Everything Was Possible by Ted Chapin

Author:Ted Chapin [Chapin, Ted]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781476849218
Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
Published: 2005-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Hal, Lisa and Boris Aronson, Ruthie.

Fritz called for the scene to start again, and the actors picked up where they left off. The four principals continued, confronting each other and their younger selves, and the piano began playing “Loveland.” Everyone onstage looked up, and one by one, from far upstage to downstage, the drops came in. First was a fan, then the oversized doilies, then, farthest downstage, a rich, silky, velvet-looking curtain, sky-blue and white, different in color and texture from all the others, which tabbed up as it flew in. As the dancers entered, they looked up to make certain the staging they had learned put them out of the way of what was coming at them from above. The company came sneaking out of the wings to gasp and applaud. Hal and Michael both nodded in approval. Fritz was proud of having pulled off the complicated transition. Steve Sondheim, standing in the auditorium, turned and said, “Not bad, Boris.” Boris smiled. The drops filled about two-thirds of the width of the stage; there was no masking on the sides, allowing the side units to be seen lurking in the shadows. It worked brilliantly. Michael went over to Fritz to discuss the speed at which the drops should fly in. He felt they had all come in too slowly, and wanted to make certain they could be timed precisely, to fly in one after the other in perfect sequence, as if they were methodically taking over the entire place. He also wanted to synchronize the appearance of the two semicircular stair units from under the platform, although he didn’t want their appearance to be noticed.

This was a difficult and important transition, so it was repeated several times. After five passes, it finally all came together: drumroll, fanfare, staircases, drops in, one at a time, coming to a stop right as the vamp began, tape synchronized with the onstage singing, chorus of pastel Dresden figures in position, and the showgirls ready to make their entrances. “No matter what audiences may feel about Follies, these Follies drops coming in is already one of the rare, glorious moments in the theater”—that’s what I wrote in my notebook.

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