A night at the Follies
Issue date: 2/27/07 Section: Editorial
Rhode Island is a pretty unique place.
It was the last of the 13 colonies to ratify the Constitution, even though Rhode Islanders burned a British ship, the Gaspee, in protest a year before the folks next door in Massachusetts got around to throwing some tea into a harbor. Of course, the armed locals were mostly upset that the Gaspee had successfully shut down the lucrative smuggling trade in the Narragansett Bay and weren't motivated by nascent patriotism, but still, a worthy act. In modern times, it has been the home of some of the most colorful (and corrupt) politicians in the nation, chief among them former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, currently serving a sentence for corruption - but, to the delight of many, due to be released in July.
It's the smallest state in the union - from top to bottom (or from Woonsocket to Westerly) it is less than 60 miles. It's small enough that it sometimes seems like everyone knows everyone else, and that was the feeling at the Providence Newspaper Guild's 2006 Follies, held Friday night at the Venus de Milo in Swansea, Mass. The Guild, the union representing employees of the Providence Journal, has put on the musical comedy show for 34 years, and it has become a highlight of the Rhode Island political scene, a kind of bizarre Oscars for local politicians and politics-watchers. The skits and songs target politicians who come anyway, and not just for the buffet - as the program explains, "It is a Rhode Island political axiom that there is only one thing worse than being lampooned on Follies Night. That, of course, is to be ignored."
A dead-on impersonator of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse awkwardly danced around on stage while singing about "the night we drove Linc Chafee down." Emcee and Journal reporter Scott MacKay noted that, with the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, Rep. Patrick Kennedy - who entered rehab after crashing his car near the Capitol last May - would finally be able to get something he had long desired - rubber Jersey barriers around every bar in the 1st Congressional District. Most Brown students would have been left confused by many of the jokes, which were local to the point of obscurity, but the crowd ate them up. The Harrah's casino fight, the firing of former nun and state Attorney General Arlene Violet from her radio show and a song noting that the Big Blue Bug on Interstate 195 might be the only viable Republican candidate left in the state all left the audience in stitches.
The Follies are a hit because they embrace the oddities of the Ocean State - as the cast noted in their opening song, "we couldn't make this stuff up if we tried." The Providence skyline and the Newport harbor, Cranston accents and coffee milk, the wisecracking of Providence natives and the vampire legend of Mercy Brown in Exeter - the quirks of Rhode Island provide an antidote to claims the state is just an offshoot of Massachusetts. There's a lot to see, do and be amused by in this small, unique part of America, and we know many Brown students share our love for this state - whether that manifests itself in heading downtown for a pint at the Trinity Brewhouse, volunteering with a local nonprofit or putting down roots here after graduation. For those of you who haven't yet fallen in love with the Ocean State, we encourage you to take a walk downtown, or head downstate on RIPTA, and see what you'll find. We bet that you'll like it.
It was the last of the 13 colonies to ratify the Constitution, even though Rhode Islanders burned a British ship, the Gaspee, in protest a year before the folks next door in Massachusetts got around to throwing some tea into a harbor. Of course, the armed locals were mostly upset that the Gaspee had successfully shut down the lucrative smuggling trade in the Narragansett Bay and weren't motivated by nascent patriotism, but still, a worthy act. In modern times, it has been the home of some of the most colorful (and corrupt) politicians in the nation, chief among them former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, currently serving a sentence for corruption - but, to the delight of many, due to be released in July.
It's the smallest state in the union - from top to bottom (or from Woonsocket to Westerly) it is less than 60 miles. It's small enough that it sometimes seems like everyone knows everyone else, and that was the feeling at the Providence Newspaper Guild's 2006 Follies, held Friday night at the Venus de Milo in Swansea, Mass. The Guild, the union representing employees of the Providence Journal, has put on the musical comedy show for 34 years, and it has become a highlight of the Rhode Island political scene, a kind of bizarre Oscars for local politicians and politics-watchers. The skits and songs target politicians who come anyway, and not just for the buffet - as the program explains, "It is a Rhode Island political axiom that there is only one thing worse than being lampooned on Follies Night. That, of course, is to be ignored."
A dead-on impersonator of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse awkwardly danced around on stage while singing about "the night we drove Linc Chafee down." Emcee and Journal reporter Scott MacKay noted that, with the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, Rep. Patrick Kennedy - who entered rehab after crashing his car near the Capitol last May - would finally be able to get something he had long desired - rubber Jersey barriers around every bar in the 1st Congressional District. Most Brown students would have been left confused by many of the jokes, which were local to the point of obscurity, but the crowd ate them up. The Harrah's casino fight, the firing of former nun and state Attorney General Arlene Violet from her radio show and a song noting that the Big Blue Bug on Interstate 195 might be the only viable Republican candidate left in the state all left the audience in stitches.
The Follies are a hit because they embrace the oddities of the Ocean State - as the cast noted in their opening song, "we couldn't make this stuff up if we tried." The Providence skyline and the Newport harbor, Cranston accents and coffee milk, the wisecracking of Providence natives and the vampire legend of Mercy Brown in Exeter - the quirks of Rhode Island provide an antidote to claims the state is just an offshoot of Massachusetts. There's a lot to see, do and be amused by in this small, unique part of America, and we know many Brown students share our love for this state - whether that manifests itself in heading downtown for a pint at the Trinity Brewhouse, volunteering with a local nonprofit or putting down roots here after graduation. For those of you who haven't yet fallen in love with the Ocean State, we encourage you to take a walk downtown, or head downstate on RIPTA, and see what you'll find. We bet that you'll like it.