God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues - Follies - 1971

[rockythesquirrel]

Not sure it's a Lyric fail. In another posting from this videotape it is explained that the tape was silent and the audio was synced from a track recorded from the sound station in the the theater. What appears to be a dropping of lyrics could actually be a dropping out of the soundtrack as you can see his lips continue moving in the silence.

[aasjb4ever]

I think the original could have been a bit faster, but it doesn't need to be "Not Getting Married Today"

[kphoenix5942]

LYRICS FAIL OH NOOOOOOO

[VRNProductions]

@kphoenix5942 Well, give him some slack- if the dates are correct on this performance, this would've been around the time he found out his son was in a coma and debated about leaving the show for a week. I'm fairly certain he had more important things on his mind than remembering all the lyrics.

[UncleCharlieOakley]

Nelson's speed was originally much faster but was slowed down because the audience couldn't get the lyrics.

[UpTheLine42]

I love the very beginning, where he slides down the curtain. I wonder how they did that.

[blackpython]

Ha, OMG, did Gene mess up his Sally/Margey lines? Because they definitely didn't match with the girls. Poor Gene! It must suck to mess up like that, but luckily the girls tried to get him back on track.

[ecwillett]

I agree. I just did this song in a production in Regina, Saskatchewan, and it was much, much faster.

[hfelton]

@ecwillett No one will ever top Mandy Patinkin's perormance of this song in the Lincoln Center concert in 1986.

[hfelton]

@ecwillett No one will ever top Mandy Patinkin's perormance of this song in the Lincoln Center concert in 1986.

[javelinpix]

@hfelton Treat Williams did an impossibly manic version in the 2001 revival on Broadway. In addition, he was on his knees for most of it, switching into an aerobic dance for every chorus - standing up and going down on his knees in time with the beat. No idea how he managed it. He and Polly Bergen stopped the show (she with a powerful and emotional reading of "I'm Still Here". Fantastic!

[ManfredDeJesus]

This is quite slow. I did this song once and I performed at the tempo that Sondheim indicated on the original score, and it's breathtakingly fast

[eneru234]

i think they took it up to speed in the 1998 papermill playhouse revival