I think the real problem for Follies, 1776 and Man of La Mancha in finding a suitable place for an intermission is that all three were constructed without intermissions. Nothing in any of the three shows build to a first act ending. As a result, there is no natural place for an intermission. In my opinion, they all work better without the intermissions.
Regarding your fun fact about Is Anybody There: I had a friend in the original production who told me that when it opened in New Haven, aside from the show being interminable, the song was written and orchestrated as a bossa nova. I have tried playing it that way, and both harmonically and rhythmically it works (as a song, not in the show). Odd that he would have written a bossa nova, dontcha think? |
