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| Author | Topic: Follies reviews |
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 Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/22/2011 at 6:39:29 PM ET
Here is a review from theatremania.com:
theatremania.com, May 22, 2011
"Peters may not be the most traditional casting for Sally, now an ultraneurotic housewife in Phoenix, but she exquisitely captures the character's unfathomable sadness and longing. It's a star turn, for sure, but one that brings attention to itself because of its truthfulness. Not surprisingly, her rendition of "Losing My Mind" is simply shattering."
|  moljul
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Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 5/22/2011 at 9:21:01 PM ET
Of course only two reviews have come out but it does seem the only major quibble with Bernadette is that she doesn't look frumpy enough. So can't that be taken care of with some costumes and make-up? I mean, if there were to be a Broadway production. Heck, if she could be aged into the Witch at 39, she can be aged into a slightly frumpy housewife at 63.
"Particular mention must be made of Bernadette Peters, who turns up briefly in a sort of sparkly Glinda the Good costume. She's the reluctant muse sent to help Alice with her writing. The muse is dressed like Oz, sounds like Queens and behaves like a bored student adviser." Alice Film Review, The New York Times, December 25, 1990
"I'm one star away from Dolly Parton ... and Raymond Massey is between us. I hope we don't suffocate him." Bernadette Peters receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, April 24, 1987
| Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/23/2011 at 2:26:47 AM ET
New York Times review (Ben Brantley):
Broadway Babies’ Glory Days (NY Times, May 22, 2011)
"Ms. Peters, a vibrant knockout in a tight red dress, is hardly the frumpy, banal Sally who is described to us. Ms. Peters exudes such exotic star shine, you feel that Sally’s real tragedy wasn’t that she lost the man she loved (that would be Ben, who married Phyllis), but that she wasn’t allowed to spend her life with a follow-spot before throngs of adoring fans...As for Ms. Peters, alone on the stage with a great torch song, “Losing My Mind,” she more than makes up for any prior uncertainty in her performance with what is the most affecting version of this ballad I have ever heard."
| Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/23/2011 at 2:39:02 AM ET
Washington Post review: (Peter Marks, May 22, 2011)
Washington Post review
"The evening's most celebrated player, Sondheim standard-bearer Bernadette Peters, may simply be too inspirationally fit and fabulous (at 63, no less) for the role of Sally, the chorine-cum-drab-Phoenix hausfrau who arrives at a reunion of the Weismann Follies girls in hopes of reclaiming the love of her life. (She actually has a lyric in which she bemoans her girth. Ha!) But Peters does make sense of the psychic breakdown Sally undergoes, culminating in a stunningly emotional rendition of Sally's "Loveland" torch song, "Losing My Mind".
| Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/23/2011 at 7:35:30 AM ET
Please, everyone, let's get the rest of the reviews posted.
I will make a small bet (and I will leave this post up!) that this version of Follies will not transfer to Broadway. These are not money reviews; it certainly is possible that some deep-pockets producers (and I do mean people like Shen) might put in the needed transfer money, but.....
| moljul
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4/2/2001
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Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 5/23/2011 at 11:06:33 AM ET
Jean, I'm quite sure you are right. A transfer is a long shot but still fun to talk about.
"Particular mention must be made of Bernadette Peters, who turns up briefly in a sort of sparkly Glinda the Good costume. She's the reluctant muse sent to help Alice with her writing. The muse is dressed like Oz, sounds like Queens and behaves like a bored student adviser." Alice Film Review, The New York Times, December 25, 1990
"I'm one star away from Dolly Parton ... and Raymond Massey is between us. I hope we don't suffocate him." Bernadette Peters receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, April 24, 1987
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 5/23/2011 at 4:19:39 PM ET
Variety is glowing!
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117945292?refCatId=33
"Particular mention must be made of Bernadette Peters, who turns up briefly in a sort of sparkly Glinda the Good costume. She's the reluctant muse sent to help Alice with her writing. The muse is dressed like Oz, sounds like Queens and behaves like a bored student adviser." Alice Film Review, The New York Times, December 25, 1990
"I'm one star away from Dolly Parton ... and Raymond Massey is between us. I hope we don't suffocate him." Bernadette Peters receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, April 24, 1987
| Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/23/2011 at 5:51:37 PM ET
Backstage review (May 23, 2011 by Erik Haagensen)
Backstage review, May 23, 2011
"Costume designer Gregg Barnes' sexy red dress for Sally is far too sophisticated and stylish for this depressive and naive suburban housewife, though Bernadette Peters does look smashing in it... Peters is much too pulled-together for Sally, never convincingly on the mental brink, not even during "Losing My Mind," and her careful singing uncomfortably elongates "In Buddy's Eyes" and goes AWOL in soprano chirping during "Too Many Mornings." Peters' occasionally cutesy line readings undermine Burstein's touching Buddy, causing, for example, an inappropriate laugh on his anguished "What the hell do I see in her?," which is now the unfortunate lead-in to the tortured "The Right Girl."
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 5/23/2011 at 7:08:45 PM ET
Ouch!
"Particular mention must be made of Bernadette Peters, who turns up briefly in a sort of sparkly Glinda the Good costume. She's the reluctant muse sent to help Alice with her writing. The muse is dressed like Oz, sounds like Queens and behaves like a bored student adviser." Alice Film Review, The New York Times, December 25, 1990
"I'm one star away from Dolly Parton ... and Raymond Massey is between us. I hope we don't suffocate him." Bernadette Peters receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, April 24, 1987
| Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/23/2011 at 7:20:17 PM ET
Review from Matt Windman, amNY
Theater review: 'Follies,' 3 stars (amNY Review)
"Peters, who recently starred in the Broadway revival of Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music,” fully captures Sally’s tragic innocence and sweet exterior, and her performance of the torch song “Losing My Mind” is vocally transcendent in spite of a lack of staging...Considering the production’s large scale and the disappointing quality of Schaeffer's staging, it is probably not a likely candidate for a Broadway transfer...So to play it safe, all Sondheim fans are urged to take the bus or train to D.C. before it is too late. If just for the sake of hearing Sondheim’s absolutely glorious score with a full-size orchestra, the Kennedy Center’s production should not be missed."
| All About BP
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3/17/2006 | posted: 5/23/2011 at 7:47:53 PM ET
Thanks SOOOOO much for posting all of these reviews! I'm going with Variety's review.
| Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/24/2011 at 8:53:41 AM ET
CurtainUp Review, by Susan Davidson, based on May 21 performance
CurtainUp review
"Bernadette Peters as the first of the former showgirls to appear on stage, looks particularly diminutive in a bright red dress with her hair pulled back. She fills the cavernous Eisenhower Theater is filled [sic] with her clear-as-a-bell voice. No matter how often you have heard the songs she sings ("Don't Look At Me," "Waiting for the Girls Upstairs," " In Buddy's Eyes" and "Too Many Mornings") Peters' interpretations bring little surprises to the lyrics as she uses unexpected phrasing and small motions with her head, her hands, even a backward kick. In the second act, dressed in an exquisite deep purple gown with an off-the-shoulder band of sequins, she squeezes every bit of emotion out of "Losing My Mind."
(I think this reviewer "gets" what Bernadette does--"little surprises", "unexpected phrasing"--not everyone's cuppa tea, I guess!)
| Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/24/2011 at 11:33:40 PM ET
"Kennedy Center presents sizzling revival of Sondheim's 'Follies'"- Baltimore Sun review, May 24, 2011 (by Tim Smith)
Baltimore Sun
"As Sally, Bernadette Peters is, as always, an arresting presence. Her acting is tellingly nuanced, especially during the most emotionally naked scenes. The Gershwin-esque ballad “Losing My Mind” puts a strain on her light voice, but Peters knows how to milk every line for its lyric power (on opening night, tears in her eyes added to the effectiveness)."
| Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/24/2011 at 11:39:27 PM ET
The Washingtonian Review "Crowd-pleasing Sondheim gets an elaborate staging from Signature’s Eric Schaeffer" (**** out of four) by Leslie Milk
Washingtonian review, May 24, 2011
"Sondheim must love mature women; he writes fantastic songs for them...Bernadette Peters has to wait her turn, then shines with the touching “Losing My Mind.”"
| Jean
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6/7/2003 | posted: 5/25/2011 at 8:54:26 AM ET
"Too Many Moanings", review by Matthew Murray for broadwaystars.com
Review , broadwaystars.com
(need to scroll down to the article)
|  Jennifer
Registered User
Registered:
7/12/2010
From:
CA | posted: 5/25/2011 at 3:26:36 PM ET
Thanks Jean for posting all the reviews.
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