For me, undoubtedly the best rendition of this song you will find. Her voice is so warm and she gets the mood just right. She also takes it at the right tempo.
@Beejeification - I saw the show in 1971 or 1972. Dorothy Collins wore a silver dress with the back cut out to her waste. She sang the true torch song. It was my first broadway musical, and I will never forget her. She sang it the way it was suppose to be, which is absolutely wonderful.
1:43 -1:45 Look at her face. In two seconds anyone who has ever experienced lost love is overwhelmed by that feeling again. She conveys the feeling when she was assured by her husband that he loved her and then the horror of the moment of doubt that he didn't. If you have ever gone through that, you realize Ms. Collins depicted it in a way that made it real once again. OMG! I loved her on _Your Hit Parade_ too. Thank goodness we still have this clip, for all the lack of clarity in the picture. The music, the lyrics and the performance are superb.
Except that Sally wasn’t singing about the love of her husband - she was singing about the love that never was between her and her former roommate’s beau and now husband . It was an unrequited love that she spent the last 40 years thinking about - what could have been- and those painful memories were stirred up by the reunion and returning to the “scene of the crime” so to speak …. It’s all just a folly!
"Follies" opened on my 30th Birthday, 4 April 1971. I had the fortune of doing the poster for this first production in the fall of 1970. I will NEVER forget Dorothy Collins' performance of this song in a gown of silver beads. This song was written for her and will ALWAYS be hers in every way. Others do it very well --- but she is PERFECTION, vocally & emotionally. What a VOICE~!!!!
The song has so much more resonance and a sense of palpable pain with reference to the experience of repressed desire, when it is delivered in this masterly, controlled, somewhat bewildered fashion. Perfection from the Lady who gave us the song first.
there is nothing like the originator of a role. SO many wonderful Sallys, Barbara Cook, Bernadette Peters, Judith Ivey, Victoria Clarke, Nancy Dussault, Donna McKechnie...every one bringing something beautiful to the score and the role! Can't wait to see Audra McDonald when her time comes!
Dorothy Coillins was perfection. How fortunate I was to have seen her perform in the original production. No one has ever topped her performance, even to this day.
Everything UncleCharlie said. Collins - unlike so many other interpreters of the song - just SINGS IT FOR WHAT IT IS. She wisely lets the song do the emotional work. And, God, her voice is beyond perfect for it.
As a late-comer, I've heard many versions of this song. Seeing this performance elevated the song to me. Here is the emotion and heart of the song. I so envy those who got to see Dorothy Collins owning this role.
I had never heard of Ms. Collins before, but I know this song very well. WOW! So easy...so naturall...so heart wrenching without going over the top. Folks don't sing like this anymore. Thanks for posing this gem!
I agree, there aren't many, and those who can deliver a song this naturally and directly often aren't "singers" but actors who do a little singing like Judi Dench. But they don't have Collins's vocal chops. Too often singers focus on being musically interesting rather than telling a story in a character's voice, which is what musical theater is all about (to me).
When l received tickets for my 20th birthday to see the pre-Broadway tryouts of "Follies" in Boston, nearly half a century ago, I heard Dorothy Collins sing this song for the first time, just as l heard Alexis Smith introduce "Could I Leave You?" and Yvonne de Carlo introduce "I'm Still Here." Over the years l have seen the 1987 London revival and several others, but nothing will ever dull the magic of that first production.
Beautiful clarity and control. I love the moment when, as Sally, she sings "You said you loved me..." and then in that moment it occurs her "...or were you just being kind?" A great example of less is more!
This is unparalleled, and uncanny. It's a song stitched onto a singer. It plays to her many strengths. Yes, the 1985 concert version is storied. But this was the original, real deal.
I stumbled upon this - what luck. I've never heard Dorothy Collins before. This is one of my favorite all time songs and I agree with many people below - the best version of it I have heard. Thank you for posting
I especially like how, as a television veteran, she knows to keep the microphone low, and sing over it instead of into it, so that it won't show in her closeups. The result is much more an acting performance than a TV performance. You can also see her pulling it back on the first "I want you so," so that the sound won't be overmodulated. Brava!
I'm dissolved in tears watching this, for several reasons. First, there's Ms. Collins' touching performance of what is, imo, Sondheim's greatest song. Second, I was fortunate enough to have seen the original cast at the Winter Garden, back in '71, and thanks to YT, I get to see many of these numbers again, And third, I'm just lost in admiration for the magic of the American musical theater. Thanks for posting!
Absolute perfection! So happy that this clip exists for everyone to watch a master at work. I saw "Follies" on the closing night of its run. Dorothy Collins brought the house down with this torchy bittersweet confection by Sondheim. No one will ever perform this song better!
I love it when a performer really trusts the material, and just PRESENTS it, directly, honestly, without gimmicks. Collins is perfect. Sometimes I think in today's world only Barbara Cook knows how to inhabit a song with this sort of honesty.
I have seen many productions of this show. The broadway original, DC production, both Broadway revivals, Encores!, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Paper Mill Playhouse, Carnegie Hall concert, 2017 London revival, & various community theater productions. Even a high school production that was unexpectedly great. At the end of the day, though, Dorothy Collins’ version of Losing My Mind remains the definitive version for me. Her emotions straddle the fine line among love, wistfulness, longing, pain, anger, hopelessness & despair without going too far with any one of those emotions. Which is why the song has been called a nervous breakdown set to music, because a breakdown encompssses all those emotions in equal measure. ❤
WOW! Notwithstanding all thev wonderful Sallys. Dorothy's version is definitive and can't be topped. Just listen to her phrasing. What an actress and a musician.
The quality of her voice, her paying close attention to sustaining pitch throughout, her dynamic range, the legato and vibrato in the voice, so much to say here about this wonderful lady and her incomparable performance of this song. She technically worked it out, Sondheim wrote it with her specifically in mind, and she executed it stunningly. Thanks for this remarkable post. She had a tone quality that was unmistakably hers alone.
@Ed Miller If you check out the book, "Everything Was Possible," he discusses how Sondheim came about composing both Dorothy Collins' and Alexis Smith's songs. Could I Leave You was also composed during rehearsals. The music for Follies is so big, it actually is equal to the amount of 2 shows. AND, by today's voters, would never have lost the Best Musical Tony. The same holds true for Glynnis Johns' Send In The Clowns. It was also composed during rehearsals. There's another great book called Sondheim and Company. Great read. Hard to find books now.
@Ed Miller Check this book out - www.amazon.com/Everything-Was-Possible-Musical-Applause/dp/1557836531; Everything was Possible. About the history from creation to completion of Follies. Also, there's another book by Craig Zadan who also spends entire chapters on each of the Sondheim musicals up to the latest date of publication. Alexis Smith's number "Could I Leave You" was, I believe, written after rehearsals began. Often, Sondheim needs to see how the script reads with the actors before committing to paper his music and lyrics. I think that, among many other things, make him such a great composer/lyricist. The same holds true for Glynnis Johns' "Send in the Clowns." Originally he was going to write a song for Fredrik, but Harold Prince told him to come and see the scene played out, he saw it, went home, and wrote it very quickly. He's on several interviews discussing this.
www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-home-_-Results&an=&tn=Sondheim+and+Company&kn=&isbn= This is the other book I mentioned. Sondheim and Company. Very good reads both and juicy about all of the cast members.
@Ed Miller Hi, Ed. I saw Donna Murphy and Victor Garber at the City Center revival. Donna is a friend of mine, we worked together a long time ago. Her Could I Leave You in that production was stunning. Look for that specific performance. I believe it's on RU-vid.
What is it about these people who introduce the song to the world? So often, you just can't top them - and here Dorothy is absolutely the ultimate. Thank you, David Frost!
This is such a gorgeous performance. She's so real. I think most singers who perform this song take it way over the top with emotion. Collins shows us here that the understated and nuanced performance is really far more powerful. She builds slowly to a very powerful crescendo.
Michael Ybarra I really like Bernadette Peters in pretty much everything she does. I saw the closing show of "Gypsy" several years ago in New York and thought she was spectacular--even though she had been battling a sore throat during the run and people were saying she wasn't up to the role. I thought she was just great. As for "Losing My Mind," I will always think Dorothy Collins is the benchmark, but Bernadette's version is wonderful and very touching.
glenn212now So in that sense, who do you think portrays the character of Sally Durrance Plumber(The character Dorthy plays here) the best, Dorthy or Bernadette, or are they either completely different beyond compare or relatively the same.
Well said. What was originally a song of subdued internal anguish and regret has become an excuse for rage and hysterical bellowing. "Memory" from "Cats" has likewise become an anthem of over-the-top drama and uncontrolled scenery devouring. Compare Collins' rendition to *this* recent performance by a highly regarded performer. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7OvlKjT9D8Y.html
Not too much more to say after all these comments, except what a great pleasure to watch this and realize how absolutely beautifully Dorothy Collins sings and delivers this song. The best I've heard. I remember her from YHP but had forgotten how good she was.
I saw Dorothy Collins in Michael Bennet's Ballroom, on tour. Most of the original cast was still intact, but she had taken over the central role from Dorothy Loudon. No matter how wonderful Louden was in the role, and she was, Dorothy Collins brought a whole different quality to the role, much warmer and she was a Bea that you cried for. A brilliant performance.
I just love this original version. It’s less theatrical or operatic than most of the more recent covers. It rather has some sort of nightclub torch song feel that suits the song perfectly.
I am so glad to have seen "Follies" when it tried out in Boston so many years ago with this fabulous cast. I went to see it again about a year later in New York and noticed only a few changes.....one of which is the removal of the song "Boy, Can That Boy Fox-Trot".
That's what I love about this song -- about "Follies." It shows the lovely, sad, longing sides of the OLDER characters. Usually, older couples are depicted in theater as being ancillary to the younger characters -- just something sweet and fluffy in between. With the play, the older characters, who are no longer young or as lovely as they ever were, are shown to posses deep emotions and feelings. That is remarkable. It makes the play a standout among many, many others.
Thank you SO much for posting this. I hoped there might be video footage somewhere of the great Miss Collins singing this sublime song. What an amazing instrument she had... pitch-perfect, beautifully controlled vibrato, warmth and subtle sensuality in abundance... but it's her phrasing that makes hers the definitive version.
Vannie, she is Dorothy Collins, who played "Sally" in the original production of "Follies". Her performace is the standard to which all actresses who take on the role should strive for. Great clip - an71guy, thank you so much for posting it!
Thanks so much for posting this! The original Sally - and can't be beat. I loved Dorothy (did 'Applause' with her in the 70s - a powerful Margo!) and it's such a pleasure to hear and see her sing here from her greatest role on B'way. Fame came w/ 'Your Hit Parade' on tv in the 50s, followed by great theatre work all over the world - in spite of severe asthma. One of the kindest and most generous stars to ever grace the stage. A great underrated actress and musician, she's greatly missed by many.
I am so glad this is here for all to see! I saw the original FOLLIES not only that Ms. Collins taught Mary McCartys' musical comedy class as a substitute at H.B. Studio. I still have a note she wrote inside the original FOLLIES book. She was generous and kind a joy to be around. Wow. This brings back memories.
Several weeks into rehearsing 'Follies' it was thought that both Collins and Alexis Smith would sing this as a trade off, then a duet (Sondheim had yet to compose most of the songs for the 'Loveland-Follies sequence') and it was only decided about a week before the show left for Boston preview try-outs that it would fit Collins as a solo while Smith sang "Uptown/Downtown" (and later "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" - and in more recent productions, "Ah, But Underneath"). As the show was about to leave for Boston much of it was in a shaky state (so new was the concept that Hal Prince and Michael Bennett kept changing staging, song orders, etc.) and run throughs were showing that something fantastic was being created but was still had many a rough edge. During a run through, Collins sang this song that was finally her own - delivered much as she performs it here - with simple blocking, and the entire rehearsal hall was transfixed, and collapsed into tears and applause on the final note. Dorothy Collins was a true professional: cheerful, hard working, slightly insecure (i.e.: no inflated ego) and somewhat conservative (i.e.: she kept advising the very married Yvonne DeCarlo to keep her hands off all the young straight men working on the show.). We are lucky to have these few records of her 'Follies' experience to entrance us still nearly a half century later.
Still the princess, still the prize. Not to detract from Miss Cook, but Dorothy Collins is still the benchmark against which all others must be measured.
I love both performances Mrs Collins and Mrs Cook.Collins was a mezzo-soprano and Barbara was a soprano so they used different keys and for me both gave a us a lesson of hiw a song has to be subng and performed,
Here, here! Dorothy Collins forever in my mind with this song. I saw the original production & had no idea who she was at the time. I've never forgotten that performance.
No on will surpass this performance of the song. She had terrific pitch and such terrific phrasing and musicality. There aren't many who can do what Dorothy Collins did. I am forever grateful to experience this video performance of her doing what I consider to be one of the top five Sondheim songs ever composed. I remember her from TV. I was less than five years old at the time, and there was always something so very close to my heart whenever I heard her sing.
I saw her in the original. How great a singer. What a great song. No one does it better. I saw Follies twice, and although now i am at 80, and have seen so many hits and flops, this is the best.
Je ne me lasse pas d'entendre cette dame, si émouvante et avec de l'allure interprétant une chanson si poignante.. Merci vraiment de cet enregistrement! Frédéric.
Until I heard Bernadette Peters' rendition of this number recently, I'd never heard anyone other than Collins perform it and make it so hauntingly real. Collins delivers the pain and obsessiveness so incredibly, and makes it so emotional... and Peters, once again, does another incredible song justice. Her version is, quite simply, shattering.
Thanks for posting this fabulous clip of Dorothy singing her famous signature tune from Follies. Would wish you could post more of the television show this was edited from. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks.
I stumbled over this version while trawling Barbara Cook stuff. I knew about Dorothy's version but hadn't heard it before....the way she handles the final '...or were you just being kind?' is unlike any other. Fabulous. Dead heat.
I first saw follies a week after it opened and twice more with the original cast. everyone was incredible but i most remember dorothy collins doing this, one of the best songs ever written. it's a shame the obc recording is mere shreds of the show.
This is surely definitive?With superb inflection and tonality, her measured expressiveness conveys the disappointment of a lost love now tramelled in her suburban life....an authentic performance.
I thought Barbara Cook owned this song until just now. Wow. Incredible. I love Dorothy's voice so much. It's so clear at the top--listen to her version of "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" from when she was just a kid in 1947...this is amazing!
Dorothy Loudon and Dorothy Collins were two of the greatest performers of early Sondheim in the sixties. Merv Griffin and Dick Cavett had marvelous Broadway stars on in the afternoons. A thrill for this tiny theater tot! Wonderful memories.
I would love to have heard Rosemary Clooney sing this. It's a shame that there are so many songs that artists just don't have time to do.... What a beautiful rendition this is!
Dorothy is the original Sally in Follies. Stephen Sondheim wrote this for her! She told me the first day of rehearsal Mr Sondheim took her through scales and said he was going to write for her entire range. You’ll only hear her high soprano in the opening of the show. Losing My Mind was written for her lower register. This is the most compelling part of her range. Thanks SS and bless you DC.
I LOVE this. I didn't know there was any live footage of her singing this anywhere. Honestly, I'm not comparing, but I think she does it best because it's very much in her bones, if you understand what I mean. And, being the original Sally helps too, because she created her. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved Bernadette Peters, but I just think Dorothy has this to a tee.
I used to think that no one could possibly equal Barbara Cook's performance of this song; but I guess I was wrong. There's an old saying that art consists in concealing art. This is a case in point. What reaches you are the meaning and the emotion; you don't see the skill and the years of practice that are required for conveying them.
I appreciate how the audience is so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and holds their applause until the entire song is finished. Of course, that has a lot to do with off-camera personnel cueing them, but it's a time gone by.
Cook's for me may be the very best version. You know doubt read all the glorious comments under her version. Her aching, piercing voice, her mannerisms, her vocal performance. All sublime. Much better than Peters.
Wow! … straight forward singing, nothing external … the song, the text are what matter and not the performer … Dorothy lets the material 'speak for itself' .. 'til I saw this I'd thought Barbara Cook's was the touchstone; sorry Barbara, Collins wins hands down - and I LOVE Barbara Cook! … (I almost feel like a traitor!) …
Thanks for posting, I agree that Dorothy Collins drops the mic! This interview had the Follies ladies, Alexis Smith and Yvonne DeCarlo would love to see it.
