Well, dear readers, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Why am I always saying “it” so much? I’ve said “it” before, I’ll say “it” again. Enough with the “it” already. Every morning I go to this handy-dandy place that Mr. Mark Bakalor has set up for me to write these here notes, and every day I look at this blank header bar that says “Subject” and every day I stare at that blank bar until a title hits me. Have you ever been hit by a title? It’s painful. In any case, I find it difficult to start writing unless I have filled in a title. That is why, some weeks ago, I called these here notes “Untitled”, because I simply couldn’t think of anything. In any case, since I was coming up blank I decided to use that as a title, so I could get started, because I’ve got a lot to write and then I must work on my musical comedy.
Of course, if I were writing about that very talented orchestrator/arranger/conductor, Mr. Larry Blank, then the title of these here notes would make perfect sense, would they not?
Don’t forget, you still have time to submit answers to this weekend’s Unseemly Trivia Contest. If you haven’t seen the question and the new rules, just click on the Unseemly Archive Button and check out Saturday’s notes. We still only have partial winners, no one has guessed all the answers necessary to have a Highest Winner. Also, Donald’s new radio show is up and running, so give it a listen.
I feel the subject is blank today, don’t you dear readers? I feel I have said nothing whatsoever of any importance at all. That is because the title of these here notes is The Subject Was Blank, and that has led me down a blank path of nothingness. I feel I am in a blank void, a blank black hole, a blank bermuda triangle, notes-wise. Well, perhaps if we all click on the Unseemly Button below we will find substance and meaning.
Ah, yes, now. Now, we have substance and meaning. A simple click and we have substance and meaning here at haineshisway.com. Perhaps it is time to speak of another of my favorite musicals. This musical is one of my all-time favorites and has been since the moment I first heard the Original Cast Album.
Follies, by Mr. Stephen Sondheim and Mr. James Goldman, with assistance from Mr. Harold Prince and Mr. Michael Bennett and one of the most inspired casts and productions I’ve ever seen. What is it about Follies? It became a cult musical as soon as it opened. And the cult was a rabid drooling lot, who went back again and again, this cult could simply not get enough of Follies. Sadly, I only saw it once – but that once was enough to put it in the pantheon of great musicals and great productions. It is a virtual impossibility for anyone who has only seen revivals of Follies, to know what that original production was like. It was, in a word, perfection. There has been much tinkering with Follies in the years since it closed. A hugely revised book and score for Mike Ockrent’s London production, new material and alternate songs at Papermill, and some revisions for the recent Roundabout revival. None of them, in my humble opinion, improve on the original book and score in any way, shape or form. And though I’ve seen several productions with several excellent casts, nothing has ever approached what I saw on the stage of the Shubert Theater here in Los Angeles.
I’m one of the few who had no problem with James Goldman’s book. I liked James Goldman’s book. I thought it was interesting, had characters with depth (whether you liked them or not) and it moved right along and had some really funny moments. Sondheim’s score, of course, is one of the glories of the American musical theater – one brilliant song after another, whether plot or pastiche, always perfectly in tune with the subject matter. My favorite of them, for many reasons, is The Road You Didn’t Take, one of the great theater songs of all time. I also love Don’t Look At Me (who else would’ve written that number?), In Buddy’s Eyes (heartbreaking, when it’s done right), Losing My Mind, Too Many Mornings, and on and on.
I don’t think it’s any surprise that I pretty much detested the recent revival. I thought it wrong-headed in just about every single way. Those who had never seen Follies, seemed to enjoy it more, but they, of course, blamed any shortcomings on the book. All the shortcomings should have been blamed on poor direction, poor casting choices and an awful set design. So, let me be a nostalgic poop and go on about the original production. First of all, there will never ever be a Sally to equal that of Dorothy Collins. There, I’ve said it and I’m glad. Wherever that performance came from, it was mesmerizing, chilling, touching, horrifying and amazing. Her readings of In Buddy’s Eyes and Losing My Mind will, to my mind, never be improved upon. She just was Sally, simple as that. Alexis Smith as Phyllis was also perfection – regal, icy, bitchy, but with an undercurrent of pain and need. Both ladies made no obvious choices in their playing of the scenes. Both of them had so much happening under the surface it was just an incredible thing to watch. And the two leading men were as good as the ladies. John McMartin, who, at the time, was the youngest actor of the leads, played his role with such a world-weariness that you would have sworn he was twenty years older than he really was at the time. And when he “went up” in the closing number, it was one of the most frightening things I’ve ever seen on the stage, because you believed he’d really forgotten the lyrics, it was so real. Gene Nelson was the perfect Buddy, and he’s the only actor I’ve ever seen who’s made The Right Girl work. His dance at the end of it was astonishing (I have this memory that at the end of it, he grabbed onto a pole and swung himself through two other poles – it looked quite dangerous to me, but it was pretty thrilling). Then there was the supporting cast – again, no one will ever better Ethel Shutta’s Broadway Baby, and Fifi d’Orsay was wonderful, as were the people who played Roscoe, the Whitmans, etc. Mary McCarty was terrific as Stella Deems, and Who’s That Woman? in Mr. Bennett’s hands, remains one of the great musical numbers ever. Then we had Yvonne de Carlo. Have there been better singers do better interpretations of I’m Still Here? Maybe. Was Ms. de Carlo perfect in the role? Absolutely. First of all, unlike all these recent redos, she was the right age – fifty (I’m not even sure she was fifty yet). Whether you loved Ann Miller or Polly Bergen or not, there is something creepy about seeing a seventy-five year old lady coming on to a waiter in his twenties. That’s not the way the role was written – it’s not supposed to be a legend singing I’m Still Here, that is totally not the point of the song, as written in the show. The point of the song as written in the show is that this second-rate star, has always managed, no matter what, to keep going, to keep surviving, whether in B-movies or televison series (exactly the kind of career Ms. de Carlo had) or whatever.
Wow, that was a long paragraph, But when it comes to this show and that production, I just cannot shut up. Boris Aronson’s set design was brilliant, as were Florence Klotz’s costumes. Tharon Musser’s lighting was in a class by itself, and even with all of today’s technology, I have never seen better. There are always arguments about what is the best Follies to get on CD. Of course, you should have them all, for a variety of reasons – but if you can have only one, it best be the Broadway cast album. Yes, it’s truncated, yes, it’s missing a lot of material, but what it has are definitive performances and a real cast album feel. It can’t be bettered, period. The 2 CD concert set appeals to some but not to me. I just have never been able to get with it – it’s harsh sounding, and the performances just don’t do it for me. The London album is interesting for the new material – I really like the new Loveland song, and I love Make The Most of Your Music, but neither those nor the other additions are better than what was in the show originally. And I’m afraid I’m no fan of the Papermill Playhouse recording, which I find dreary and dull, although it does have lots of cut material in an appendix.
What am I, Ken Mandelbaum all of a sudden? I think I should retitle today’s notes, The Subject Was Follies, don’t you, dear readers? I have written myself out for today, I think. So, I will have to save the Psycho! The Musical song for tomorrow. And I can assure you, the subject will not be blank tomorrow, tomorrow I shall have a nifty title.
Before I close, let me just say that I watched an Academy screener of A.I. Artificial Intelligence last night, and I will say once again that it remains my favorite film of 2001. I know I’m in the minority, and I don’t care. I will also say that in ten years time this film will be considered a classic and critics and audiences who lambasted it, will not remember why they did so. I was hoping that it would win the Golden Globe for Best Score, but I should have known those twits would give it to Moulin Rouge. Like or hate Moulin Rouge, it has twelve minutes of original score and it shouldn’t have even been nominated in this category. It was like when they gave the Oscar for original score to Herbie Hancock for Round Midnight, a film with not more than four minutes of original music, if I remember correctly. Oh, my goodness, am I on a soapbox? I do believe I am on a soapbox, and that is unseemly. I shall now get off my soapbox because I must take the garbage bag out of my kitchen because it smells like there’s a dead racoon in there.