Anyone seeing FOLLIES in LA tonight?

[somethingwicked]

I presume "everything" includes us and not just All That Chat.

Right, so then why would you say he "exaggerated" simply because the remark wasn't found on this site? It could very well have been a verbatim quotation.

[CarlosAlberto]

[qolbinau]

What are you face palming at?

[CarlosAlberto]

This never ending merry-go-round over a friggin' dress.

[nealb1]

J - yes, Sally's entrance and exit is the same amount of time as Bernadette had.

[SonofRobbieJ]

All y'all are nuts.

But the aspersion cast at Ms. Peters and her suggesting the red dress and that it had to do with not wanting to be upstaged by Jan Maxwell (which she wasn't) is just kind of gross.

[singingbackup]

I saw it Friday night and loved it. Such a pleasure to see Danny Burstein again on the Ahmanson stage (he won me over in Drowsy Chaperone.) Glorious orchestra, great cast, beautiful costumes. Unlike others, the first act flew by for me. I felt Victoria Clark's Sally was very satifsfying. Sweet, touching and understated. And her voice so beautiful.

If you see it's not selling well, take a moment, post something on your social media (especially LA locals) and spread the news. Word of mouth can be very beneficial to a tough sell like "Follies."

Side note: With such a big group down in the pit, make sure you stay for the playout music. So worth it!

[nealb1]

Much agreed, Singingbackup. The orchestra is just so beautiful!

[Gaveston2]

But the aspersion cast at Ms. Peters and her suggesting the red dress and that it had to do with not wanting to be upstaged by Jan Maxwell (which she wasn't) is just kind of gross.

I hate to disillusion you, SonofRobbieJ, but nobody becomes a star of Miss Peters' stature (much less maintains that stardom for four decades) without a very keen sense of how to grab and hold an audience's attention. Phyllis has always been the "showy" part, even though Sally does the heavy lifting. I am speculating, of course, but I very much doubt Peters wanted to carry Maxwell on her shoulders.

Read Beverly Sills' autobiography for a lengthy anecdote regarding the color of a dress and what it taught Miss Sills about stardom.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Oh, my dear Gaveston, any illusions I may have had about anything in this business were gone by the time I was 25. I don't even really have a problem with your hypothesis. But the tone? Kinda nasty.

Sorry...maybe I'm a little touchy today because I'm dealing with some issues in a couple of projects I'm working on where actors are being treated badly. I just found your comment distasteful.

[SueleenGay]

Actors SHOULD be treated badly, keeps 'em humble.

[SonofRobbieJ]

I swear, if you didn't have a debiliting brain injury, I'd take offense.

[Gaveston2]

Oh, my dear Gaveston, any illusions I may have had about anything in this business were gone by the time I was 25. I don't even really have a problem with your hypothesis. But the tone? Kinda nasty.

I'm sorry and no offense taken, but I don't know what you are talking about. Of course "tone" is always tricky over the internet, but I thought mine was very matter-of-fact.

It's not as if I'm claiming that Peters tried to cut one of Maxwell's numbers or threw a cellphone at her maid. I'll be happy to state here and now that I have no knowledge of Peters misbehaving on any of her many shows. I certainly have nothing against the woman; on the contrary, I've been a fan since the DAMES AT SEA LP.

I simply said I wasn't surprised the suggestion to put Sally in fiery red came from the star herself. And to her credit, Peters invented a plausible, realistic explanation for the choice. But that doesn't mean you and I should be naive about stars and their motivations.

[SonofRobbieJ]

I didn't read it as matter-of-fact. I read it as a dig. I'm glad to hear you didn't mean it that way.

But it was also taking place against this insane conversation about how Phyllis MUST wear red because of her buried passions, which I would argue are not exactly buried. There's no particular need for Lucy and Jessie (or Ah! But Underneath...or the song that is infinitely better than either Uptown/Downtown) calls for a red dress...save for the fact that Florence Klotz designed the original that way. Of course there was a reason for it. But it simply doesn't have to be that way. And, frankly, when Peters showed up (in Washinton) looking resplendent in red, you thought, 'Well, how could someone top her.' Then Maxwell enters looking like the tallest, most wonderful glass of champagne in the world. She looked extraordinary...and put Peters to shame. And you could feel that in the performance. Sally showed up looking her absolute best...and she still couldn't touch Phyllis.

[BroadwayFan12]

ENOUGH ABOUT THE F-ING DRESS ALREADY! Please take it to PMs if you must continue this drivel.

[SonofRobbieJ]

The only way the red dress conversation could be worse would be to continue it in private.

[ljay889]

LOL and Who the fUck are you, Broadwayfan12?

[Gaveston2]

Robbie, it's no dig to acknowledge that Peters has been a major Broadway star for 30 to 40 years and remains in demand today. And it's mere candor to admit that stars remain stars because they know how to present themselves to in the best possible light.

As for costume colors, I have no problem with the photos of Phyllis in a champagne-colored dress for the party. But this production uses very heightened colors for most of Loveland ("Buddy's Blues" is particularly garish); this isn't a criticism: I assume the color scheme is true to the period or, if not reality, then true to the idea of a Follies of the imagination.

But given the range of colors in play, if you don't put Phyllis in red, what other color could you choose?

As for Sally, she makes it clear she doesn't wear couture. ("Yes, my clothes are not Paris fashions...") I don't believe she bought the DC red dress off the rack, do you?

[BroadwayFan12]

I'm someone who doesn't give a rat's ass about the dress.

[Gaveston2]

ENOUGH ABOUT THE F-ING DRESS ALREADY! Please take it to PMs if you must continue this drivel.

If your scroll bar is broken, it's time to buy a new computer.

FWIW, the conversation isn't really about a dress. It's actually about the main characters of the play, who they are and how best to show who they are. I think that's at least as worthy a subject as rude ushers, predicting Tony noms a year in advance, and who signs what at the stage door. JMO, of course.

[SonofRobbieJ]

The Peters' red dress was very pretty...but very simply. I do believe you could buy that off the rack. I saw it in DC, as well as New York and didn't feel the red was a distraction...and it certainly wasn't a distraction for Lucy and Jessie.

As for what I'd put Phyllis in?

Well...I'd either go for a shimmering bodice done in bugle beads (ie Zellwegger's dress when she sang Roxie in the film CHICAGO), or I'd go the complete opposite direction and pull a Dietrich and put her in a sensationally-fitted tuxedo.

[Gaveston2]

I'd love the tuxedo idea if Ben didn't wear one in the next number.

I guess that's part of the issue in Loveland: each star's outfit has to be balanced against the other three.

***

In any event, I fully intend to enjoy the costumes as well as the rest of the show when I see it tomorrow night.

In the meantime, I'm sorry you're having a bad day, SonofRobbiej. (This is a reference to your post above about mistreated actors in your current projects. I'm not suggesting you've been grouchy with me.)

[SonofRobbieJ]

Thank you. Badly treated actors makes me angrier than almost anything in the world.

Oh...and you assume Ben would be in a tux in my lavish production of Follies. Think more 'Le Jazz Hot'!

[Gaveston2]

^^^LOL!

I agree with you about mistreating actors. Yes, some can be a pain in the ass, but all the good ones spend a great deal of time making themselves very vulnerable. They deserve to be protected, not abused.

***

It occurred to me since I last posted that we might point out to others that nothing written here about the "dress" would be out of place in a standard production meeting. Yes, there are more participants and our "meeting" is held over several days, but all of these issues have to be addressed when a show is mounted.

[Mister Matt]

Is this the dress you bitches are bitchily bitching about?

[CarlosAlberto]