Follies

Big Magilla
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Re: Follies

Post by Big Magilla »

Cinemanolis wrote:Michelle Pfeiffer would be ideal for one of the 2 main roles. Maybe Glenn Close. I am not sure Susan Sarandon, Sigourney Weaver or Annette Bening can sing.
Sarandon sang in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, don't know about Sigourney Weaver or Annette Bening.

Sarandon and Close would be fine in the leads if they're going for actresses in their 70s otherwise I could see Sarandon in support singing "I'm Still Here". Close would be fine singing "Broadway Baby" but I doubt she'd take a supporting role in something she would be perfect in in lead.
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Re: Follies

Post by Cinemanolis »

Since many of the names suggested in the 2008 discussion are now dead, what an ideal cast be for 2020?

Michelle Pfeiffer would be ideal for one of the 2 main roles. Maybe Glenn Close. I am not sure Susan Sarandon, Sigourney Weaver or Annette Bening can sing.

There are many older actresses that could play the supporting roles

Shirley MacLaine (it would be great seeing her sing "I'm Still Here" 30 later)
Goldie Hawn
Bette Midler
Judi Dench
Angela Lansbury
Liza Minelli
Barbra Streisand (fat chance)
Julie Andrews
Sophia Loren
Ann Margret
Jane Fonda
Cher

I just hope that we don't end up with the usual suspects Renee Zelleweger, Catherine Zeta Jones, Nicole Kidman...
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Re: Follies

Post by Cinemanolis »

‘Follies’: Stephen Sondheim Musical Getting Film Treatment From ‘On Chesil Beach’ Director Dominic Cooke, Heyday, BBC Films

Follies, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical, is being adapted into a feature film by On Chesil Beach filmmaker Dominic Cooke.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Marriage Story producer David Heyman is overseeing the project with Rosie Alison at their banner Heyday Films. Rose Garnett of BBC Films is executive producer.

Four-time Olivier Award-winner Cooke will adapt the screenplay and direct the feature. He previously helmed the 2017 stage revival of Follies at the National Theatre in London, which returned in 2019 due to popular demand.

Based on the book by James Goldman, and with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Follies first ran in 1971. It features the songs Broadway Baby, I’m Still Here and Losing My Mind. Set in a Broadway theater scheduled for demolition, the story follows a reunion of former performers in the crumbling building.

“Over the years, there have been many attempts to bring Follies to the screen, but not until Dominic Cooke’s brilliant production at the National Theatre of Great Britain did it seem like it could be a real movie. I’m more than delighted, I’m thrilled, that it’s finally going to happen,” commented Stephen Sondheim.

“Such material is a gift for any director. James Goldman’s skilful book nods as much to the golden age of movie musicals as to Broadway, so it feels like natural material to turn into a movie,” added Cooke.

“I’m thrilled and honoured to have the opportunity to bring Sondheim and Goldman’s sublime Follies to the screen. And I’m delighted to be working with Dominic Cooke, whose brilliant recent production has set us off on this journey, along with our partners at BBC Films,” said Heyman.

Alison added that Cooke’s theater production was “revelatory”, while Garnett commented that Follies “boasts all the ingredients to make the most memorable film”.
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Post by Big Magilla »

FilmFan720 wrote:Emily and Theodore (Rain on the Roof): Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke

Stella (Who's That Woman?): Barbra Streisand (since that will never happen, Elaine Stritch)
I doubt Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke would take such minor roles.

Stritch, who would be great doing I'm Still Here, did the Broadway Baby number in the concert version, I doubt she'd take too kindly to being further relegated down the cast list.

The way they're going with this, Susan Sarandon and Bernadette Peters will be better suited to playing Carlotta and Hattie by the time filming begins. Bacall, Lansbury and Stritch will be over 100 if they're still breathing.
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Post by FilmFan720 »

I had this on in the car last week and was thinking about how wonderfully cinematic the piece could be. Here are my thoughts on casting:

Phyllis: Susan Sarandon
Ben: Kevin Kline
Sally: Bernadette Peters
Buddy: Treat Williams

Carlotta (I'm Still Here): Lauren Bacall
Emily and Theodore (Rain on the Roof): Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke
Hattie (Broadway Baby): Angela Lansbury
Heidi (One More Kiss): Marni Nixon
Solange (Ah, Paris): Catherine Deneuve (the Leslie Caron idea is great too)
Stella (Who's That Woman?): Barbra Streisand (since that will never happen, Elaine Stritch)
Roscoe: George Hearn
Dmitri Weisman: Philip Bosco
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Post by Greg »

--Big Magilla wrote:IMDb still shows it as being in pre-production with a projected 2012 release date.

Is this for real? If so, they must be trying to make Follies a musical Gone With The Wind.




Edited By Big Magilla on 1254423739
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Post by Big Magilla »

IMDb still shows it as being in pre-production with a projected 2012 release date. Sam Mendes has a production of George Eliot's Middlemarch to direct for a 2010 release first.
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Post by cam »

Has anything more been said about a film of "Follies" or am I losing my mind? I had a dream that Jill Clayburgh was singing that song!
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Post by Big Magilla »

Bacall for "I'm Still Here", Lansbury for "Broadway Baby" if they're still alive and mobile by the time this thing kicks off or thirty years from now we may be remembering them as possibilities the way I remember Davis and Crawford.

Close has the pipes for Sally, the character who has the most songs. Streep could handle Phyllis, but she might be overexposed at this point, espeically coming off Mamma Mia! Annette Bening, who Mendes directed to an Oscar nomination in American Beauty could pull off the irony required for the role. And let's not forget Kathy Bates, who could easily fit into one of the other supporting roles. She can sing, too, having run circles around Carol Burnett in the TV version of Annie, another musical role Burnett massacred.
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Post by anonymous1980 »

Damien wrote:My latest idea for Carlotta ("I'm Still Here"): Lauren Bacall. And she can sing, having won 2 Tonys for Best Actress in a Musical.
Good idea. She might finally win that Oscar.
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Post by Damien »

OscarGuy wrote:So, instead of picking the middle-aged actors that have been selected so far, let's edge a little bit older.
Alexis Smith was 49 on the opening night of Follies. Dorothy Collins was 44, John McMartin 42, Gene Nelson was 51 and Yvonne De Carlo was still here at age 48.

Meryl Streep is currently 58, Kevin Kline and Glenn Close both 60, so we're already skewing considerably older than the original cast.

My latest idea for Carlotta ("I'm Still Here"): Lauren Bacall. And she can sing, having won 2 Tonys for Best Actress in a Musical.
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Post by OscarGuy »

A minor role and he'd never have the voice for it, but Mickey Rooney could play Roscoe? :)

Anyway, I think there are other more talented actors who could play Buddy and while we're at it, let me bring up something that Sondheim said in the Follies concert doc (where Burnett did seem wildly out of place). The people he'd gotten to play the various roles for the concert production were far too young for the roles, but convenience was necessary. Space, Kline, et al are quite a bit too young, IMO for the roles. I think Close would fit quite well and so would Leslie Caron. Barbara Stanwyck might have been great with I'm Still Here, but that cannot happen. I'd love to see someone like Olivia de Havilland taken on Broadway Baby...or maybe even Gloria Stuart? She's still kicking and has the kind of attitude that song would merit.

As for I'm Still Here, we'd need someone who's been around the block and is in need of a major career re-start. Bette Midler might be appropriate, but let's go for someone older and someone less self-parodistic. Here's an idea. What about Angela Lansbury? She's got the age, she's been part of the establishment for decades and she's got the singing ability. Plus, her film choices have been less than lackluster of late.

And maybe Anjelica Huston to team up with Close for the lead roles. I don't know if Huston can sing, but they'd make an interesting couple.

So, instead of picking the middle-aged actors that have been selected so far, let's edge a little bit older.
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Post by Big Magilla »

I pretty much can't stand Spacey, but his smug personality does suit the character of Buddy.

Leslie Caron in the Fifi D'Orsay role is a great idea, but I don't want Bette Midler anywhere near this production. Like Carol Burnett, who ruined the 1985 concert version, she would come off too close to parody. Shirley MacLaine would be great but since she already sang the song in Postcards From the Edge she's probably out. A cast that included Close, Streep, Kline, Spacey, Dench, Smith and Caron wouldn't be bad. Treat Williams or Barry Bostwick can play the emcee.
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Post by cam »

Interesting conjectures, all. I think Kevin Spacey is a great Buddy. Kevin Kline, I could see as Ben.
Wow. What WE could do with this show!
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Post by Akash »

OscarGuy wrote:I don't want to see Spacey's smug face anywhere near this project.
Agreed. Or just ever again really.
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