed Sally's dress...

[newintown]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 10:13am

Sally's dress is much better, but too bad that Peters' insane over-acting has only become more overblown. The new cast members are great, and it was a real joy to hear the Montage as written instead of dumbed-down to suit a star who was too big for her role. Maxwell's choreography for "Lucy & Jessie" is much better, too. Page has a modified costume that looks classier than the cheap look she sported in DC, but she overacts the hell out of "I'm Still Here," now that she knows the words. I suppose that's better than her lyric-forgetting, wandering around the stage version from DC.

Overall, the NY version is marked improvement over DC, but it doesn't change my opinion that Schaeffer and Carlyle are hacks.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 10:19am

The new cast members are great, and it was a real joy to hear the Montage as written instead of dumbed-down to suit a star who was too big for her role.

While it wouldn't surprise me that Lavin wanted to make Hattie more of a showstopper (a second Carlotta, really), I'd imagine the change had as much (if not more) to do with Regine and her struggles. Houdyshell, Piel, Correia, and Watson are indeed a dream.

[newintown]

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

You may very well be right, AC; Regine was a total disaster, and not in an entertaining way. It makes you wonder if Schaeffer hired her sight unseen.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 11:55am

Mary Beth Peil said that Schaffer offered her the role of Solange sight unseen, over e-mail, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Regine were offered the role on name alone. Not that anyone even knows that name, or is able to remember a time when she was relevant--if she ever was.

[newintown]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 11:58am

She got a lot of press back in the late 70s as a nightclub maven (as I recall), but I admit that I had never heard a word about her as a performer until this summer. Her claims to have "invented" the concept of the discotheque are, of course, ridiculous. She just owned a popular one for a brief moment.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 12:00pm

Have you read her Wikipedia entry. She, or someone close to her, obviously wrote it.
Regine

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 2:14pm

I imagine he offered many of the roles without auditioning them -- I doubt that Lavin, Paige, and some others had to audition for it.

I know Raines did audition.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 2:19pm

I LOVE her Wikipedia article.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 2:43pm

I imagine he offered many of the roles without auditioning them -- I doubt that Lavin, Paige, and some others had to audition for it.

Those people, however, are proven singers/actors. Regine is not. Paige said that she was offered Carlotta without an audition, but there's a definite assumption that she wouldn't have trouble singing or acting.

Regine's Wikipedia article is hilarious.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 2:49pm

Maxwell and Burstein were also offered their roles without auditions.

Raines was asked to audition after negotiations with John Dossett failed.

I do wonder how true the Kim Cattrall as Phyllis rumors were?

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 2:51pm

I've wondered that too. I imagine they must have held some weight, since several reputable websites were reporting on it.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 2:53pm

Exactly. She might have had some box office appeal, but I do wonder how different the production would be without Maxwell's great performance.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 2:55pm

I'd imagine Cattrall would do fine in the role, but I am glad Maxwell got the job. I look forward to seeing Cattrall in PRIVATE LIVES come fall.

Most of the articles at the time say that she was "in talks" for Phyllis, so I'd surmise that maybe something broke down in negotiations, a la Dossett.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 4:45pm

Ccatrall has the looks, body and attitude Phyliss needs, I think she may have been terrific. In thev right dress, she could just stand there and do a knock-out LUCY AND JESSE, which is Maxwell's biggest challange.

I (and many Broadway ticket buyers)am old enough to remember when Regine was a name. She may have not invented disco, but she certainly elevated it to another level. And she was an accomplished chanteuse (maybe a minor one).

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 11:59am

Catrall would only sign on if they guaranteed it would move to Bway, which they couldn't do. She was dead set on getting to Bway...and now she has with Private Lives.

[Brick]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 12:41pm

"It was here that she introduced France to the 'Twist', having seen the Paris cast of West Side Story warming up to Chubby Checker records."

Amazing.

[Brick]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 12:42pm

And as thrilled as I am Jan Maxwell is playing the part, I must say I would love to have seen Catrall or Vanessa Williams, to whom they also offered the part.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 12:47pm

Williams is one of my dream Phyllises. I'd also love to see her as Desiree Armfeldt.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 12:47pm

I don't recall hearing that Vanessa Williams was offered the role? I know some of us wanted her for the role, but she was already committed to Desperate Housewives when all of the casting gossip began last summer.

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 12:49pm

I don't remember hearing about Williams being offered the role either, but it would have been possible for her to do the DC run with no conflicts. DH is usually on hiatus from April-July.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 1:36pm

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought I remembered someone saying on the initial casting thread here that she was formally offered Phyllis, but either had to turn it down because of DH or chose to do DH instead.

As for Catrall, I think she'd make a marvelous Phyllis, but I just can't picture her in this cast. I know she isn't actually, but I just can't banish from my mind the thought that she's too young (I know not as written, but just in this revival).

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 2:30pm

Catrall is 56, yes, a very good 56, but Phyliss would also look good for her age.