| re: latest word on a follies film? | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 09:16 pm EST 11/07/24 | |
| In reply to: re: latest word on a follies film? - Chazwaza 03:09 pm EST 11/07/24 | |
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| The lyric change looks like a small one on paper, but I think it's hugely detrimental to the audience understanding what precipitates Ben's breakdown. I understand (or I think I understand) why Sondheim made the change, but I can't fathom why he didn't see why the change is (vastly) detrimental. This is the original: Some get a boot From shooting off cablegrams Or buzzing bells to summon the staff. Some climbers get their kicks From social politics Me, I like to love, Me, I like to . . . (He forgets his lyrics, calls for it from the conductor, recovers his poise.) It now is this: Some get a boot From shooting off cablegrams Or buzzing bells to summon the staff. Some climbers get their kicks From social politics Me, I like to live, Me, I like to love, Me, I like to . . . (He forgets the lyric. He calls for it from the conductor, who barks it to him. Ben recovers his poise.) To me, that change took something that is already going to be a bit tough for audiences to understand and makes it into something that I think virtually no one seeing the show for the first time will get. I've also never understood why Sondheim, who thought John McMartin's performance was so great (and it was), has never told the directors of other productions to continue from that point more or less as it was done in the original production by McMartin, where he did not recover his poise. He was sort of frozen, not singing the next section at all, quietly and desperately asking for the lyric, having trouble hearing it (because the conductor in fact is not barking it at him, but trying to prompt him as quietly as possible, as you would expect a professional to do), all while the orchestra keeps playing the very sparse accompaniment to the next section, until finally McMartin came back with "Me, I like to love / Me, I like to love / Me, I like to . . . No, I don’t love me!” That really worked. |
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