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August 14, 2011:

FOLLIES

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, Follies. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, Follies. My first experience with Follies was hearing its cast album on Capitol. I had no other frame of reference. After Company, I simply knew I had to hear any new show by my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim. I was bowled over the album. At that point, I didn’t quite know how much had been truncated, and even back then it sounded like the album had been hastily put together. But I knew the score was a work of genius and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why the orchestrations were what they were until I’d heard the album about five times – then it all came clear to me. Jonathan Tunick’s work on Follies is brilliant and in very surprising ways. I dreamed the show. I saw photos and saw the cast on TV and was very angry when no number from the show was performed. The show closed on Broadway and I was very excited to see that almost the entire original cast was coming to Los Angeles to do it at the then brand new Shubert Theatre in Century City – in fact, Follies would be the very first show in that theater – ironic, considering the show takes place in a theatre that is about to be torn down. My parents got tickets for my then-wife and me and we all went. I was beyond excited – I was finally going to see Follies, but could the show compare to the show I’d devised in my imagination?

The house lights dimmed. This was one of the first shows not to have a curtain. I was fascinated by set and all its levels and couldn’t wait to see how it functioned. The prologue began and lights flashed at the audience, temporarily blinding us. As our eyes cleared the first thing we saw was an impossibly tall showgirl ghost walking high above stage left. It was startling. More showgirl ghosts entered and the costumes and headdresses were amazing. Finally, Dorothy Collins entered and said her opening speech and I knew I was about to see a show and production that would be the greatest thing I’d ever seen or ever would see. And from that point on, through all two hours and however many intermissionless minutes the show lasted, I was mesmerized, I was entranced, I was laughing, I was moved – the way Harold Prince and Michael Bennett staged the scenes with the four leads and their younger selves was never less than breathtaking – I’d never seen anything quite like it. You just knew what was going on at every step. The choreography was unbelievable – the Bolero, the Who’s That Woman number (one of the greatest examples of choreography that is not only genius but actually means something), the montage sequence that included Broadway Baby (Ethel Shutta came downstage, planted herself, and delivered that song like nobody’s business – definitive then, definitive now, despite what the kiddies may tell you) and on and on. And then the last final argument between the four leads and their young counterparts, when everything gets mixed up and older is talking to younger and the music comes in and then the set begins transforming itself into Loveland – well, it was one-off and one of the greatest bits of theatrical magic ever. The show, up to that point, had never stopped moving. Each scene and sequence flowed into the next fluidly, thanks to the moving platforms – people wandered about and you never lost sight of the party that was taking place. The whole show seemed to take place in various realities and that was what was so astonishing about it. And then came Loveland, with one incredible number after another and it was just unbelievable. Alexis Smith, Dorothy Collins, John McMartin, and Gene Nelson, each one perfection. The supporting cast – perfection. The ensemble – perfection. And then the ending, after all the stuff we’ve seen through the evening comes vomiting up (something Prince had done previously but not quite as well in Cabaret), that sad postlude and the wrecking ball visible and the final ghosts’ singing. I couldn’t move.

Interestingly, the audience reaction was mild. There were many middle-aged theatergoers there and I think the malaise the middle-aged characters suffered hit close to home. Of course, some people were misled by the title and thought they were coming to see middle-aged people do a follies. There were no screaming idiots in the audience. There was no deafening cheering and woo-hooing, as if the audience was at a circus instead of a show. There certainly was some thunderous applause for certain numbers. No standing ovation, of course. In any case. It was and is the greatest night of theatre I’ve ever experienced. Everything about the show worked – and I want everyone here to read this real carefully – the BOOK, the score, the staging, the sets, the lights, and the costumes, along with the performances. There was not a weak link in the bunch. And yes, I said the BOOK.

Since that fantastic night, I have never forgotten one moment of that production – not one. When I was doing Forget-Me-Not Lane at the Taper, I took Tharon Musser, who’d done the lighting for Follies and who was doing our show, for a drink and told her I could hum her light cues for Follies, which I proceeded to do – she was shocked that anyone could remember lighting. I queried John McMartin constantly, but he was not very talkative about Follies.

My next experience with Follies was seeing a pretty decent rendering at LACC, with Diana Canova. It was very faithful to the original staging. Next up was a production in Long Beach with Shani Wallis and Juliet Prowse and a lot of folks like Yma Sumac and Dorothy Lamour. Even though some of the original choreography was used, the director had no idea how to stage the show. One never had the sense of a party going on, and the entire reason for doing it seemed to be to haul out the old gals – well, that’s not what Follies is about. Then I saw a tiny production in a hole in the wall theater off Melrose directed by Gene Nelson. I don’t remember any of the cast save for Joyce Jameson as Carlotta. But I learned one thing from seeing that terrible production – I don’t ever need to see Follies done with just a piano.

I’d heard good things about the Papermill Playhouse production, but after hearing the cast album I knew they, too, didn’t really understand what the show was about. Then I saw the revival at the Roundabout, which was terrible in just about every way. But here’s another thing I want you to remember – even though people now talk about the awfulness of the production, the audience I saw it with was filled with Sondheads who screamed and cheered and went nuts for every little thing. They conveniently forget that now that they have a new production to go nuts over.

Which brings us to the new revival about to open on Broadway (fresh from the Kennedy Center). I’ve heard every kind of comment – from lousy to brilliant. One camp thinks Bernadette is miscast and not that hot as Sally. Everyone likes Jan Maxwell. The men get good marks. The young set, with no prior Follies experience LOVES everything about it. Some of the young set with no prior Follies experience love parts but are very critical of other parts (of course, these aspiring performers could do everything better). I walked into the theater with an open mind – I know several cast members, I love the show, I knew it was a full-sized orchestra, and though I’m not a huge fan of the director, I was ready to be transported.

So, let me start by saying that I don’t think it’s possible for anyone who saw the original production to ever be unbiased and come to a revival without that being a comparison, and frankly, no matter what the revival’s strengths nothing would ever live up to the memories of that original production. I knew that going in.

The set looked a little anemic, but nothing was ever going to touch that original set. The house lights dimmed and the prologue began. That opening music is just so fantastic and one can’t help but be swept up in it. But before I could be swept up in it, I had to tune out the applause that greeted the lights dimming. Apparently, audiences have devolved to the point where lights dimming is cause for an ovation. Then the showgirl ghosts appear and we were off and running. I’m not going to do a blow by blow for you. I will say the following: the cast is very strong. My two pals, Danny Burstein and Ron Raines are just wonderful in it – both give very different performances from the predecessors, but they’ve put a lot of thought into what they’re doing and, for me, they score high marks. Jan Maxwell really delivers the goods. And after hearing all the Bernadette is miscast stuff, I was surprised at how good I thought she was. She’s very different from Dorothy Collins (who gave one of the most heartbreaking performances I’ve ever seen) – just a whole different vibe, and that’s fine and as it should be. Her interpretation is valid, her voice was in good shape, and I just responded to what she was doing in just about every way you can respond. It was great to see Susan Watson back on Broadway, and seeing Don Correia opposite her was a treat. Rosalind Elias (eighty-three years young) was fantastic as was her young counterpart. And Jane Houdyshell was a fine Hattie. But everyone was good – not really anyone who was weak.

In fact, any problems that I had were with the direction and choreography and again that’s probably because the original is so embedded in my psyche. That said, some of the directorial choices are just plain weird – the party comes and goes but not in a visually interesting manner, and the choreography, while competent, never really takes you to that place where you just know you’re seeing something done by a master. But my biggest complaints are, of course, what the creators of this show have allowed to be done to it over the years. And so, no Bolero, an intermission that is so harmful and pointless that you want to scream at everyone – this show cannot have an intermission. There’s just no discussion. The original creators learned that and putting one is disrupts the amazing progression of the final forty-five minutes of the show. Tell an audience that there is no intermission and they will sit – they did for the original of Follies, they did for 1776 and they do for movies all the time. Of course, the pace would have to be picked up – too many moments go on too long. The book changes all diminish the power of the original – I missed lines and moments and the replacements are just not so hot. I can only tell you that there were NO book problems in the original production. That is because everything in that production worked – every part of that brilliant machine did what it was supposed to do. I wish they’d just go back to the original and let it be. But, of all the productions I’ve seen subsequent to the original, this one was the least problematic for me and for once the director really does seem to be aware that the show isn’t about the old performers – it’s about the four leads.

But the most problematic thing about the whole evening was the audience. It’s getting so bad that I don’t even want to go to the theater anymore. There were two young crazy girls two rows in back of me who screamed at the top of their lungs for every number – maybe they thought they were at a rock concert. But it’s no longer enough to give a nice clapping ovation to a number that deserves it – no, now the audience must scream and cheer and yell. One idiot actually stood up after Who’s That Woman, trying his hardest to goad others to do the same. Thankfully, no one joined him and he looked like the twit he was. And you know what it all boils down to, that kind of audience reaction? It’s not about the show at all – it’s about THEM. It’s rude, it’s insufferable and it is pretty much ruining the theater-going experience for me. But that’s today – it’s a lot of Sondheads, goofy teens, tourists wearing shorts to the theater on a Saturday night, and feeling that they have to justify what they’ve just spent on tickets by behaving like an audience at Barnum and Bailey circus – those audiences are not as annoying as these. End of rant.

After the show, I went backstage and saw Danny and Ron. I actually hadn’t seen Ron in years and it was so great to chat with him. Same with Danny. I left and ran into Susan Watson on the street – I think they get stopped by so many people now that it took her a while to remember who I was, even though we’ve been in each other’s company many times. Once she did, we had a nice chat. I then joined Barry Pearl and some cousins of his, along with Brian Gari and his girlfriend at Angus. It was very raucous and fun.

Prior to all that, I’d gotten up at nine and was out the door by ten. My plan was to jog down to Third and go as far as I could, maybe doing two miles. When I got to Park I saw that the street was closed to traffic and open to bikers and joggers. So, I headed uptown. I ran from 46th to 86th and back – four miles. It was very fun to do. Then I had a meeting with our Monday cameraman and our production assistant. The cameraman is going to be terrific – he’s a musical comedy nut, loved the scripts, gets the show, and had a lot of great ideas. He’s bringing some lighting and a steadicam, too, so we should be able to get some good stuff. After that, I relaxed for a while, then went with the production assistant to Joe Allen where I had a small Caesar and a pulled pork sandwich. Then I came back to the hotel, did some stuff on the computer and that was that.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it is very late and I must get a good night’s sleep.

Today, I shall try to sleep until at least ten, then, if it isn’t raining, I’ll do the exact same jog as yesterday – I hope I can do it. Then I’ll be meeting David Wechter for an early dinner, after which I’ll relax and get to bed early, so I’m well rested for our shoot.

Tomorrow, upon arising I have to announce our new Kritzerland release at nine Eastern Time. Then, starting at ten, we shoot all day at a rehearsal studio. Everything were shooting there is musical, and involves playback, a lot of coverage, tap-dancing, and singing. I can’t wait! Tuesday we do two short setup scenes with just two actors in each scene. That’s much easier. One we shoot at Angus, and one we shoot at Brad Oscar’s apartment. I can’t wait! And then I come home early on Wednesday morning, so we’ll need lots of excellent vibes and xylophones for a safe, secure, and on-time flight home – and NO RAIN!

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, hopefully do the four-mile jog, I must do some prep work for the shoot, and I must eat. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to Loveland – I mean, dreamland.

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