Noel, I think you've missed the point of Follies entirely. Of the entire cast of characters, only the central four regret their life choices. Everyone else celebrates how their lives have gone. Sally, Ben, Buddy and Phyllis are all in stark contrast to their peers, who have all gone on with their lives, through their ups and down, and are satisfied with the results. What Follies is about, and what the Loveland sequence points out, is the folly of regretting what has past instead of living in the present. I'm surprised you missed that.
You think I've missed something? Whatever do you think I missed?
I missed the grandeur of the original production, and the brilliance of the original Broadway stars.
Follies spends most of its time on four characters. I'm well aware that they stand in marked contrast to the minor characters like Hattie, Carlotta and Dmitri who don't regret their lives for a moment.
But Ben, Sally, Phyllis and Buddy do. At length. Loudly and often. Have they learned anything by the end? It's doubtful, but open for interpretation.
I don't go to the theatre to see characters whine at me. It's why I loathed The Secret Garden. It's a main reason I couldn't get in to Rent. The whining thing is not my idea of a good time.
I'd rather see characters learn from each other, overcome whatever adversities they can, and move on. If Follies focussed on Carlotta and Hattie and put the regretful quartet in the background, I'd have liked it a whole lot better.
And do not misinterpret me as saying everything should be happy. Tragic things can happen. Look at Porgy. He gets Bess to love him and then she runs off with a drug dealer. Do we have to listen to him whine about it? Nope. He's On His Way, ever-faithful that the Lord will lead him to her. It breaks my heart, and I love it.
Now, really, what terrible tragedies do the Follies four endure? Well, one should have worn green. And they're in troubled marriages they don't bother to leave. Boo-hoo, I say! Boo
f-ing hoo!
