Theater Review: Sondheim's 'Follies' Returns

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Friday, 16 September 2011 10:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Follies
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Goldman
Directed by Eric Schaeffer; choreographed by Warren Carlyle
Starring Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein, Ron Raines

Is there a perfect musical? Maybe not, but Follies has nearly everything: James Goldman’s superbly savvy book; Stephen Sondheim’s memorable and character-defining music and lyrics; a sly flashback structure, alternating between nostalgia and razor-sharp relationship dissection; and, of course, meaty musical moments for top-notch performers.

Unfortunately, Follies productions have been imperfect, starting with 1971’s original. The forgettable 2001 Broadway revival directed by Matthew Warchus wasted Blythe Danner and Judith Ivey, while the 2007 Encores! staging (with a scintillating Donna Murphy) sadly never transferred to Broadway. Eric Schaeffer’s new production, which began at Washington’s Kennedy Center, takes place on Derek McLane’s shrewdly rundown theater set, but never gets a firm handle on the show’s vignettes.

Follies’ main flaw? It introduces former Follies girls but gives all but the main characters Sally and Phyllis a lone chance to shine in songs driven not by narrative but nostalgia. Schaeffer efficiently stages them thanks to Warren Carlyle’s clever choreography, and veterans like Elaine Paige, Rosalind Elias and Mary Beth Peil make a good impression, but they are simply fodder separating the dramatic scenes among the lead couples.

Sally is married to Buddy but still carries a torch for Ben, who’s married to Phyllis. After they get reacquainted in the first act, they eventually rediscover long-dormant feelings--shown in flashbacks as the youthful foursome mirrors the present-day one--while the second act displays their heightened emotions in rousing, musical-within-a-musical form, each receiving a solo spotlight to convey those feelings.

As Sally, Bernadette Peters (a youthful 63, by the way) is as lissome as ever, breaking hearts with the poignant showstopper “Losing My Mind”; as Buddy, Danny Burstein tirelessly moves about the stage, bringing down the house with “The ‘God Why Don’t You Love Me‘ Blues”; as Phyllis, Jan Maxwell is as bitingly funny and adorable as ever, even if she overdoes the blustery comic hurt in “Could I Leave You?”; as Ben, Ron Raines is reliably sturdy right through the show’s final number “Live, Laugh, Love.”

Whenever Schaeffer doesn’t satisfactorily navigate Sondheim and Goldman’s seminal musical waters, the stars and Sondheim’s great, lasting songs come to the rescue. 

Follies
Marquis Theatre
1535 Broadway, New York, NY
Previews began Aug. 7, 2011; opened Sept. 12; tickets on sale through Jan. 1, 2012
http://folliesbroadway.com

For more by Kevin Filipski, visit The Flip Side blog at http://flipsidereviews.blogspot.com

Kevin's September '11 Digital Week II

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 12 September 2011 06:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Sept. 11 DVDs

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (Scholastic)

The amazing feat of Frenchman Philippe Petit--who walked on the high wire between the two World Trade Center towers in 1974, shortly after they opened--is recounted in this delightfully narrated (by Jake Gyllenhaal) and illustrated (by Mordicai Gerstein) animated short that's a lovely piece of nostalgic reminiscence about buildings whose destruction created a gash in the Manhattan skyline.

A trio of other inspiring tales--Crow Boy, The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins and Miss Rumphius--is included, along with interviews with Hawkins' author and illustrator.

Rebirth (Oscilloscope)

In time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks, director James Whitaker's documentary follows five people whose lives are forever intertwined with--and were irretrievably altered by--the events of that awful day.

Time-lapse photography, illuminating the transformation of Ground Zero into a new landscape that honors the victims and points the way forward for lower Manhattan, makes this an inspirational film showing that, while we should never forget, we must also keep on living. Extras include Whitaker's commentary, time-lapse project video and 90 minutes of time-lapse footage covering several years at the site.

September 11: Memorial Edition (History)

For this two-disc anniversary compilation, four specials about the devastating events of September 11, 2001 are brought together: 102 Minutes that Changed America, with eye-opening footage shot by various passersby near the disaster that morning; Hotel Ground Zero, about people in the Marriott hotel at the foot of the towers; The Miracle of Stairway B, about 14 people who survived the second tower's collapse; and The Day the Towers Fell, an eyewitness story of the tragedy.

A valuable extra is I-Witness to 9/11, a short recap of some witnesses whose footage was used in 102 Minutes.

Blu-rays of the Week

Dressed to Kill (MGM)

Brian DePalma's stylishly sleazy soft-core thriller, which looks like it was shot through Vaseline like those Penthouse photo spreads I looked at as a teenager, caused a minor sensation in 1980 thanks to 'Police Woman' Angie Dickinson showing skin.

But we're still stuck with DePalma's insipid, immature "ideas" and poor script, and camera movements and plot twists "borrowed" from Alfred Hitchcock, among others. The Blu-ray transfer faithfully preserves its gauzy look; extras include DePalma interviews, a look at the various cuts of the film, vintage and recent featurettes.

The Entitled (Anchor Bay)

There's not much new in this thriller about rich young brats who are kidnapped by a desperate young trio, but it all goes wrong and leads to murder. Tidy and tensely done, the movie tosses in a few twists that help it cross the finish line intact.

A solid cast of veterans (Ray Liotta, Victor Garber, Stephen McHattie) and fresh faces (Kevin Zegers, Laura Vandervoort, Dustin Milligan, John Bregar) combine to keep interest in a familiar story. The movie has received an excellent hi-def transfer; extras include an alternate ending and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Fringe: The Complete Third Season (Warners)

The fiendishly clever sci-fi series that introduced a parallel universe to its viewers takes that plot point and runs with it throughout the 22 episodes of its outrageously entertaining third season.

The cast--led by Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, Blair Brown and John Noble--comes up aces, the dialogue does its job (for the most part), and the visuals are often dazzling--and have been rendered extremely well on Blu-ray. Extras include pop-commentaries and featurettes while watching episodes; featurettes; and a gag reel.

My Life as a Dog (Criterion)

Lasse Hallstrom's bittersweet 1985 coming-of-age tale is situated perfectly between sentiment and toughness, which is how his hero, 12-year-old Ingemar, can also be described. Played with mature naturalness by Anton Glanzelius, a youngster with a face with a wise adult, Ingemar is the center of one of the most affecting and poignant portraits of childhood ever committed to celluloid.

Criterion's Blu-ray transfer is warmly film-like with a superbly grainy look; extras include a Hallstrom interview and an early Swedish TV film he did, Shall We Go to My or Your Place or Each Go Home Alone?

Orpheus (Criterion)

The 1950 center of the Orphic trilogy, Jean Cocteau's most problematic film is a significant example of his artistry. Updating the Orpheus/Eurydice myth to Paris' Left Bank allows Cocteau to work on many narrative and symbolic levels; its fascinating and memorable imagery shows how ingeniously Cocteau uses his beloved "mirror portals" to transport his enigmatic characters to another plane of existence.

Criterion's superb hi-def transfer of this B&W beauty begs the question: are Blood of a Poet and Testament of Orpheus coming on Blu? A plethora of extras (commentary, documentary, vintage interviews, newsreel footage) puts Cocteau's artistic concerns in context.

Straw Dogs (MGM)

Sam Peckinpah's ultra-violent (and deeply satisfying) revenge drama had the misfortune of being released the same year as A Clockwork Orange--1971--and many critics who raved about Stanley Kubrick's film didn't give Peckinpah the same courtesy.

But this unremittingly bleak drama about a mild-mannered professor whose basest impulses are triggered by his wife's rape and the threats to his own manhood is revelatory, with top-notch performances by Dustin Hoffman, Susan George and David Warner. Peckinpah's subliminal editing tricks work wonders on the viewer's psyche, and are given new life in this Blu-ray transfer; amazingly, there are no extras, so keep Criterion's out of print DVD.

DVDs of the Week

The Arbor (Strand Releasing)

This strange, disjointed documentary mirrors the strange, disjointed life of its subject: British playwright Andrea Dunbar, whose first work was done at age 18 and who died at age 29 of a drug overdose, after having borne three children with three different men.

Director Clio Bernard imaginatively uses real actors to lip-sync to actual audio interviews by Dunbar, her children, and others who were involved in her private and professional lives. Although the style is initially off-putting, it makes formal and psychological sense to more fully explore such a sad (and sadly short) creative life.

Cold Fish (Vivendi)

Prepare yourself for an unexpurgated blast of nuttiness in this overlong, choppy but utterly watchable psychological shocker that probably shouldn't be described too thoroughly.

Suffice it to say that this blunt exploration of a truly insane mind and the extremely bloody extremes to which he puts his murderous impulses is not for the squeamish, and even if it gleefully rubs our noses in its explicitness, it's worth hanging in there for a final "see it to believe it" sequence. The lone extra is an interview with director Sion Sono.

If a Tree Falls (Oscilloscope)

The exploits of the militant environmental group the Earth Liberation Front are explored in director Marshall Curry's documentary, concentrating on Daniel McGowan, one of its members who decided to partake in the group's arsons and other destructive efforts in protest over what they considered corporate evildoers and their governmental enablers destroying the earth.

The incendiary subjects of environmental activism and eco-terrorism (members were put on trial as domestic terrorists, the first such defendants in our post-9/11 world) are handled perceptively and scrupulously. Extras include updates on the principals, commentary by and Q&A with Curry and co-director/cinematographer Sam Cullman, deleted scenes and extended interviews.

It Rains in My Village and A Quiet Place in the Country (MGM)

These obscure European classics deserve better releases than they're getting here, but in today's topsy-turvy digital world, we should thank MGM for at least getting them out so they're available to be discovered--or re-discovered, for anyone saw them once will want to revisit them.

Aleksander Pretrovic's bleak It Rains in My Village (1968) is a blackly comic Yugoslav tragedy, while Elio Petri's dazzling A Quiet Place in the Country (1969) is a surreal journey through a talented artist's wounded psyche. Both films feature veteran directors at the top of their form.

CDs of the Week

Godspell: 40th Anniversary Celebration (Masterworks Broadway)

With the October opening of the Broadway revival around the corner, this two-disc set pairs the original 1971 off-Broadway cast album and the original 1973 soundtrack for the film version. Stephen Schwartz's music and lyrics, by far his most popular until he hit upon Wicked over 30 years later, are highlighted by the Top 10 pop hit "Day by Day" and the movie-only song "Beautiful City."

Sung by then-vibrant young voices like Robin Lamont and David Haskell (off-Broadway) and Victor Garber and Lynne Thigpen (movie), this nostalgic souvenir will do until the new production is up and running.

Ravel/Lekeu: Music for Violin & Piano (Hyperion)

One of the 20th century's great composers is smartly paired with one of the least known of the late 19th century, a contemporary who died prematurely: Maurice Ravel's brittle but elegant music for violin and piano, including his jewel-like Violin Sonata No. 1 and the over-played but still beautiful Sonata No. 2, is heard alongside the intimate but expansive Violin Sonata by Guillaume Lekeu, whose death at age 24 in 1894 robbed the world of a composer who may have become a true giant.

Heartfelt and skillful playing by violinist Alina Ibragimova and pianist Cedric Tiberghien give both composers their due.

Kevin's September '11 Digital Week I

Details

Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 05 September 2011 11:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-rays of the Week

The Complete Jean Vigo (Criterion)

A rule-breaking, delightful quartet of films are collected in this essential release. Probably the most important director who never got to 30 (he died of TB at age 29 in 1934), Jean Vigo--who influenced Truffaut, Godard, Rohmer, Bunuel and Cocteau, for starters--made an absurdist documentary short (A propos de Nice), champion athlete portrait (Taris) and two towering masterpieces: boarding-school classic Zero for Conduct and 90-minute surreal romance L'Atalante. What would he have done if he lived even 10-15 more years?

For their ages, these B&W films look absolutely remarkable. Extras include film commentaries by Vigo scholar Michael Temple, an alternate Nice edit, Truffaut and Rohmer conversation, French TV episode about Vigo's career, a 2001 documentary about L'Atalante and appreciations by directors Michel Gondry and Otar Iosseliani.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Sony)

Leave it to Morgan Spurlock to make a movie from a desperate idea: the ubiquitousness of product placement on our screens and in our lives. So Spurlock's movie chronicles his efforts to get corporate backing for and product placement into his movie, the movie that makes itself. It's funny and thought-provoking about how everything is commercialized nowadays, even if its slight 87-minute running time feels padded.

The film's hi-def video shoot comes across brightly on Blu-ray; extras include commentary by Spurlock and others, deleted scenes, full-length commercials, behind-the-scenes featurette, Sundance footage and behind-the-scenes for the Hyatt and JetBlue ads.

Madea's Big Happy Family (LionsGate)

Another Medea picture comes off the Tyler Perry assembly line, with the expected result: Perry's Medea (a singularly unconvincing drag performance) spits out well-timed (but not very funny) insults to other members of her family when they get together for a family emergency.

Even with a trouper like Loretta Devine in tow, the movie rarely scares up genuine laughs or tears, thanks to Perry's risible dialogue and characters and barely-there directing. The solid-looking Blu-ray image is complemented by extras (on-set and behind-the-scenes featurettes).

Prom (Disney)

This tame, made-for-Disney TV movie won't win awards for originality or (barely) competence, but it does what it sets out to do: entertain its targeted high schoolers and pre-teens who want to watch normal kids going through manufactured problems: when the prom is in jeopardy, the kids ensure it goes on.

It's anything but scintillating, and the performers seem chosen from a Benetton ad, but it's passably entertaining anyway. The Blu-ray transfer is strong; extras include seven music videos, a making-of featurette, bloopers, deleted scenes and a new short film.

Sons of Anarchy: Season 3 (Fox)

The 13 entertaining episodes on this 3-disc set follow the continuing adventures of members of a renegade bikers' club which helps protect a small town from developers and drug dealers and others. Although the show isn't as clever as it thinks, there's something likable about it, thanks to its top cast, led by the indomitable Katey Segal and intriguing Ron Perlman.

The images look stunning on Blu-ray; extras include all-new-to-Blu-ray scenes bridging seasons 3 and 4; extended episodes; writer's roundtable featurette; gag reel; deleted scenes; and commentaries.

The Twilight Zone: Season 5 (Image)

The final season of Rod Serling's all-time classic series (1963-4) returned to the half-hour format after the previous season's hour-long shows. While the 36 episodes are a bumpy ride, several stand with the best ever produced, including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" with William Shatner, "Living Doll" with Telly Savalas, and "Caesar and Me" with Jackie Cooper.

Also included is "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," a chilling Oscar-winning French short film airing once as a Twilight Zone episode. Along with superbly upgraded visuals, this stacked five-disc set includes dozens of audio commentaries, interviews, promo spots, conversations with Serling and 22 Twilight Zone radio dramas.

Win Win (Fox)

In Tom McCarthy's sympathetic story of a down-and-out lawyer/high school wrestling coach trying to straighten out his family's economic difficulties, Paul Giamatti gives one of his most well-rounded performances. McCarthy's excellent script has juicy roles for a crew of non-glamorous actors: alongside Giamatti are Amy Ryan as his devoted wife, Bobby Cannavale as his desperate friend and young Alex Shaffer as the teen wrestling prodigy whose own family situation causes more problems.

This intimate comic portrait has a clean hi-def look; extras include interviews, deleted scenes and a music video.

DVDs of the Week

An American Family (PBS)

Public television's greatest achievement, the 1973 mini-series showcasing the Loud family of Santa Barbara, was a riveting real-life chronicle that presaged the awful spate of reality shows that clutter TV today and remains a dramatic and psychologically penetrating document.

The 12-hour show was reedited to 2 hours for this release, providing a necessarily incomplete overview of the whole messy, sad, funny and compelling series. Extras include a 1973 roundtable discussion with anthropologist Margaret Mead and new interviews with people who worked on the original production.

Carbon Nation (Team Marketing)

Peter Byck's documentary about how we can switch to renewable energy from our dependence on foreign oil--which grows with each passing year--is an evenhanded approach to optimistic solutions rather than another round of finger pointing. Arguing for smart responses rather than those that line the pockets of a few, the film brings together under a big tent all political persuasions who want one future: a real fight against climate change.

Informative extras include eight deleted scenes, two commentaries and three cartoons, along with Byck's first documentary, Garbage.

Eclipse 28: The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara (Criterion)

This is why the Criterion Collection's Eclipse line was invented: to introduce us to a a filmmaker who, for one reason or another, has been buried for decades. Koreyoshi Kurahara, a Japanese contemporary of Nagisa Oshima and Shohei Imamura, made fever-dream dramas that were deliriously free-form but also tightly controlled, and the five films of his that are collected in this set are highly watchable (and even rewatchable) tours de force.

The quintet begins with 1960's Intimidation and concludes with 1967's Thirst for Love, an extraordinarily compelling and typically bizarre adaptation of a Yukio Mishima novel.

A New Look: Samuel F.B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre and Trimpin: The Sound of Invention (Microcinema)

These documentaries chronicle artists who worked nearly two centuries apart. Although Samuel Morse is best known for the telegraph and Morse Code, his massive painting Gallery of the Louvre is studied in this interesting 30-minute featurette, an important work of American art that, unfortunately, was not accepted by his countrymen, which led to the inventions that would make his name.

Trimpin, a composer who creates music for instruments that he builds himself, is shown in the engaging The Sound of Invention collaborating with avant-garde musicians Kronos Quartet.

CDs of the Week

Rossini: William Tell (EMI Classics)

Rossini never penned music more popular than the last section of the Overture for his 1829 grand opera from a Frederich Schiller play--today, it's best known as the The Lone Ranger theme. Most impressive about conductor Antonio Pappano's brilliantly paced account of this three-plus hour, five-act drama is that even when that familiar theme pops up, it remains in the context of a thrilling story of 14th century oppression.

A tremendous cast led by Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley as the hero makes this a thrilling listen, and kudos to EMI Classics for giving it the deluxe treatment--a beautifully designed box, three discs, thick libretto booklet, all a luxury in today's belt-tightening classical world.

Schubert/Gal: Kindred Spirits (Avie)

Franz Schubert's "Great" Symphony is, along with his "Unfinished," the acme of his orchestral music, and a glimpse at where the composer's style might have headed if he hadn't died at age 31 in 1828. Thomas Zehetmair conducts the Northern Sinfonia in a solid rendition of that symphony, pairing it with the Second Symphony from obscure Austrian composer Hans Gal, born 62 years after Schubert's death.

A deliberately paced, enticingly dramatic work, Gal's symphony is good enough to want to hear more: and you can, as Gal's first symphony was earlier paired with Schubert's sixth in the first "Kindred Spirits" release.