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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:09 am
by Damien
anonymous wrote:Someone from another board made a list of casting suggestions for Follies:
Glenn Close - Sally
Meryl Streep - Phyllis
Kevin Kline - Ben
Kevin Spacey - Buddy
As soon as I heard about the possibility that a film might actually be made, my first thought was, "Oh, no, Meryl Streep's inevitable." My second thought was that Kevin Kline would be well-cast as Ben. And then why not bring in another Julliard alum for Sally, Sigourney Weaver.
Buddy? Maybe Alec Baldwin. Treat Williams. Barry Bostwick (boy, back in the day, I thought he was going to be a huge star).
It would be lovely if Leslie Caron got the Fifi D'Orsay role.
Bette Midler for Yvonne de Carlo?
Edited By Damien on 1200204695
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:12 pm
by OscarGuy
I don't want to see Spacey's smug face anywhere near this project.
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:01 pm
by Big Magilla
Yeah, as long as Close isn't busy making Sunset Boulevard when it's ready to go before the cameras.
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:59 pm
by anonymous1980
Someone from another board made a list of casting suggestions for Follies:
Glenn Close - Sally
Meryl Streep - Phyllis
Kevin Kline - Ben
Kevin Spacey - Buddy
Thoughts on this?
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:43 pm
by Big Magilla
cam wrote:Would have trouble imagining Crawford and Davis on the same *set*, let alone the same film--the director would have slashed his wrists.
I'm sure their scenes would have been filmed separately on separate days so they wouldn't run into one another.
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:49 pm
by cam
But the seventies were not "musical" years, so I am glad it is still alive. Would have trouble imagining Crawford and Davis on the same *set*, let alone the same film--the director would have slashed his wrists.
Dorothy Collins *was* the role. But maybe Zeta-Jones: she can sing, and well.
The male parts are not as meaty as the female parts, naturally, but I would have no objection to Richard Gere OR Spacey for that matter--they can both sing: especially Spacey who is extremely good; I have heard a couple of Gershwins by him, and he sells the stuff well. Would certainly revive Kevin's career.
AND the revival of careers is what this show is all about: look at the Broadway ladies--comebacks all of them.
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:28 pm
by Big Magilla
I remain cautiously optimistic as this has been an off and on project since the 70s. I remember when Joan Crawford was being talked up for the Yvonne De Carlo part ("I'm Still Here") and Bette Davis for the Ethel Shutta part ("Broadway Baby".
With Mendes directing we could get Judi Dench and Maggie Smith in those parts with Kate Winslet, though she's probably too young, in the Dorothy Collins role ("Losing My Mind") and Annette Bening in the Alexis Smith role ("Could I Leave You?"), but please, no Richard Gere or Kevin Spacey in the male leads.
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:08 pm
by FilmFan720
Cautiously excited. I love the piece so much, but it is a very theatrical piece (much more so than the other Sondheim shows that have been filmed). Could be a great opportunity to see some great performers dig their teeth in, though.
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:33 pm
by cam
This thread has begun elsewhere( see 2007 Shouldabeens), so I figured that it was an important enough topic for its own thread.
I read somewhere that Bill Condon was considering it. Damien says that that idea was a no go, and that Mendes and Aaron Sorkin are doing it. I will not have problems with that: Mendes has done Company and Sorkin does well with older women on TV.
I hope that the project goes ahead, and wonder if it depends on the public's acceptance ( or not) of Burtons film of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
This is a great dramatic piece for older women, who complain often good parts are not written for them. Please,dear God, may there will be actual *singers*, but this musical doesn't depend so much on singers so much as actors who can "sell" the material, in a way that Depp and Carter never could do with Todd. One hopes that the songs will be kept, and not jettisoned in favour of material especially written( by someone else).
Anyone else here excited about this?
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