Being Bloodless Coup's biggest (maybe only) fan of musical theater, I decided to rent Follies in Concert last week. Perhaps I'm more a Stephen Sondheim fan than a musicals fan, hence the choice. Now I'd long heard that Follies was one of Sondheim's weaker shows, so I had felt no strong urge to see it - and having now watched it (or a concert featuring Broadway stars singing songs from the show - this isn't actually a filmed version of the musical), that view was appropriate. It's not that it's bad. It's just not especially interesting and I actually found myself fast-forwarding through a few of the numbers. I think he's done much better work. Still if you are a true Sondheim devotee it's something you should probably see (and you probably already have). And actually if you are really interested in Broadway in the 1980's, it's probably worth watching just for the stellar cast (Mandy Patinkin, Barbara Cook, Carol Burnett, Elaine Stritch, and the list goes on and on). Personally, I thought Lee Remick stole the show, but then that could just be the result of her having my two favorite songs - "Could I Leave You" and "The Story of Lucy & Jessie".
Posted by armand at August 21, 2005 02:20 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Movies