Follies

I saw it tonight after having seen in three times at the NT last year and on the whole I found it more beautiful but somehow less emotional.

I really liked Joanna Riding, much more than Imelda, she sang the role infinitely better and her portrayal was less psychotic and more convincing. While Imelda seemed to have come to the party directly from the cuckoo's nest with her collection of mannerisms (the crazy whisper, the hysterical clapping), Joanna has a more "housewifey" vibe, more poised and sweeter. Her "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Too Many Mornings" were great, her "Losing My Mind" beautifully sung. Sadly, the number was already over-staged and now it's even worse, which is more frustrating because Jo Riding actually has the voice to just stand there in a gown and sing it in the manner of a torch song.

Apart from that, Cooke's direction is more focused and precise, replacing the two "sailors" with the dancers in frac during "Ah, Paree" was a large improvement and the new-choreographed "Who's That Woman?" is even more exhilarating and show-stopping (it's true tho that Dawn Hope is on play-back for some bits). Dame Felicity is still sick and Josephine Barstow only took opening night's glory and left: Geraldine Fitzgerald is a satisfying Heidi, even if Alison Langer steals the scene in "One More Kiss". I really really liked the final tableau of the younger Follies girls as the guests were leaving the party, that was truly transfixing.

The new quartet of younger protagonists is very solid. Weirdly enough, Christine Tucker is actually better cast than Zizi as Young Phyllis: the Strallen girl was really too good for the role and she ended up stealing scenes in a role that is supposed to be more marginal. Christine restores the balance and "Lucy and Jessie" goes rightfully back to being Janie's big number. I missed Alex Young's desperation and somehow Gemma Sutton - who sings beautifully and was the only redeeming grace in The Go-between - would have been a better match to Imelda's Sally, party because they actually look similar and partly because they played the role with the same manic energy. I wish they had re-designed Hattie's look for Claire Moore, it was clearly designed for Di Butcher's butchness and it doesn't work equally well on Claire, who's nevertheless very good in the role and brought the show to life and the audience in with her "Broadway Baby". Peter Forbes is a gem and Janie Dee is even better than last year, especially in the book scenes.

****

Oh no, what do you mean?? I thought it was absolutely breathtaking, not only the highlight of Joanna's Sally, but the whole show. It brought the character together for me and had a huge emotional impact.

I do however wholeheartedly agree on some of your other points - the tableau being gorgeous, Claire Moore's costume kinda weird, Peter and Janie fab as ever :-)

I much preferred the new staging to Losing My Mind. it gave it more drama and bite and Joanna Riding's version was one of the best I've seen live.

She has. Or at least, she was on yesterday afternoon, and she sang it beautifully.

I've just booked front row via Entry Pass for March 26th. I've just seen it's a captioned performance but I imagine sitting at the every front, the Captions won't be that much a distraction. I'm looking forward to seeing it closer up.

Oh for goodness sake, you still going on about your never-ending hatred of standing ovations? We got the idea you hated the concept about fifty messages ago.

Generally speaking,I'd be one of them. I did not love the way the number was staged for Imelda Staunton, and - in theory - I'd prefer the actor playing Sally to just stand still and sing the song. It's a Follies number - it's meant to be performed rather than acted.

And having said that, I thought what Joanna Riding did with it was absolutely stunning. I knew about it before I saw it, and it sounded like a completely wrong-headed choice, but she completely pulled it off. I thought she was absolutely spectacular.

There's a few Entry Pass tickets left for this in the last week so I was wondering if people think the front row is good or if it's too close and I'm better off one or two rows back (there's not much else available unless I wanna be right at the back of the circle). Let me know your thoughts on how high the stage is/how wide a view you get of the whole thing, appreciate it!

I've seen Follies before but it was my first show in the Olivier and all my return visits have been almost the exact same seats in the third or fourth row of the circle so I'm not experienced with the view from the stalls. I'm not too short so I think I'll go for the front row since it doesn't make much of a difference and I don't think I've ever been in the front row somehow so I may as well do it with my favourite one! Thanks for your help.

I envy anyone who can manage to get front stalls. I've been checking the NT website at intervals since the casting was announced in December & have never seen any seats in the first 3 rows available.

I only managed through Entry Pass and even then the day I booked for there was only one left in the front row (although I wasn't expecting there to be any Entry Pass left at this point).