Customer Reviews

Follies in Concert (1985 Live Performance) + Stavisky Film Score

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If any one album makes a case for FOLLIES is is this set of FOLLIES IN CONCERT. It is not the definitive FOLLIES, but about as close as we're likely to get. The sound is very VERY good, especially for a live recording, but as such there is quite a bit of applause on this disc.

Producer Thomas Shephard originally taped the dress rehearsal so he would have quiet endings for all the numbers but when the audience nearly tore the roof off Avery Fisher Hall, he decided that eliminating applause would negate the event that led to the album. So, he comprmised and used applause after the "follies" numbers but not after plot songs. If you didn't know this you might wonder why "Beautiful Gilrs' gets such a huge hand and the next song "don't Look at me" seems to be met with stoney silence.

The cast is sensational. Perhaps not in the same league as the originals but a fine "revival" cast. Lee Remick and Barbara Cook are ideal as leading ladies Phyllis and Sally and its a joy to hear Cook's glorious voice in "Losing My Mind." Mandy Patinkin effectively uses his energy to put a new spin on "Buddy's Blues. " I know some object to his over-the-top style but it was effective on stage. Elaine Stritch has fun singing "Broadway Baby" and Carol Burnet makes the most of "I'm Still Here." Really, there isn't one bad track in the whole package.

Completists may quibble with the slight cuts here and there..the last bit of the Overture (including a segment of "Can That Boy Foxtrot") has been cut, as has "Bolero D'amour." The original montage ending of "Rain on the Roof/Ahh Paris/Broadway Baby" was dumped, and the spoken interludes in "Loveland" have been re-arranged. NONE of this will impair your enjoyment of this wonderful show.

As a bonus RCA has filled out the second CD with the soundtrack of Sondheim's score for STAVISKY. Many cut songs from FOLLIES were used in this film score, so its a natural tie-in.

The booklet has all the lyrics but no synopsis to place the songs within the context of the story. It is a minor flaw in an otherwise first rate package.

I love theater. Every six months I buy myself another six to twelve broadway CDs, plus grabbing a few inbetween at stores and the like. And do you know why I do this? Because I keep hoping to myself that if I look long enough, I'll find another Follies. This musical is, first and foremost, a deep and incisive discussion of aging and the pains of middle age, but if one looks deeper, one finds that it is in fact a metaphor for the situation of Broadway at the time Follies entered the scene. For those who don't know, the early 1970s was a very bad period for Broadway, and many thought it would never again recover. Follies, with each and every one of its songs written in the style of a famous old Broadway composer, is a tribute to the aging "Wiesmann Follies" that ran "between the wars" but now is being replaced "by a parking lot". This performance is far superior to the original recording, with particular standouts being Elaine Stritch and Lee Remick. However, in sheer terms of quantity, this is NOT the best recording. The best recording for amount of Follies music is the 1999 Paper Mill Playhouse cast. Still, this is a fantastic CD and I recommend it, and especially the show, above all others in existence at this time.

If you want only one version of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies," this is the edition to own. Sondheimaniacs ponder the differences between this and the Original Cast, the London production, and a recent New Jersey attempt, and are doubtless hoping for a fifth version when a revival opens on Broadway in spring of 2001. To simply enjoy the music, this concert edition provides the cast. George Hearn is the best Ben on any recording; Mandy Patinkin is wonderfully Mandy Patinkin as Buddy, which will delight many and annoy others. A particular delight is hearing the incredible talents of the then incredibly young Liz Callaway, Daisy Prince, Jim Walton, and Howard McGillin as the "young" characters. Pulling in Betty Comden and Adolph Green to sing "Rain on the Roof" was a great idea. The casting is fabulous throughought. Complaints about Licia Albanese miss the point: she's supposed to be an aged opera singer with voice to match. This concert version provides every bit of the drama of "Follies."

Of all the FOLLIES recordings out there:

The ORIGINAL is a must, if only for it being first (although it is horribly truncated).

The PAPER MILL recording is the most complete and features Michael Gruber's beautiful version of the cut song "Who Could Be Blue".

But this recording is a must for Barbara Cook's DEFINITIVE "Sally"! Her renditions of "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Losing My Mind" are THE best versions without question. Lee Remick is also quite good, the men to a lesser degree depending on your tastes for George Hearn and Mandy Patinkin (though each have fine moments here). The supporting cast is a delight with Elaine Stritch's "Broadway Baby" a triumph. Carol Burnett does a fine job with "I'm Still Here" though I much prefer the versions of both Yvonne DeCarlo and Ann Miller.

Overall, this a great lineup of talent so get the CD and the video too!

Every recording of FOLLIES thus far has something that makes it essential to every Sondheim fan collection. The original broadway recording is horribly truncated, but the cast will never be equaled. This one has Comden & Green and Licia Albanese. The New Jersey cast features most of the music ever written for the show. The London cast has the new version of "Loveland".

The main reason to buy this is STAVISKY - a shimmering score with echoes of Gershwin, Debussy & Ravel - truly one of the most beautiful film scores ever written.

Relistening to Follies again recently I came to the conclusion that this may be Sondheim's single greatest work, and that is saying something. Follies is multi-layered, sophisticated, mature, and runs the gamut of emotions. The lyrics are, along with Night Music and Pacific Overtures, the most complex he's ever written. The premise is unique and powerful, and deals with Sondheim's signature theme--the road not taken. Many of SS's works deal with time as a dramatic element, either in terms of it aging and changing people or in it allowing us a window on a past that is very different than we believe. This story does both. Despite the durability and popularity of Sweeney Todd, I think Follies has a depth and richness that SW lacks.

The performance is actually a concert, or a "staged oratorio" as director Herb Ross called it. The actual work would be too expensive to stage today--and was in 1985 as well. But at least they had a truly all-star cast to bring this rendition of Follies to life. Nearly everyone sings their role as though they were born to it. But some standout performances are Elaine Stritch's in her boozy rendition of "Broadway Baby," Barbara Cook sining "Losing My Mind," and George Hearn's polished, man-of-the-world "Live Love and Laugh." Easy to overlook is Carol Burnette, who has only one song, but it's a doozy. The only performer I find a little below par is Mandy Patinkin, who never really gets below the surface of his character, opting to whoop and yell in his usual Jolsonesque manner. The producers originally planned to release this version of Follies without the ambient concert sounds--applause and such--but the thunderous ovations from the audience at the beginning made this impossible. Unfortunately, however, that means things were extremely closely miked, and the sound is somewhat overwhelming and almost shrill at times. Also, the New York Philharmonic is not at their best in this kind of music: not only are they stiff, especially in the numbers where the rhythm has to swing, but they also are not really involved emotionally, just "phoning in" the performance. (And the brass, closely miked to begin with, seems to think that you play "Broadway style" by being loud and shrill.) Paul Gemignani was displeased with their effort, and actually said so publically at another concert in the same hall years later.

The rest of the set is filled out with Sondheim's music to the motion picture Stavisky. It's fine, servicible, but not really memorable and rather derivative. Sondheim is many things, but a brilliant film composer is not among them.

This is one of the most important CDs in Sondheim's discography. For many years Follies was available--when it was available at all--only as a severely-edited single LP that cut many of the songs. The purpose of this concert was to rectify the omission. But it not only did that, it also gave us one of the most memorable concerts ever. Broadway was already considered to be "in an intensive care unit," as the liner notes put it, even then. By today's standards, it looked positively golden on the night of September 6th, 1985.

If I had to limit myself to only two recorded performances as proof of Stephen Sondheim's genius, this would be one of them, with the original cast album of "A Little Night Music" being the other.

And this is with the admission that every recording of each of these shows over the years has value and has added to our appreciation of America's greatest living composer for the Broadway stage, Stephen Sondheim. And it is also with the understanding that these two shows are but the best representation of Sondheim's art.

So, there you ares, the two best recordings, respectively, of the two shows which I feel best represent that seemingly bottomless well of creation Mr. Sondheim seems to draw upon.

The recording in question here is not only technically without peer, it effuses the joy so often missing from the recorded form. It is a live recording, almost always a plus. And even though we can't actually see the artists as they perform (the documentary video does give us glimpses - far to miserly for my taste) we can hear the joy of performing that virtually explodes out of their performances. It is impossible to not react.

This CD is beguiling, bewitching, and yes, electrifying. It is a snapshot which freezes forever a most amazing event in New York City that the whole world is allowed to share in forever.

Lucky us!

How very, very wonderful.

Okay. I love this musical. And to have such talented folks performing on this CD is a real treat. I think a real standout performance on this recording is Carol Burnett's version of "I'm Still Here". It's amazingly heart-felt and gives me goosebumps *every* time. The gradual build-up and release at the end is just amazing. She's fabulous.

And what is there to say about Barbara Cook that hasn't already been said? I just saw her perform live recently, and I can't believe that her voice is apparently ageless. She's a national treasure.

I usually like Mandy Patinkin, but I found his performance somewhat grating. I found myself wishing they had done what the original cast recording had done and used a woman to play Margie instead of his manic impersonation.

In spite of that, though, I highly suggest this CD. The audience reaction is wonderful, and the performances are mostly first-rate.

To make up for Capitol's decimated original cast recording, this all-star concert of FOLLIES was staged (and recorded live) in September 1985.

The cast is sensational. Perhaps not in the same league as the originals but a fine "revival" cast. Lee Remick and Barbara Cook are ideal as leading ladies Phyllis and Sally and its a joy to hear Cook's glorious voice in "Losing My Mind." Mandy Patinkin effectively uses his energy to put a new spin on "Buddy's Blues" and George Hearn catches the self-loathing of Ben perfectly.

Of the supporting roles Elaine Stritch has the most fun singing "Broadway Baby" and Carol Burnet brings her own sense of autobiography to "I'm Still Here."

As a bonus RCA has filled out the second CD with the soundtrack of Sondheim's score for STAVISKY. Many cut songs from FOLLIES were used in this film score, so its a natural tie-in.

The booklet has all the lyrics but no synopsis to place the son! ! gs within the context of the story. It is a minor flaw in an otherwise first rate package.

Although Follies contains some of Sondheims most delicious music, the book and staging have always been a bit awkward and ill fitting. However this concert version which was performed on only two nights works like a charm. I have seen a number of productions including the original, but Miss Cook absolutly shines as Sally with her control of the difficults score. Since it was a concert performance a lot of the dialog was cut which streamlined this production as an amazing concert piece. It flowed like the full play was never able to do. Gerge Hearn,Lee Remick and Mandy Patkin are well cast as the other leads although I coulld have done with a little less schtick from MR Patenkin.The actors playing the younger versions of these four stood out in both vocal style and crisp phrasing. I can not think of one performer in this illustrious cast that did not do their character justice. However I would be remiss if I did not comment on Elaine Striche's commanding version of " Broadway Baby" which she performed with enough gusto to blow the roof off. This version of Follies is in a word "magical" and was truly a great night in thr theater that will certainly become a part of theater history.