Follies Revival on Broadway

Last night, Bill and I saw the recently opened Follies revival on Broadway. Yes, the show has some flaws, but its overall impact is still strong. And there is nothing else like it in the Broadway lexicon. The production has some wonderful touches--the Marquis theater is covered in black crepe and cloth to simulate the decaying theater that is about to be torn down. Faintly in the background, there are recordings of applause and music, giving the sense that the ghosts are fully inhabiting the theater. Throughout the show, the ghostly showgirls add ambiance and eeriness to the proceedings of the night. Costumes are appropriate for the party scenes and stunning for the Loveland sequence.

Then, there are some missteps. The biggest and most obvious for me was the staging of the mirror number. YouTube has probably ruined this for me unless someone can outshine Michael Bennett's original staging. This version fell somewhat flat, being more about the performances of the stars than about the irony and follies of aging. And it didn't have that same surreal quality of youth paired with age as the original production.

The Loveland sequence was nearly sublime. As the quartet was arguing with their younger selves, a curtain fell casting eerie shadows. When it fell suddenly, a brightly colored pink and red floral proscenium emerged and served as a backdrop for the sequence. This glittered with fabulous "period" costumes and the staging of the next numbers was near perfect.

Technically, there were still some kinks. The biggest occurred during Elaine Paige's performance of I'm Still Here. Her mic and follow-spot went out sometime around, "Sorry, I thought you were Whoosis. Whatever happened to her?" It came back right as she was belting her final "I'm still here!" This, of course, led to thunderous applause from the audience and Ms Paige broke character by shaking a fist at the rafters as she walked off.

Highlights from some of the former had to inclde the performances of Mary Beth Peil (as Solange), Jayne Hoodyshell (as Hattie) and Terri White as Stella Deems. However, a soft spot for me rested with Rosalind Elias as Heidi Schiller. Her performance of One More Kiss was glorious; yes, her voice had all of the distinct flaws that it should at 82 years old. But her performance was breathtaking and she blended perfectly with the wonderful Leah Horowitz.

The young versions of the quartet were charming and performed well.

Jan Maxwell as Phyllis really shone. The only quibble I had was with her version of Could I Leave You. She erupted in anger, which really doesn't suit the "cold as a slab" Phyllis Stone. On the other hand, it does give one the sense that she still feels for Ben and makes reconciliation seem more plausible. The dancing boys flubbed her ending of The Story of Lucy and Jessie, which is too bad because it was clearly a highlight.

As her self-loathing husband, Ben, Ron Raines was also quite good. You could see in his performance how Ben could erupt in a breakdown that left him cold, pitiful and alone.

Danny Burstein was sublime. As Buddy, he really brought forth his pain and struggles as he slowly faced up to his predicament of being hopelessly in love with Sally.

Don't flame me, but Bernadette Peters was the weakest link in the four principals. She acted the hell out of the role of Sally. But there is no way anyone was going to believe that she was the depressed, self-described shut-in who has been letting herself and her life go for the past 30 years. Her voice was also off last night, which didn't help any; her register breaks were more apparent than I had ever heard them and she made a bad choice in Losing My Mind to end on the high note--her voice cracked, and I don't think this was a character choice (like the emotional breakdown in the middle of the song, which felt real).

This production far out shined the revival from about 10 years ago with Judith Ivey and Blythe Danner. But the best production I saw has to be the Melrose Theater 1984 production, directed by Gene Nelson (the original Buddy); that small-scale version hit all the right notes. This current one at the Marquis Theater misses a few marks, but overall still has an impact.

Eye of Irene

So...right now we're in the eye of Irene (or what little eye there is).  Here's how things stand:

1.  Water came in under the front door and through the front door.  The door was stained with marine stain last year, but it is 82 years old and has some cracking.  Towels in the vestibule have kept problems with this to a minimum, but we're going to have to do something with the door.
2.  Water came in under the caps on the chimney.  It dripped down the chimney, collected in the living room (a small amount) and dripped through the floor into the basement by going around an electrical box.  When we cleaned up the water in the living room and put down towels and a bucket, the water stopped dripping around the electrical box (phew).  But, it continued to drip down the chimney into the basement.  Again, it's not very much, but it is collecting in buckets, large bowls and a roasting pan.  So far, no damage but we have to repair the chimney and make certain the brick doesn't need to be repointed.
3.  Dogs aren't faring to badly.  The walk this morning was fine, just very wet.  I don't understand why they stop and try to shake the water off while it's raining, but I'm not a dog and they can't tell me.  They don't seem unhappy.

Now, what's going on around here...

Some friends of ours are without power, but nothing locally, as far as I can tell.  Good thing--no power means no coffee.

One of our friends said that his neighbor's tree fell across their yard, crushing their shed, part of their new addition, trees and car.

Another of our friends was called to a fire last night (voluntary fire department) and then to work at 5 AM to direct food service, etc. at a nearby hospital.

My hospital has fared fairly well.  Some minor leaks but at the moment, no major damage or issues.

Around the neighborhood, lots of rotted branches and modest sized limbs have fallen off trees, but aside from LOTS of water, nothing too terrible.

Living room around the fireplace.  Yicky, sooty water in the bucket.



Basement with things to collect dripping water.

We'll see what happens when the winds pick up this afternoon.

Waiting for Irene

OK, like many others in the tri-state area, we are waiting around for Irene.  Hatches have been battened down, yard furniture and potential projectiles have been stored and we got some wee-wee pads for the puppies in case they can't get outside.  We have a lot of food in the house, including stuff that can be cooked on the gas stove top in case the power goes out.  Bill bought a cooler that we can load up so that we don't have to keep opening the freezer after the power goes out.  We should be okay.

But I worry.  I don't know if we're prepared enough.  Now, it looks like we won't know for sure until late tomorrow night, although the rain just started.

In the meantime, here's the map of the current path of Irene showing where we are.