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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unnecessary Revisons Ruin Sondheim's Best Musical, November 3, 2005
This review is from: Follies (Playwrights Canada Press) (Paperback)
I absolutely agree with the reviewer here who said that this edition of the book Follies has weakened the original play. Let me first reiterate what this book is, exactly - it is the published libretto (script, stage directions and song lyrics) for the 2001 revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's landmark musical, Follies. There is no sheet music in this book, just the complete dialogue and song lyrics - of the 2001 revival.
As another reviewer has pointed out, Mr. Goldman apparently became disenchanted with the play Follies as originally performed and previously published by Random House. For some reason I cannot fathom (because there was absolutely NOTHING wrong with the original) he chose to revise and re-write his play several times. No one has ever declared a "definitive" version, but the publishers of the current book have chosen to present the show as revised and performed in the 2001 Broadway revival. I saw the 2001 revival; I thought it wasn't bad, but I left the theatre with the uneasy feeling that it was vastly different (and far less satisfying) than the show that captured my imagination and became my favorite Broadway show, back when I saw it three times in its original run between 1971-72. Since I own a copy of the original play as published by Random House in 1972 (at the time I paid $2.95 for the hardcover!) I decided to acquire the new publication and compare the two published versions, line for line.
What I found shocked me. Not only did the changes that Mr. Goldman made completely change and weaken the character of Ben, several of my favorite speeches were completely excised from the new book. Gone is Phyllis' exchange with the chorus girl who shared her dressing room, (PRS: "I remember you. You never liked me." Chorus Girl: "What a thing to say!" PRS: "That's OK, I never liked you, either.") Also gone are some of the more provocative and interesting lines that Phyllis had (both her wonderful speech about how much she wanted Ben when they were first married, "I used to come home with my panties wringing wet" and her speech about the lover who loved to kiss the birthmark below her left breast - silly today, maybe, but amazingly candid for 1971 - are gone from the revised edition). Dialogue for other characters has also been moved or deleted.
Worst of all, the ending has been completely changed. Buddy and Sally's heartbreaking final exchange (Buddy: "Come on kid - let's go home and make plans for tomorrow" Sally: "Oh dear God, it IS tomorrow") has been deleted, changing the tone of the whole show. In the original published version, Sally's line - "Oh dear God, it IS tomorrow" had a piece of stage direction that I will never forget as long as I live - it said simply, "There is no hope". A far cry from the revision, where Ben offers a simpering apology to Sally and she contends, "I'll be fine". In short, some of the most witty, funny and poignant moments from the original show have been altogether deleted, all for the sake of proffering a show that could be more easily digested by middle America. The revisions produced a musical that is far more banal and nowhere near as touching or tragic as the original that was so beautifully presented to Broadway audiences 34 years ago. My understanding is that Mr. Goldman was never happy with the fact that the play didn't have a "happy ending" and he needed to revise the characterizations substantially to give us something that mainstream audiences would be more comfortable with. I wish he had been able to leave it as it was. He never found any reason to tamper with his other masterpiece, The Lion in Winter (it's a funny coincidence that my favorite film of all time - The Lion in Winter, and my favorite Broadway show of all time - Follies - should both be written by the same man). The bottom line is that I firmly believe that this piece has suffered terribly from Mr. Goldman's inability to simply leave well enough alone. Fans of the show who want a complete rendering of the lyrics to Stephen's Sondheim's glorious songs will not be badly served by this edition. But if you are lucky enough to find a copy of the original Random House edition, you will also have a much better libretto for Follies in your library.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A disappointing revision, February 3, 2004
This review is from: Follies (Playwrights Canada Press) (Paperback)
First, it's important to clarify what this book is, since a couple of the reviewers below seem to think it's the piano-vocal score for "Follies." There is no music in this book. This is the script of "Follies": the book, lyrics, and stage directions. I believe that the original version of "Follies" is one of the two or three greatest American musicals ever written. Unfortunately, that is not what is in this book. For some reason, James Goldman, author of the book, became convinced that his brilliant (if controversial) original book needed to be revised. I believe that his revisions consistently weakened the show. What is printed here is not even Goldman's final revision. Instead, it is the text used in the 2001 production of the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York. Goldman had died in 1998, having revised the text several times but never having decided on a definitive version. The people putting together the Roundabout production prepared a version working from several of his revisions. This version notably weakens the character of Ben. Goldman's original book was very terse and almost underwritten. The deletions of some of Ben's dialogue end up reducing clarity. Also, since Ben's breakdown is the climax of the show, anything that weakens his character harms the entire show. Goldman also made changes to the breakdown itself, taking something that was strange and allusive and making it into something banal. It's not just changes to Ben, though. Some of the dialogue for the other main characters was also revised, making them less interesting. In addition, this version added some awfully silly stuff for the subsidiary characters. These characters were originally there mostly for atmosphere and to provide thematic complexity and texture. The additions throw the focus where it doesn't belong at a crucial moment, adding nothing of real emotional value and reducing the original's uncompromising quality. Some of the changes work to make the script more naturalistic than the original was. They also make the show less interesting, and frequently simply don't fit with the rest of the script and the score. I only hope that someday the original version of the script, which was published by Random House, returns to print. This version will not help you completely understand why this show is so remarkable.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant insight into why this show always fails financially, October 6, 2007
This review is from: Follies (Playwrights Canada Press) (Paperback)
I have every cast recording of "Follies" ever professionally recorded and I truly believe it is the greatest Broadway score ever written. Not a single song misses its mark. How then, can it be, I often used to wonder, that "Follies" always manages to fail when it is produced for the stage? When I found out that a version of the libretto was available I snapped it up, inspite of the negative comments listed here on Amazon by some users. Well, I read it in one sitting - I couldn't put it down! But by the end not only was I devastated by the story, I understood entirely why "Follies" always fails to draw a long term audience. The book does not support the score. From the cast recordings it is easy to picture a huge character driven extravaganza - the songs gifted to the characters in the play are so fascinating! Even the most incidental numbers such "Rain on the Roof" or "Ah, Paris!" are brilliantly memorable. To say nothing of such masterpieces like "I'm Still Here" or "One More Kiss." The problem is that these songs are given to characters that, as it turns out in the script, are not even featured. They have bit parts. A few lines to establish who they are and why their song is appropriate for them. The leading four characters guide the entire show while the featured characters distract it. Aside from a few VERY brief encounters (such as Ben meeting with Carlotta Campion) they might as well be characters in two different stories. The result is that the entire script comes accross as being severely under-written. You can't introduce such fascinating characters as Dimitri Weissman or Hattie Walker or Solange LaFitte, feed the audience a snappy line and a magnificent song, and then retract them without giving them purpose or conclusion. The stories of Phyllis and Ben, Buddy and Sally are magnificently told - but to a staggeringly underwhelming conclusion. These four fools who have been living in the past and hating it for deacdes are confronted with every decision they blame for the poor state of their present existence in the course of a few hours. There is every opportunity in the world for them to shake off the illusions of their pasts and move on unburdened towards the future... and they NEVER DO!!! Overall I found the dialogue brilliant, snappy and appropriate, everything you would expect from the writer of "The Lion in Winter". The lyrics are there in full along with stage directions. This IS a fascinating read - both as a study of the show and just as an interesting story. You will, however, be disappointed. This is an underwritten masterwork which hopefully one day someone will perfect. Perhaps a movie?
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