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Home , Elaine Paige, Jan Maxwell, Musical theatre, Natasha Katz, Ron Raines

THEATRE Copyright Lighting &Sound America July 2011 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

Exploring the A dark mysteries of , a modernist Wrinkle musical classic in Time By: David Barbour

44 • July 2011 • Lighting &Sound America he begins, but is like no you’ve ever heard, the lead melody being an insistently melancholy waltz, with echoes of Ravel. A ragged, torn show curtain rises to reveal the empty of a dilapidated theatre. Well, not quite empty: Standing in a dim, cold beam Tof light is an absurdly tall, unnaturally pale showgirl, lost in contemplation. As the music continues, other such creatures appear until, in an epiphany that combines an emphatic musical chord with a sudden burst of light, we realize that is filled with ghosts. For all its glories, the American theatre has rarely, if ever, given us anything as rich and strange as Follies . Both a fond tribute to and a ruthless deconstruction of golden-age Broadway musicals, it has divided for four decades. Opening in 1971, a low point for Broadway Opposite: Katz uses different colors of light to distinguish between the characters as and recession-plagued New York, they are in 1971 and their younger selves. Above: Ben in Loveland, which consists of a Follies seemed to some to be a series of floral bowers. veritable death knell for the traditional -and- show. In fact, it was Rogers. Ben married Phyllis and nected. The largely plotless action an open door, leading to a newer, made a pile of money, becoming an consists of snatches of overheard more adult form of . important player in governmental conversations, usually focusing on It all stems from the show’s bizarre and philanthropic circles. Buddy the relentless passage of time. and original premise: It is 1971, and married and moved to Without warning, characters burst we are in the Weissman Theatre, Arizona, where he became a into song, reliving the where, for more than two decades salesman in the oil industry. that made them briefly famous. between the wars, Dimitri Weissman Neither story has a happy ending. (’s score is a (read: Florenz Ziegfeld) presented a Ben’s overweening ambitions have masterpiece of pastiche, drawing on series of lavish, showgirl-filled . destroyed his marriage, leaving him every and/or lyricist of the Now, the theatre is to be torn down and Phyllis in a frigidly polite era, from to Vincent to make way for a parking lot, and deadlock. Sally, haunted by the affair Youmans.) And, as Buddy, Phyllis, r

e Weissman has invited the surviving she had with Ben, lives inside a cycle Ben, and Sally discover, in Madeline g n i

m Follies veterans back for a drink, a of depression and rage, with Buddy L’Engle’s famous phrase, there’s a m e

H story or two, and a last look back. as her caretaker. Both marriages are wrinkle in time in the Weissman a c i r As it happens, that look proves in a state of paralysis, all four Theatre, in which their collective E ) t h

g to be far more penetrating than partners held hostage by their past still exists, unfolding over and i r ( ; s anyone can bear, especially for the youthful dreams and expectations. over again. (“It’s like a film in my u c r a two married couples at the heart of From the first note, Follies follows head that plays and plays and M n a

o the show. Thirty years earlier, its own surreal path. In James plays,” says Buddy.) J ) t f

e Buddy Plummer and Ben Stone Goldman’s book, what begins as a As the recriminations and l ( : s

o were best friends, chasing after simple reunion of showgirls turns confrontations reach a feverish t o h

P showgirls Sally Durant and Phyllis increasingly strange and discon - height, the stage is transformed—

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • July 2011 • 45 THEATRE

Sondheim has called it “a collective dark glamour, is surely as close to that covering the side walls of the theatre nervous breakdown”—and we enter original as it is possible to get. (It was with distressed, filthy-looking canvas— into a metaphorical Follies , known certainly good enough to set off a making it look as if the wrecking ball as Loveland, in which the four leads exodus of Follies fans to were due to arrive at any moment. The out their fundamental emotional Washington, to check out a cast that ceiling area just above the proscenium conflicts in a series of variety turns. included the likes of Bernadette is also covered in similar fashion. As a Buddy explores his unsatisfying Peters, , , and result, anyone sitting in the front half of relationships with Sally and his .) Thanks to the critical the Eisenhower feels wrapped inside mistress, Margie, in “The God-Why- acclaim and robust box office, the the Weissman Theatre. Don’t-You-Love-Me-Oh-You-Did-I’ll production will transfer ’s The next element is a deeply See-You Later Blues,” a raucous later this summer. distressed proscenium, featuring Doric routine. Phyllis explores Talking to the designers of the columns at right and left, huge the split in her personality in “The Kennedy Center production, it would sections of which are chipped away. Story of Lucy and Jessie,” which appear that designing Follies is both a Even in this ruined state, the features a sassy dance routine. Sally simple and daunting task. All you have proscenium is beautifully detailed, all but unravels while delivering the to do is 1) get the original production with paintings of glamorous creatures ballad, “Losing My Mind.” Ben, still out of your head and 2) dream as as in the upper left and right corners. As cut off from his true self, tries to your imagination, and budget, will allow. mentioned earlier, the show curtain is present himself as a carefree soul in a thing of and tatters. “Live, Laugh, Love,” with devas - On stage at the The stage, when revealed, is a vivid tating consequences. Weissman Theatre image of a Broadway house in a tragic Opening in 1971, when the great This has been a season of musical state of disrepair. It’s a place of brick American postwar cultural consensus revivals for Derek McLane, the scenic walls, radiators, and unflattering house was breaking up into a series of designer of Follies . On Broadway, he light, devoid of warmth or light. A pile armed camps (Nixon’s Silent Majority has earned acclaim and awards for of junk resides in the upstage right vs. the counterculture) Follies thrilled his work on new productions of How corner. Clearly, it hasn’t been used as some audiences and terrified others. to Succeed in Business Without a legitimate theatre for decades. At In its portrayal of time’s ruthlessness, Really Trying and . But, the same time, McLane made sure the impermanence of , and the he frankly admits, neither project that the space would meet the show’s dangers of living in their past, it has caused him the anxiety of competing peculiar needs. There are two gallery been described as a Proustian with the memory of Aronson’s design levels on the upstage wall where musical. To those who love it, it is an for Follies. ghosts can promenade, pausing to endlessly fascinating object of In Aronson’s conception, the consider the action on the stage contemplation, one that yields new Weissman Theatre was already falling below. A two-story staircase at stage riches at each stage of one’s life. down. And his version of the climactic right is used in the stunning first That is, if they can see it. To be “Loveland” sequence, when the four number, “Beautiful Girls.” As Roscoe, effective, Follies must be done on a lead characters act out their own Weissman’s house tenor, sings his grand scale, making it a daunting Follies, had the outsized glamour of traditional tribute to feminine youth proposition for revival. (The original the work of Joseph Urban, Ziegfeld’s and beauty (“Faced with these production ran for more than 500 house designer. “I had to begin by Loreleis/What man can moralize?”), performances and still lost money.) clearing my mind of Boris Aronson’s we see the former Weissman girls, One obstacle faced by anyone staging work, to create something that would now between the ages of 50 and 80, Follies is that the memory of the fit the Kennedy Center,” McLane says. descending the stairs one last time. original production, staged by Harold And yet, the first challenge was the The set feels enormous, as it Prince and choreographed by Michael Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre, should, what with a cast of 40. Bennett, lives on. (That production, a very contemporary-looking space—it However, McLane notes, “It’s smaller with scenery by Boris Aronson, opened in 1969—made even more so than the Eisenhower stage itself. I by Florence Klotz, and by a recent renovation. The sleek, moved the back wall downstage, to lighting by , is on modern-looking interior is inimical to give it a greater sense of intimacy.” everybody’s list of great Broadway the spirit of Follies , which must unfold Other scenic touches include the use designs.) This summer, however, the in an atmosphere of disrepair and of rain curtain in the number “Who’s Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, decay. “Fortunately,” McLane says, That Woman?” (about which more presented a revival, directed by Eric “we were able to build the design out later), used to frame the performers. Schaeffer, which, in its ambition and into the auditorium.” This involved Perhaps the designer’s greatest

46 • July 2011 • Lighting &Sound America Above: Buddy’s Loveland number is lit like a vaudeville turn, with hard-edged followspots.

success is the transition to Loveland, a moment which has bedeviled many a production of Follies. The script gives no guidance about what is to happen, except to say that the stage is transformed. Here as the two couples squabble furiously, they walk down to the front edge of the stage. A new—and much fuller—show curtain lowers in and a set of footlights comes up. For a second, we see all four performers and their shadows. Then, in a brilliant coup de théâtre, the curtain falls, kabuki-like, to reveal Loveland; the four principals

s stand with their backs to the u c r a , stunned, as a procession of M n a

o showgirls parades downstage, J : s

o performing the song “Loveland” t o h

P (“where everybody loves to live”). Above: As lit by Katz, McLane's Loveland set seems to glow from within.

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • July 2011 • 47 THEATRE

Roscoe serenades the Weissman Girls. Note the ghosts of showgirls on the second and third levels. Opposite: The pre-show look, with the damaged show curtain and distressed proscenium.

Loveland, in McLane’s conception, of Cornwall, New York who did all the Broadway revival of , consists of a series of curved portals painting and distressing of the pieces) translating Musser’s circa-1975 that are, in effect, bowers of pink, The Loveland sequence ends concepts using modern lighting gear orange, and purple flowers. The when Ben’s number, “Live, Laugh, “This was daunting in a different designer, who says he went through a Love,” breaks down and the stage way,” the designer says. “Derek’s number of concepts before settling descends into chaos; the entire cast set is very different from Boris on this one, notes that each portal is appears, re-enacting different scenes Aronson’s set in that it doesn’t allow decorated with a flowers made of and , creating an unbearable for any sidelight.” She adds that tulle. The effect is evocative of babble that vanishes—McLane McLane built in some slots, allowing another era, and it proves extremely makes Loveland disappear as for a certain amount of sidelight, flexible, as the portals can fly in and elegantly as it appeared—leaving much of which is used to light the out in different configurations for each Ben, Buddy, Phyllis, and Sally alone two gallery levels, adding texture to number. (The production’s scenery on the empty stage at the Weissman, the entrances of the ghosts. Still, was built by Global Scenic Services, facing an uncertain future. she says, “The sidelight we have of Bridgeport, Connecticut. I. Weiss, doesn’t function the way it would if of New York, contributed to the Ghost light we had wings in which to place Loveland set, providing four digitally The anxiety of influence was every - lighting gear; the way it is set up printed covers with 400 tulle flowers where at Kennedy Center. Just as here, you can’t carve out the bodies attached to the faces. All the flowers McLane says he had to rid himself of in the same way.” were hand-made in I. Weiss; shop Aronson’s ideas in order to create Still, the designer found ways to and were affixed to the set pieces by something new, Natasha Katz, the make many haunting effects. For one Global Scenic. I. Weiss also provided says, “The ghost of thing, she worked out a flexible soft goods, the show curtain, the Tharon [Musser] was sitting on my structure of colors and color tempera - kabuki drop and rain curtain, in shoulder the whole time.” This isn’t tures to map out the show’s complex conjunction with Scenic Art Studios, the first time: Katz lit the recent terrain of time frames and psycho -

48 • July 2011 • Lighting &Sound America logical realities. She says, “You think, during the opening, Sally runs on juxtaposition of past and present. Oh my god, how do we tell this stage, the first guest at the party; she This number, Katz says, “is a world of story? There are so many levels. nearly bumps into the specter of her its own,” and had to be lit for its own There’s the present, the present younger self, who stares at her, values, not according to any thinking of the past, the past and the curiously. Then there’s the number programmatic plan about time present interacting.” For that matter, “Waiting for the Girls Upstairs,” in frames. “It’s a melding of two any of the big solos take place in an which the four principals recall, in worlds,” she adds. indeterminate reality—are they jocular fashion, their youthful nights In lighting the show’s variety happening at the party? Are they ; in the middle of the numbers, Katz took into account memories or fantasies? And then song, their younger selves make a each performer, some of whom there’s Loveland… disturbing and unwanted appearance; offered unusual interpretations of the In this production, says Katz, “The thanks to the lighting, two distinct songs. For example, “Ah, Paris!,” a present is white or monochrome, and time frames can exist side by side. In kind of parody, here the past has a kind of teal feeling to an especially touching moment, the voiced by Regine, as the chanteuse it. This approach allowed us to elderly soprano Heidi Schiller (here Solange LaFitte, is delivered with isolate the past in the present. It played by diva Rosalind Elias), plenty of color, “because that’s how I helped that the costumes [by Gregg sings “One Last Kiss,” with its melody think it would feel to Solange.” On the Banes] took the light beautifully, redolent of Viennese ; she is other hand, “Broadway ,” which which allowed us to pick out joined by the ghost of her younger is often staged in a comic individuals as we needed.” self, gorgeously gowned, for a melan - manner, is here given a full-belt For example, the opening moment, choly duet. “You’re constantly cross - rendition by Linda Lavin; using a few revealing a single ghost on stage, fading from into the past from the accent lights and a followspot, Katz takes advantage of different color present,” Katz says; “It’s like transforms it into a brilliant example temperatures “There’s just one watching someone’s unconscious of chiaroscuro. Similarly, Elaine Paige moving light on that ghost,” Katz unfold, from thought to thought.” transforms “I’m Still Here,” which can says. “The rest of the stage is lit with At the same time, she says, “We be a bitter summing up, into the wry incandescent light. I started with didn’t stick to this approach like the memoirs of a showbiz survivor; moving lights, then gradually took Bible.” For example, past and present off the actress’ blue gown, them out, turning on the incandes - collide in “Who’s That Woman?” in Katz fills the stage with blue accents, cents, which just felt more and more which Stella Deems, a former Follies acting a slightly rueful undertone. right. That scene is all Lee 161 [Slate star, recreates her signature number, Loveland, of course, requires a Blue] and a lot of gobos.” supported by Phyllis, Sally, and a few look all its own, and Katz responds The designer notes that her other ladies. In the middle of the by using a variety of techniques to approach allowed the 1971 number, the membrane of time rips make it look as if the flowery portals characters and the ghosts to exist open and the ladies are joined by are glowing from within. “From a tech side by side on stage. For example, their youthful ghosts in a stunning point of view, they really needed sidelight, she says. “We ended up attaching units to the back of the portals; we also built [Philips Color Kinetics] ColorBlazes into the floor to uplight the portals.” She adds delightedly, “The portals are so lightable. When you see [at the beginning of [her number] ‘Losing My Mind,’ she looks like she’s in a candy box.” The designer’s rig includes 20 Philips Vari*Lite VL2000 Wash units

r and 26 Martin Professional MAC 2000 e g n i Performances—chosen in part m m e because she was dealing with trims H a c i r of 40’—in addition to approximately E : s

o 340 ETC Source Fours in various t o h

P models, 96 MR16s, six DHA Light

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • July 2011 • 49 THEATRE

other things, the allows some of Sondheim’s most fiendishly intricate lyrics to be heard, clearly and transparently. Interestingly, Harada found himself working with a set of gear that is quite different from what is found in most Broadway shows these days. For example, the Eisenhower Theatre was the beneficiary, a few years ago, of an all-Harman loudspeaker rig, donated by the late Sidney Harman. Thus the setup for Follies includes arrays of JBL VerTec indoor/outdoor background and foreground units for both the and mezzanine levels. JBL Control 25 speakers are used for front fill and underbalcony delays. JBL7210/95DP powered 10" two-way integrated boxes provide additional fill in the orchestra and mezzanine areas. The surround system consists of JBL MS26 ultra- Left: A detail of the proscenium, showing how much time has eaten it away. Top right: compact two-way full-range speakers McLane covered the walls in fabric, to extend the Weissman Theatre into the Eisenhower auditorium. Bottom right: A set model showing the Weissman Theatre. in addition to another set of JBL Opposite: Most of the performers wear Countryman B6 mics. Control 25s. Harada specified a set of Meyer Sound UP Jrs for additional , 40 Wybron Coloram It crawls into your body and just reinforcement of the orchestra. A pair scrollers, 10 Philips Color Kinetics doesn’t leave.” of Meyer Sound Galileo systems ColorBlaze 72s and 12 CK ColorBlast provides speaker processing. TRs. She is also the latest Broadway Voices of the Additional sound gear was supplied designer to take advantage of LED past and present by PRG Audio. tape, in this case, from Super Bright. The first thing you hear entering the Onstage foldback is provided by “We put it on the top of the railings theatre at Follies is the subtle sound Apogee AE 3M units. Interestingly, on the galleries,” she says. “It lights of wind whipping through the there are no personal mixers in the the walls and uplights the ghosts.” Weissman Theatre. It’s an effectively orchestra, a decision that Harada Lighting is controlled by an ETC Eos, chilling grace note, and it exemplifies said he made jointly with Jim Moore, for the movers, linked to an Ion for the attention to detail that is the the musical director. “He doesn’t like the conventionals. Mark Polemini hallmark of sound designer Kai personal mixing, and I agree, programmed the Eos. Lighting gear Harada’s work on the production. especially for this type of show. The was supplied by PRG. Harada notes that the idea of the musicians really have to listen to Skillful programming must have wind effect came from Eric Schaeffer, each other.” been especially important here, adding, “Eric really trusts the people In addition, Follies is mixed on a because Katz’s work is marked by a he works with; it’s been a great console that may seem unfamiliar to dreamlike fluidity, crossfading across collaborative process.” He also many. “The theatre has a Studer Vista time periods and emotional states, praises the Eisenhower Theatre’s 5,” says Harada, “but, as I’m not as capturing conversations on the fly, acoustics as “fantastic.” He is familiar with it, we brought in a and slipping in and out of musical similarly superlative when describing Stagtec Aurus.” Stagetec, he numbers at a moment’s notice—all the 28-piece orchestra, combined explains, “is a German manufacturer while maintaining an ethereal, other - with a star-studded cast. “It’s been who demo’ed their system for me in worldly atmosphere. A challenging my goal recently to do a natural- 2007. Their Aurus console is based project, to be sure, but also, she sounding show, and the acoustics, on their Nexus digital audio routing says, a satisfying one: “I feel so coupled with the cast and orchestra - system; both have been popular in blessed to have worked on this show. tions, have made it a reality.” Among the broadcast market and in theatre

50 • July 2011 • Lighting &Sound America installations in Europe. Recently, I’ve associate, can be working on effects M. Taylor (production ), used the Aurus/Nexus on two on the other side of the desk.” (The Robert E. Clark (production musicals in Europe, and we use the show’s sound effects are fired via a properties), and J.P. Reali (head of Nexus on the second national tour of QLab system, connected to the sound at the Eisenhower Theatre). . It’s the best-sounding, most Nexus via MADI.) As Follies makes its way to New reliable digital system I’ve found.” Most of the cast members are York, some key roles will have to be Harada continues, “The Kennedy wearing Countryman B6 mics, chosen recast and perhaps the designers Center let me bring Patrick Pummill, a for their small size; most of them are may find themselves making different seasoned Broadway operator, to mix placed at the performers’ hairlines, gear choices. How the production the show, and he was able to spend a making them hard to see. Danny will be received there remains to be week with the Aurus at Stagetec’s Burstein and , who seen. Follies fans are a notoriously new office in Brooklyn prior to coming Buddy and Ben, have Sennheiser picky bunch, forever finding new to Washington, DC.” By the time of MKE 1s; Harada notes that this productions inadequate compared to the load-in in Washington, Pummill choice of , placed over the original (an ironic turn of events says he was totally up to speed on their ears, suits their voices better. considering this is a musical about the Aurus: “The truck was unloaded The performers all use Sennheiser the dangers of living in the past). on Monday morning, and the console SK5212 wireless transmitters and Whatever happens, New Yorkers will was passing audio by Monday 1046 receivers. In the orchestra, there be seeing a production that makes afternoon. We had the first day of is a full array of mics from AKG, that best case for a show that stands cast on stage on Saturday whereupon Sennheiser, Neumann, and Shure, apart as a stunning and utterly we did a complete stumble-through provided by the Kennedy Center’s unique achievement. of the show. We were through 80% of extensive collection. our total work by that point; normally, Harada adds that working with an we’d be 50% or 60%. This allowed orchestra of this size “is a foreign— us to spend the next several weeks of yet wonderful—experience. Recent tech and previews dealing with the shows are orchestrated differently, most difficult remaining 20%: the with many more electronic instru - details and the finesse.” ments and many elements that get in Harada says, “I can’t speak highly the way of the lyrics. Jonathan enough about Patrick. He has a Tunick’s for Follies fantastic ear, and this is a challenging know when to pull back to make room show to mix.” One of the most for a vocal line, and there’s something challenging numbers is “Who’s that so organic and visceral listening to Woman?” “After the dance break, you real musicians with real instruments.” have eight divas who have to sing In spite of certain time pressures, again—it’s a matter of pulling the Harada adds, almost jokingly, “This orchestra back just enough so they may become a show that I compare can be heard, but without losing to every other show, because there energy. When we get to Loveland, were so few issues. Everyone—from everything changes—the orchestra - crew to creatives to cast—was simply tions, scenery, and costumes—so we wonderful to work with.” change along with that, changing the Additional key personnel on Follies perceived acoustics of the room ever includes Shari Silberglitt (production

s so subtly through the surrounds.” stage manager), Erica Hemminger u c r a But, he adds, having a console like and Shoko Kambara (associate M n a

o the Aurus made the process easy and scenic designers), Yael Lubetzky J ) t h efficient. Pummill agrees: “Although it (associate lighting designer), Brett g i r ( ; r looks intimidating, it works very much Banakis (assistant scenic designer), e g n i like an analog surface: it responds Kathleen Dobbins and Peter m m e like an analog desk, and also allows Hoerburger (assistant lighting H a c i r multiple people to work simultane - designers), Matthew Elias Hodges E ) t f

e ously.” Harada continues, “I can work (properties supervisors), Jeremy Lydic l ( : s

o on the orchestra mix while Patrick is (properties coordinator), Thomas M. t o h

P mixing, and Jana Hoglund, my Hewitt (production ), Gilford

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