There are good moments in what is, essentially, a good summer stock production of FOLLIES. I blame the idiot director for all of the misfires, beginning with the too-literal and too-solid set that makes no allowances for the transition to Loveland without dropping a curtain and then opening it suddenly to reveal the fantasy sequence. Boris Aronson, come back! The whole marvel of the four principals and their younger selves being suddenly caught up in a scenic transformation outside their control is completely missing. Because the set is so solid, with this too solid staircase dominating the first act, there's no sense the original had of the action taking place all over the theatre, in various nooks and crannies where people go to talk privately. ""Waiting for the Girls Upstairs" would be wonderful if there weren't a lot of lounging party guests standing at the back of the stage doing nothing.
Also missing is the sense of haunting and mystery at the beginning: the showgirls ghosts move too fast, the business of the caterers setting up a party and moving among the ghosts is gone as well. When Bernadette Peters arrives as the first guest, there are no waiters, no signs of a bartender, it's ridiculous. This is a revival of a mood piece without a mood.
The Montage is performed well, but it's too brightly lit; I don't think the audience is supposed to know if Solange, Hattie, and the Whitmans are performing or if it'sgoing on inside their heads. If they are performing, and since the songs represent different periods of popular song, they're not performing the songs as a counterpoint trio; they're each caught up in their own moment at various moments in the evening. The finish and the too-bright lighting, make it loo as tough they're competing for who can sing their number the broadest at the end.
I owe Bernadette Peters a big apology; she was so much better than I ever anticipated. The voice is ragged but she's sure caught the vulnerability and mental problems of an unhappy woman. The character of Sally is the closest portrait of my mother in drama that I can think of, and her "Losing My Mind" moved me to tears. The original production was about Ben; this production is about Sally and I think that was my impression with Dorothy Collins as well.
My two friends Danny and Ron are wonderful: "Buddy's Blues" may be the best number in the show and it's quite marvelous. For me the weak link is Jan Maxwell, whose "Leave You?" is so over acted and overly hostile that it's clearly appealing to those fans of the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink school of acting; they think her over-the-top bitch is Tony worthy. From Dame Ben Brantley's review in the TIMES, he's in this camp as well, but he's an twit. If she's this hostile, I can't believe that at the finish she still loves Ben. I didn't think she was bad at all until that number and then I decided once again -as I did many times during the production - that the director is a total fraud. and inept, to boot.
