FOLLIES in Washington DC

Bernadette Peters is losing her mind

At the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., a rare production of FOLLIES is drawing a New York crowd. Lovers of this Sondheim/Goldman musical can not pass up such a grand opportunity. Eric Schaeffer directed and Warren Carlyle choreographed as good a production as I have ever seen and this was production number four for me. FOLLIES is the kind of show that continues to fascinate, but rarely satisfies everyone on every level––too much can go wrong, or if not go wrong exactly––too much can fail to live up to one’s expectations. The big four this time were pretty darn good with Bernadette Peters heading the troupe as Sally, Jan Maxwell as Phyllis, Danny Bernstein as Buddy and Ron Raines as Ben.

The physical production gave us a properly singed and crumbling empty theatre setting––a shroud lifting to reveal the ghosts of the theater at the top of the show. Set Designer Derek McLane added a mylar curtain for “Who’s that Woman” and a beautiful textured archway of flowers for the “Loveland” sequence. This was all fairly simple, but add to that Gregg Barnes’ fantastic period “Ziegfeld” inspired costumes for the ghosts––absolutely stunning and as haunting as a faded photograph from “The Ziegfeld Follies of 1919.”

Just in case the reader has no idea what this show is about, the concept is a reunion of the “Weisman Follies” cast members––all fifty plus years old––on the evening before the old theater that housed the annual revue is to be torn down to be replaced by a parking lot. The guests all reminisce about the old days and perform numbers that they used to do––albeit with lyrics that say a lot more about their true lives. The two main couples recount their history and we find out that two of them married the wrong person. Their lives are falling a part and the reunion brings up a lot of unfinished business. The show switches back and forth between honoring a faded type of show business that flourished between World War I. and World War II. and the trials and tribulations of the main two couples.

Most of the fun is had from the performances of the many elderly ladies who step forward to entertain again. There is always a double layer to this aspect of the show when people like Linda Lavin, Florence Lacey, Terri White, Susan Watson and Elaine Paige are involved. There is the nostalgia of the actual star performing for us layered on top of their character’s story. With unknown actresses, these roles would lose several degrees of potency. Terri White stopped the show with “Who’s that Woman” in an exciting tap dance staging involving the young ghost version of each lady dancing in reflection and White’s big booming voice filling the Edision Theatre. Elaine Paige as Carlotta got plenty of mileage out of “I’m Still Here” and her high belt is still pretty spectacular. Linda Lavin was cute with “Broadway Baby” and still knows how to sell a number. Opera star Rosalind Elias gave a moving rendition of “One More Kiss,” which in a way, is the theme song for the show. Singing in counterpoint, Leah Horowitz helped make the number truly beautiful with her delicate and clean soprano. The only big disappointment of the evening was Régine as Solange. She might actually be French, but her rendition of “Ah, Paris!” was a bore. Where was Leslie Caron? Sadly, no one applauded for the entrance of Susan Watson as Emily Whitman. But then, she’s been out of the scene since the days of No, No, Nannette and she was the original Kim in Bye, Bye Birdie. Her duet with Terrence Currier, “Rain on the Roof,” was very sweet.

As for the big four: Peters seems at home with Sondheim and delivered a very moving “Losing My Mind.” I have not been a fan of hers based on her past three Broadway outings, but here her particular quirks and bag of tricks did well for the character. Jan Maxwell turns out to be a surprisingly good singer and survived the rigorous choreography in her “The Story of Lucy and Jessie” number, keeping up with a group of well trained chorus boys. Her performance of “Could I Leave You” was a ferocious show stopper. Danny Bernstein was as perfect a Buddy as I have seen and summoned up a little Bert Lahr in his rambunctious delivery of “Buddy’s Blues.” Ron Raines retains his expert musicality and strong baritone, serving the material best with “The Road You Didn’t Take” and “Too Many Mornings” in the first act.

This Kennedy Center production is quite an event, with the full orchestration sounding better than ever as directed by James Moore. Yes there are mutterings about it moving to Broadway, but don’t get excited until you see the marquee go up, because it is a big endeavor. Also, save for the sets and costumes, it is likely that a somewhat new group of ladies will have to be assembled at the point when a production could actually open in New York. For now, a half day bus or train trip to Washington D.C. will bring you a healthy dose of Broadway magic.

A Little Night Music

The replacement cast of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC sounded almost better than the original revival cast. After walking like a robot through two Ethel Merman vehicles on Broadway, Bernadette Peters returned to the Sondheim world where she flourishes. However, she has not given up her schtick––that same mugging schtick we’ve been seeing since SUNDAY IN THE PARK with her baby doll voice for comic effect, the drawing out of words, creating strange line readings, throwing out those presentational arms for the long notes, etc. Even if you’ve never seen her live, then you’ve seen the videos of SUNDAY IN THE PARK or INTO THE WOODS and you know exactly what I’m referring to. Bernadette Peters is an old fashioned Broadway ham. Furthermore, just like in the Merman shows, she stopped the comedy to “make it real” for the ballad. This time the ballad is the well known “Send in the Clowns.” Everyone’s waiting for it, everyone knows it. La Peters delivers. But, after seeing her turn on the watery eyes in the middle of shows where she otherwise seems disconnected, it only seems part of her routine. Still, the performance of the hit tune worked and she made her exit to some fine applause. Not as fine as the hardy applause awarded to Leigh Ann Larkin as Petra, who followed up “Send in the Clowns” with a tremendous performance of “The Miller’s Son.” Larkin was perfectly good all night, but then came “The Miller’s Son” and she exploded into another realm of performance that became the highlight of the production.

Not a highlight was Elaine Stritch as Madame Armfeldt. Most likely it is her age, but Ms. Stritch went up on her lines three times (the same number of times she says the night smiles). It was up to little Keaton Whittaker as Fredrika to keep Ms. Stritch going by feeding her hints to get back on track. Ms. Stritch is like a wisecracking waitress from a ‘50s diner whacking away at her scenes. She gets laughs, but at the expense of the refinement, class and character of the show. Yet, there is something heartwarming about an aging star appearing in a role late in the career, for we all feel that we have somehow lucked out to be able to see the Legend one more time. Armfeldt’s death is particularly moving, not because of the character, but because there is a feeling that we might be saying goodbye to Elaine Stritch where the stage is concerned.

Henrick continues to be played by Hunter Ryan Herdlicka with a fine voice and his true cello skills. He is adorable and comical and gives the production quite a bit of charm. Fredrik is now played perfectly by Stephen R. Buntrock, who works beautifully with Ms. Peters. All of the supporting players meet or exceed expectations except for the bazaar performance of Ramona Mallory as Anne. Her line readings rise and fall in unnatural hills and valleys. She is nothing less than weird. Director Trevor Nunn needs to shake her and command her to become an actual person.

I was disappointed to hear that this revival would reduce the orchestration to eight pieces, but Jason Carr’s small orchestration is beautiful and I never thought I was getting less in the music department. David Farley’s set and costume designs are simple with an elaborate unit set that changes just enough to redefine spaces. There was an elegance in the simplicity. For all my little complaints this production was an overall joy. Another joy is the fact that the past ten years on Broadway have been dominated by revivals of Sondheim shows. One after the other we’re getting a chance to see top grade productions of all of them. For now we get A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at least until January.