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"Follies": Carnegie Hall

 A few weeks ago, I attended a "graduation" ceremony--and I whined because I think my town "overcooks" the graduation idea, and also the program itself was dramatically inert. (Yes, we're talking about three- and four-year-olds.) At the same time, I know I would have whined if the occasion *hadn't* been marked--and it's not like the particular hour in question would have yielded pages and pages of useful writing, if I'd stayed home.


So I feel for Buddy, in "Follies," who is always lost in a fog. He believes that he wants illicit love with his girlfriend, Margie, but actually, she is sort of boring to him.

Hey, Margie?
You wanna go dancing?
Or driving?
Or something?

OK, Babe...
Whatever you say, Babe...
You wanna stay home....
You wanna stay home....?

At times, Buddy almost envisions a way forward, a way of deepening the relationship, but fatigue sets in.....

The trip was rotten....
And the deal fell through...
I pushed, Babe...
I'm bushed, Babe...

I needed you to tell my troubles to--
The heck, Babe.
Let's neck, Babe...

It's always therapeutic to see this song on-stage. Also, Katie Finneran was a standout; it seemed that she had really thought about her character. She wasn't simply playing Katie Finneran. Finally, Grey Henson--in a tiny role--seemed weirdly bewitching. He has a talent for just "being" a character, without commenting on the character, without taking shortcuts. I hope that he has other Sondheim works in his future.

"Follies" turned fifty years old recently. But the neurotic central characters, with their messy "loser" tendencies, seem evergreen. (Sondheim himself seems to know how small Ben's problems are--which doesn't mean that he thinks they are unworthy of investigation. Try to take a *cosmic* perspective, now and then: "In the Depression, was I depressed? Nowhere near....I met a big financier--and I'm here....")

May the next Broadway "Follies" happen soon. I've already started to imagine Karen Olivo as Phyllis.
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