Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Follies’ Weissman Theatre is full of ghosts. They inhabit the fabric of the theater, reliving the glory of the theatrical performances that took place on its stage. The first characters that the audience experiences in Follies are the ghosts of the follies girls drifting and dancing on its deadened stage. The last ones experienced are the ghosts of our leads – young Sally, Phyllis, Ben and Buddy, saying good bye in a sense and being entombed in the theater that is poised to be destroyed. I don’t think it’s an accident that James Goldman began and ended with ghosts. Ghosts are a universal literary foil and they are definitely a foil for the ‘real’ people in Follies. They help give the musical its depth.

So, do you believe in ghosts?

I do.

 

Famed ghost hunter and parapsychologist Hans Holzer defines a ghost as a spirit that has gotten stuck in the physical world but is not part of the physical world. He also makes a distinction between a ghost and a haunting. A haunting is a ‘psychic imprint, an imprint on the atmosphere, which is energy like a television picture that is stuck in time. To the average person it looks exactly the same as a ghost. If it were observed exactly alike at the same time in the same place and a number of witnesses have reported identical experiences, then you probably have an imprint. If, from different witnesses, you have reports saying there’s a variation in what the ghost is doing, then it’s a real person.’

 

The use of ghosts in literature is extensive, and they are often used to reveal a supernatural truth or provide a cosmic warning. In some cases, they advance the plot quickly by revealing additional background information – sort of a deus ex machina in the middle of the story. Ghosts never fail to give added weight to a message since we believe that what they say comes from a source from the other side. Their messages are often interpreted as messages of grace from God or the gods, or conversely, they are messages from demons or the dark side. In either case, the feeling around the appearance and the message of a ghost is usually frightening and at minimum, anxious and tense. We’re feeling something extra-ordinary and so we should take heed.

Ghosts in literature may seek our help and may offer help. Ghosts beg to be put at peace. In the Iliad, the ghost of Achilles’ best friend Patroclus appears to Achilles in a dream, begging him to bury him as soon as he can so that he can pass into Hades and be at rest. And literary ghosts have been known to offer assistance to us humans: the ghost of Marley in A Christmas Carol is a famous example of supernatural intervention: “I am here tonight to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer….You will be haunted by Three Spirits….Without their visits, you cannot hope to shun the path I tread.” And those three spirits come from the other side and guide Scrooge.

Still, not all ghosts are pleasant and needing help. Some ghosts manifest to correct a wrong. The ghost of Hamlet’s father informs Hamlet about the truth of his death and asks to be avenged. And appearing to those who have done you wrong, like the ghost of Banquo does to Macbeth, is nothing short of terrifying and reminding you that you have a guilty conscience – or should have.

Musicals are certainly not immune from ghosts. Carousel sees Billy Bigelow beg to come down to earth to make amends for the wrong choices that he made in life. The Secret Garden sees the ghosts of all those who have been in young Mary Lennox’s life appear to inspire and cosmically guide her to a new life at her uncle’s manor in Yorkshire, England.

So are the ghosts in Follies spirits of the dead, hauntings – those psychic recordings impressed on space and time, or something else?

I think they are all three, and that something else is the manifestation of one’s memory as its young self – not really a ghost but a person created from one’s mind.

Let me explain. A ghost of a follies girl could be an actual spirit living in the Weissman Theatre – a spirit interacting with the living; others could be a haunting – a psychic recording of a follies girl caught repeating a dance that she loved so much that an image of her dancing over and over is imprinted on space and time. The third is the most interesting and the most present in Follies: The memory of someone is so palpable that it comes alive as a psychic person, conjured up by those attending the reunion at the Weissman Theatre. This ‘memory person’ is not a ghost or haunting in a classic sense, but a projection of the memory.

But is it? Projection of a memory seems to put the creation of that ‘memory person’ at the behest of the person remembering. Would this mean that the ‘memory person’ lives out only what the older remembers? Or does the ‘memory person’ live the past independently of the one remembering and s/he acts out the past as it actually was, not as it was remembered from one person’s point of view?

For Follies, I think both occur. A good example is that many of young Sally’s brief appearances in Act 1 are painful moments of rejection and disappointment, but somehow Sally does not remember them or choose to remember them. Young Sally stands as a memory not consistent with what Sally’s memory. Is young Sally, therefore, her own person and not an extension of Sally’s memory? Still, in “Too Many Mornings,” Sally gives her younger self to Ben, or is it Ben remembering Sally as her young self being given to him? The fact the young Sally is in the theater before Sally comes to the Weissman Theatre seems to indicate that the memory is indeed her own person and it stands on its own.

Please forgive me about these musings that would fit better in a philosophy class than a blog about making a show. But how to create these ghostly characters – their movement, acting and internal monologue – that make up more than a third of the cast is a major challenge for me as a director. How do you guide actors to create these characters that, for the most part, do not speak and will react (or not) with their surroundings and ‘real’ people? The metaphysics of who they are is the first step to making these characters breathe on stage.

Nearly every production of Follies that I have seen has struggled with the concept of the ghosts. When ignored or not understood, it creates a mess of the piece; when inconsistent in its interpretation and execution, it creates confusion and muddies and weakens the story. And though the three types of ‘ghosts’ can work, that many paradigms on stage will also create confusion for an audience. So why not get rid of them? I know of one production that did that.

Fie! The ghosts are the heart of Follies. They are memory and haunting and they create anxiety and tension, and yes, both a fascination and fear in the audience. They let us know that the journey that we take with this story is important – so important that another reality is involved: we are not only in the natural world, but we are also in a preternatural one. And they emphasize a key point to the piece – ghosts don’t just appear anywhere, but usually appear where great emotion is involved and the Weissman Theatre this night is a place of great emotion. An old and crumbling theater is just a place for a ghost.

Next up, The Weissman Theatre: A Temple of Art Crumbling.

For additional information about the production itself, go to The Arlington Players website: www.thearlingtonplayers.org.

If you have questions for the director, feel free to respond to the blog or email him at folliesdirector@gmail.com. Responses to the blog may be posted publicly; email correspondence will be private.

The quotes and background information about Hans Holzer are taken from http://www.ghostvillage.com and http://www.cosmiclighthouse.com.

Quotes are also taken from The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

 

Memory Agonistes – Reunions

Several years ago, I received a call out of the blue. The person on the phone – an enthusiastic lady – identified herself as a former grade school classmate of mine. I drew a blank: I had no idea who she was. She regaled me with memories of classmates, asking if I remembered “David” or had I seen “Mary.” I felt put on the spot – most of the names she brought up sounded familiar, but I could not place a name with a face. I was relieved when she told me she had married “Greg” and I really did remember him. Of course, throughout this embarrassing stroll down non-memory lane, I really was wondering why she called.

Then came the zinger: she wanted to make sure I got an invitation to my 25^th high school reunion.

Gulp.

Before she had called, I had thought about the fact that it had been 25 years since my high school graduation. But I certainly didn’t expect her call or, just as importantly, my ambivalent feelings on thought of a reunion.

Reunions can do that to people. I’ve spoken to many people – especially since I agreed to do Follies – about their feelings on reunions. Some love the thought of getting together with people from their past; others abhor the thought of meeting up with those that they have not seen in years. Some are indifferent. The range of emotions about reunions is as diverse as those thinking about them.

Reunions present us a time to remember collectively and a time to reflect privately. That’s what we go to them for – to remember those from our past and take a look at whom they have become. And that’s what those from our past do too – they come to look at us – who we were and whom we have become. The experience makes us take account of who are – for some of us, with pride, and for others, with regret. Reunions hold both recollection and reckoning.

For all of us, memory is a powerful aspect of being human – it is a basis for how we understand ourselves as human beings. Remembering something that has taken place in our lives is the first step for toward reflecting and either reaffirming our life choices or taking action to change them.

So what’s the reason for unease with getting together with people from the past and remembering? I think there are lots of reasons. Some people that have a personality trait of not thinking “backward” but only looking forward could be an example. These kinds of people can be brash, adventurous and straightforward – a person who lives life simply while moving on through life’s challenges. Some people grow to be more agoraphobic and do not want to see others. Some too may have bad memories that they do not want to relive – there are those people with whom we never were really comfortable is another possible reason.

But I really suspect much of “reunion discomfort” has little to do with others, but more to do with ourselves. When going to a reunion, we remember, reflect, and assess ourselves. It’s the time when we remember the past, with others, and then we judge who we are, alone. Judging ourselves is dangerous – it leads to change or perhaps the decision not to. And it is pretty hard not to do this at a reunion.

The reunion is a central plot device in Follies and its focus on remembering. It dominates the first act as the dramatic underpinning of the story and it frames the piece: Follies first and foremost is about a reunion. The former Weissman Follies showgirls and their husbands come to a reunion at the Weissman Theater to visit and remember. And by this remembering, this reunion provides a context for ghosts of the past to appear. Understanding and exploring the meaning of reunion is a key exercise for the actors in building the realism – and related the preternaturalism and surrealism – of Follies.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe it’s you.”

“Is that you? I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I’m here. You look great.”

“You too. I’m so glad to see you.”

So what’s so scary about that?

Next up – things to be scared about – memories that conjure the spirit world: Do You Believe in Ghosts?

For additional information about the production itself, go to The Arlington Players website: www.thearlingtonplayers.org.

If you have questions for the director, feel free to respond to the blog or email him at folliesdirector@gmail.com. Responses to the blog may be posted publicly; email correspondence will be private.

FOLLIES in a Word

Welcome! I’m so glad you stopped by.

About a year ago, I was asked to direct The Arlington Players (TAP) production of Follies in the spring 2009. When I accepted, I reflected on the last musical I had directed – TAP’s Ragtime in 2005 – and it dawned on me that it had been so long since I directed a musical. The world continues to change since then – a whole crop of young people have gone through and graduated high school and college since I last directed. And as we all know, the theater world and the actors in the DC area are in continual flux – four years is an eternity of artists coming and going. Since there is a new world of people creatively out there, I thought that I would really like to share my preparation process, my thoughts on themes and dramaturgy, and how the technical team is approaching Follies.

What was the best way to do this?

Nowadays, blogging seems a natural way to share my take on Follies and bit of the preparation process. Blogging also allows an opportunity to generate interest and partner with those theater folks who’d like to get involved. It’s a great chance to raise interest and to see who’s out there that share my passion for this piece. It’s over-reaching, I know, since the entire internet population can read this – but the few that are interested in the DC area may find that this sparks their interest to become a part of this exciting production.

So here’s the first blog.

A few points on logistics before I continue with my initial thoughts on Follies: I plan to blog regularly over the next few months before rehearsals start. As a director that honors the rehearsal process and its creative privacy, I plan to stop blogging during that time. After the run of the production (April 17-May 2, 2009), I hope to reflect on the experience as a wrap-up and lessons learned next May.

I’m happy to receive feedback and will respond and post as is appropriate.

So, on to Follies.

When approaching a piece as a director, I like starting ‘at the very beginning,’ to quote Oscar Hammerstein II, and to me, the beginning is the title of the piece. I like analyzing it – seeing what it tells me – and I like looking at both the denotative and connotative meanings of the title. Titles can guide the writing of a piece and keep the writer of the book, lyrics and music on the same page; in other cases, titles are changed and finalized after a piece is written, reflecting a growth toward a theme or point of view – or crassly, better marketing for the piece. Stephen Sondheim, the composer and lyricist of Follies, is a master of word play and capitalizing on multiple meanings of words and it is never more evident than in his title for this piece.

So what is a folly? Here’s a dictionary definition.

Folly –noun, plural -lies [Origin: 1175–1225; ME folie < OF, deriv. of fol, fou foolish, mad.]

1. the state or quality of being foolish; lack of understanding or sense.

2. a foolish action, practice, idea, etc.; absurdity: the folly of performing without a rehearsal.

3. a costly and foolish undertaking; unwise investment or expenditure.

4. follies, a theatrical revue.

5. a fake romantic ruin made in a garden.

6. Obsolete. wickedness; wantonness.

—Synonyms imprudence, rashness, mistake, foolishness, indiscretion, injudiciousness; madness, lunacy.

The underlines are mine. Talk about playing multiple levels of meaning – I think that all of these fit perfectly and are all played out in Follies.

Before discussing why I think these play out, I should give a description of the plot for those unfamiliar with Follies. I can’t help but reveal themes and plots I hope to explore in this description.

With a book by James Goldman and music and lyrics by Sondheim, Follies centers on a reunion and what happens at every reunion is remembering. The year is 1971 and the Weissman Theater, a theater on Broadway, is to be razed so that a parking lot can be built. The Weissman Follies girls come back to the theater for this reunion – to meet and remember the days between the Wars when they strutted their stuff on stage as top-drawer showgirls and remember their younger selves.

As with most reunions, expectations, memories, and reflections are front and center. And as with most memories when we reflect, what was and what is, what was planned and what has happened are often in discord. Like all of us, the ex-Follies girls bring who they are now to the memory of who they were. Strangely, the persons they actually were are still there in the theater and these ghosts are both independent of the memory of their older selves and a reflection of their older selves. This mix of real persons and ghosts shows memory and reality creating a place where surreal happens.

Some Weissman showgirls remember their past with joy and panache – ex-showgirls reprising their old big numbers – and the atmosphere is heightened by the presence of the ghosts of former selves, who sometimes sing along, sometimes reenact important events, and interact with the present. The reunion also leads some to remember and act in unwise, rash, imprudent and off balanced ways.

Former showgirl Sally Plummer and her husband Buddy are at the reunion, and Sally comes with a mission: to reunite with her long ago true love, Ben Stone. Ben Stone and his former showgirl wife and Sally’s best friend from the old days, Phyllis, are there too, with the shambles of their marriage in tow. When Sally tries to rekindle her old flame with Ben, confusion ensues and feelings and memories are revealed – some of which are not remembered with wisdom or reality. Sally, Buddy, Ben, and Phyllis each live out their follies in a dream-follies sequence, “Loveland.”

Sad, happy, disappointed, satisfied, the memories swirl and the ghosts of who they were are conjured up and interact with who they are now. The past and present have never been so palpable and present.

Follies contains a score that is written with a deliberate sense of two types of stories – the vaudeville numbers and the book numbers, the latter which focus on developing character and plot. The convergence of the two genres results in the “Loveland” sequence, where the each of the four lead characters (and their younger, selves) use traditional vaudeville song structure (comic, ballad, faux burlesque, showgirl kick line) to comment on and act out their emotional preoccupation. Though painful, reclamation and reconciliation are possible with remembering true.

What is memory? Can we drive ourselves crazy by not remembering the past and who we were? More important, can we ‘lose our mind’ if we do not remember wisely? And is regretful romantic remembering a good thing or can it take on a life of its own if not careful? Follies is all about remembering. There is a hauntedness and a sense of foreboding because we enter a living terrain of ghosts and memories when we remember. Catharsis may take place by walking in memory land, but Follies reminds that it is a dangerous thing to remember wrongly. And it is also dangerous to ignore your memory.

Going back to the definition of folly, we can see that all the bolded and underlined meanings defined for folly are in Follies: there is imprudence, rashness, mistakes, foolishness, indiscretion, injudiciousness, madness, and lunacy – presented as a fake romantic ruin of reality and surreally presented in a second act theatrical revue.

Wow, how good is that title?

Next up, reflections on reunions and how they catapult us into our memory – Memory Agonistes – Reunions.

For additional information about the production itself, go to The Arlington Players website: www.thearlingtonplayers.org.

If you have questions for the director, feel free to respond to the blog or email him at folliesdirector@gmail.com. Responses to the blog may be posted publicly; email correspondence will be private.

Parts of the plot description are taken from Sondheim.com and Music Theater International’s write up on Follies.