that You're Gonna Love Tomorrow, and for young Sally and big-shots from the UN. (1999 Broadway Revival Cast) Cole Porter, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Michael Berresse & Amy Spanger. "/", "Bolero d'Amour" Danced by Vincent and Vanessa , "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" / "Love Will See Us Through" Young Ben, Young Sally, Young Phyllis and Young Buddy, "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" Buddy, "Margie", "Sally", "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" Phyllis and backup male dancers . In the foreword to "Everything Was Possible", Frank Rich wrote: "From the start, critics have been divided about Follies, passionately pro or con but rarely on the fence Is it really a great musical, or merely the greatest of all cult musicals?" Oh. A concert production at the Michigan Theater in January 2003 reunited the four principal young ghosts of the original Broadway cast: Kurt Peterson, Harvey Evans, Virginia Sandifur, and Marti Rolph. Buddy and Ben, the theatre seems haunted by their younger selves, Sally tells Ben how her days have been spent with Buddy, trying to convince him (and herself) ("In Buddy's Eyes"). Variety singer and performer Joan Savage sang "Broadway Baby". OTHER GUESTS and PERFORMERS, STAGE MANAGER, [89], The Broadway production won the Drama League Award, Distinguished Production of a Musical Revival for 2011-2012[90] and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical, Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Burstein) and Outstanding Costume Design (Barnes). [74] Having originated the young ghosts over 30 years prior, the actors portrayed the older versions of their Broadway roles. The production starred Bob Gunton (Ben), Warren Berlinger (Dimitri Weismann), Patty Duke (Phyllis), Vikki Carr (Sally), Harry Groener (Buddy), Carole Cook (Hattie), Carol Lawrence (Vanessa), Ken Page (Roscoe), Liz Torres (Stella), Amanda McBroom (Solange), Grover Dale (Vincent), Donna McKechnie (Carlotta), Carole Swarbrick (Christine), Stella Stevens (Dee Dee), Mary Jo Catlett (Emily), Justine Johnston (Heidi), Jean Louisa Kelly (Young Sally), Austin Miller (Young Buddy), Tia Riebling (Young Phyllis), Kevin Earley (Young Ben), Abby Feldman (Young Stella), Barbara Chiofalo (Young Heidi), Trevor Brackney (Young Vincent), Melissa Driscoll (Young Vanessa), Stephen Reed (Kevin), and Billy Barnes (Theodore). Variety gave a very favorable review to the "lavish and entirely satisfying production", saying that Schaeffer directs "in methodical fashion, building progressively to a crescendo exactly as Sondheim does with so many of his stirring melodies. times, she's grateful just to have got through it, and confidently SOLANGE LAFITTE - A Broadway Parisienne. [55], Julianne Boyd directed a fully staged version of Follies in 2005 by the Barrington Stage Company (Massachusetts) in JuneJuly 2005. Jayne Houdyshell as Hattie, Mary Beth Peil as Solange LaFitte, and Don Correia as Theodore joined the Broadway cast. to read expert guidance for Broadway Baby and unlock other amazing theatre resources! follies. Each of the four is shaken at the realization of how life has changed them. I'm Scott Simon. When Sally sees Ben, her former lover, she greets him self-consciously ("Don't Look at Me"). What follows is a series of musical numbers performed by the principal characters, each exploring their biggest desires. When they sing, in voices layered with ambivalence and anger and longing, it is clear that it is their past selves whom they are serenading. Several show-stopping routines are provided by choreographer Warren Carlyle." Dimitri Weismann's reunion; they'll have to find out whether anything's Laurence Olivier Award for Musical of the Year, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical, Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical, "Bernadette Peters on 'Follies' and Puppies", "Faculty, Theatre Arts, California State University, Long Beach", "Song list and acts, 2005 Barrington Stage", "2001 Broadway revival song list and acts", "By the Book: Broadway Revival of 'Follies' Performed Without Intermission Aug. 23", "Kennedy Center 'Follies' Steps onto Broadway", "Abstract-'Follies' musical opens at Colonial", "Stage View; Sondheim's 'Follies' Evokes Old Broadway", "Loss of Shubert Alters Face of L.A. Theater", "Follies at the Forum Theatre, Wythenshawe, partial listing", "Concert Performances of Sondheim's Follies Win Sydney Raves", "Roundabout's Revival of Follies Starts Previews at Belasco, March 8", "Peters Withdraws from London Follies; Casting Almost Complete", "What Follies! The good news is that it also features some of the most exciting musical moments Broadway has seen in several seasons. in a revised version, 21 July 1987 with Diana Rigg, Daniel Massey, Some productions substitute "Ah, but Underneath" when the actress portraying Phyllis is not primarily a dancer. kiss me, " Sally tells him, I think I'm going to die.". He had agreed to work on The Girls Upstairs if Sondheim agreed to work on Company; Michael Bennett, the young choreographer of Company, was also brought onto the project. A rich, new production of Follies has opened at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with the original orchestrations. Whitman recall their sweetly naive duct, Rain on the Roof: (Soundbite of song, "The God Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues"). older selves with the failed promises of youth. The net result was four new songs For reasons which I've forgotten, I rewrote "Loveland" for the London production. [121] However, as Kritzerland Records head Bruce Kimmel wrote in his liner notes to Kritzerland's remixed version of the album, "What it did have made it something that, despite the frustrations, meant it would never be bettered the original cast. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. And this is a very interesting character, probably unlike any other character I've ever played really. After the failure of Do I Hear a Waltz? overwhelming optimism, where skies are ever blue. According to Variety, the production was a "total financial failure, with a cumulative loss of $792,000. glad they came. with Live, Love, Laugh, singing of how clever and adept Follies Stage production February 20, 1971 Comments Sung by character "Hattie Walker" . (Soundbite of song, "A Little Night Music"). [92], The 2011 Broadway and Kennedy Center production transferred to the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California, in a limited engagement, from May 3, 2012, through June 9. Arlington, VA, Camp Director at Traveling Players Ensemble Once the party gets under way it isn't long before the regulars Broadway impresario Dimitri Weismann arranges a reunion of the actors, singers, dancers, and personalities who peopled his famous Follies in the years between the World Wars . The production was directed by Eric Schaeffer, with choreography by Warren Carlyle, costumes by Gregg Barnes, set by Derek McLane and lighting by Natasha Katz. I hadn't read the script until about a year ago. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. And usually SIMON: I mean a lot of big stars like to get out after three or four months, right? Whose Baby? The original Broadway production, directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett, with choreography by Bennett, opened April 4, 1971. The reason the final curtain came down Saturday was that being a production by the Roundabout Theatre Company a subscription-based 'not-for-profit' theater company it was presented under special Equity terms, with its actors paid a minimal fee. It's just that the most glamorous room . HATTIE WALKER - After all these years, still a Broadway Baby. YOUNG HEIDI - The celebrated soprano in her heyday. Stephen Sondheim | "Broadway Baby" By Barbara Anastacio October 16, 2017 The song from his 1971 musical "Follies," as sung by employees of The New York Times. [102] This production notably goes back to the original plan of a one-act performance. 66. "[46], This production was also recorded on two CDs and was the first full recording. Panic-stricken, he rushes off, screaming Join the StageAgent community Pounding Forty-Second Street To be in a show. She's hale and hearty, singing and swinging better than ever. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. On the drab stage an eerie operetta waltz, all dreams are a sweet mistake and eventually relaxed and philosophical about the old days: good times, bum Phyllis and Sally were roommates while in the Follies, and Ben and Buddy were best friends at school in New York. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Rich, in his review, noted that "As performed at Avery Fisher Hall, the score emerged as an original whole, in which the 'modern' music and mock vintage tunes constantly comment on each other, much as the script's action unfolds simultaneously in 1971 (the year of the reunion) and 1941 (the year the Follies disbanded). The score offers a pastiche of 1920s and 1930s musical styles, evoking a nostalgic tone. to read expert guidance for Broadway Baby and unlock other amazing theatre resources! Girl and he has, sort of. Finally, he wrote: "But Follies never makes fun of the honorable musical tradition to which it belongs. Polly Bergen stops everything cold with "I'm Still Here", bringing a rare degree of introspection to a song that is too often a mere belt-fest [T]he emotional highpoint comes when Joan Roberts sings 'One More Kiss'. As Roscoe I like the run and I like to keep going deeper and deeper and see what I can learn and experience about life. Ben pledging their love. Other notable performers in the original productions were Fifi D'Orsay as Solange LaFitte, Justine Johnston as Heidi Schiller, Mary McCarty as Stella Deems, Arnold Moss as Dimitri Weismann, Ethel Shutta as Hattie Walker, and Marcie Stringer and Charles Welch as Emily and Theodore Whitman. The cast recording of the 2011 Broadway revival, by PS Classics, was released officially on November 29, 2011, and was in pre-sale before the store release. "When Follies opened in London it had an entirely different, and significantly more optimistic, tone. Stephen Sondheim attended one of the performances. The original production, among the most costly on Broadway,[1] ran for over 500 performances but ultimately lost its entire investment. I want you so. "[116], Frank Rich, in reviewing the 1985 concert in The New York Times, wrote: "Friday's performance made the case that this Broadway musical can take its place among our musical theater's very finest achievements. How does she compare? If you don't Former Weismann performers at the reunion include Max and Stella Deems, who lost their radio jobs and became store owners in Miami; Solange La Fitte, a coquette, who is vibrant and flirtatious even at 66; Hattie Walker, who has outlived five younger husbands; Vincent and Vanessa, former dancers who now own an Arthur Murray franchise; Heidi Schiller, for whom Franz Lehr once wrote a waltz ("or was it Oscar Straus?" whose name became a byword for style and opulence. no children but everything else. Former MGM and onetime Broadway star Betty Garrett, best known to younger audiences for her television work, played Hattie. In the London production the characters come to understand each other." Do again. SALLY DURANT PLUMMER - Buddy's well-to-do wife, still gushy and girlish He asked author and playwright James Goldman to join him as bookwriter for a new musical. Ms. PETERS: Well, it depends how what their makeup is. Group Sales Associate at Broadway at The National, Camp Director at Traveling Players Ensemble. It is 1971, and the iconic Weismann Theater, now a crumbling shell of its former glory, is about to be demolished to provide precious New York City parking space. Were Still Here! Ms. PETERS: (as Sally Durant Plummer) (Singing) If I stick it long enough, I can get to strut my stuff. This Roundabout Theatre limited engagement had been expected to close on September 30, 2001. and a brief glimpse of those dreams. The youthful ghosts of the four leads are winning portrayed by Erin Dilly, Richard Roland, Joey Sorge and Lauren Ward. 1971, the weismann theatre, new york city, College/University, Large Cast, Mature Audiences, Mostly Female Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Star Vehicle Female. Sally), telling us that if only juicy but drab Lucy and dressy For Sally and Buddy, Phyllis and Ben, [128], In November 2019, it was announced that Dominic Cooke will adapt the screenplay as well as direct, following the successful 2017 National Theatre revival in London, which returned in 2019 due to popular demand.[129]. '"[46] The Times critic Irving Wardle stated "It is not much of a story, and whatever possibilities it may have had in theory are scuppered by James Goldman's book a blend of lifeless small-talk, bitching and dreadful gags". Elsewhere, Willy Wheeler (portly, in his sixties) cartwheels for a photographer. And I usually do things that are different and a challenge and interesting to me to approach. : With David Nixon, Richard Coleman, Jimmy Young, Diana Coupland. It is 1971, and the iconic Weismann Theater, now a crumbling shell of its former glory, is about to be demolished to provide precious New York City parking space. And then it goes on and on to start crumbling around her and her huge disappointment. Phyllis Newman and Liliane Montevecchi reprised the roles they played in the Lincoln Center production. The Who's fifth studio effort is an exhilarating rock 'n' roll masterpiece stacked with killer songs that made it a staple of '70s rock radio. [77], New York City Center's Encores! That new jukebox musical is the new Broadway smash & Juliet. Ms. PETERS: I don't know. The director and choreographer was Casey Nicholaw. Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. It starred Toni Lamond (Sally),[60] Jill Perryman(Carlotta), Judi Connelli (Phyllis), Terence Donovan (Ben), Nancye Hayes (Hattie), Glenn Butcher (Buddy), Ron Haddrick (Dimitri), Susan Johnston (Heidi),[61] and Leonie Page, Maree Johnson, Mitchell Butel, Maureen Howard. As their younger counterparts approach them, Phyllis comments to Ben about their past. After previews from August 3, 2002, it opened officially on August 6, and closed on August 31, 2002. The cast starred Julia McKenzie (Sally), Donna McKechnie (Phyllis), Denis Quilley (Ben) and Ron Moody (Buddy). wife, kids - and a mistress. out the inadequacies of their marriages. A few years after the fling that led to his unknown fatherhood, the man has settled into a new life, but the establishing of his paternity makes him determined to . She yearns for him to hold her, but young Sally slips between them and the three move together ("Too Many Mornings"). [33], For commercial reasons, the cast album was cut from two LPs to one early in production. Sondheim. The cast featured Diana Rigg (Phyllis), Daniel Massey (Ben), Julia McKenzie (Sally), David Healy (Buddy), Lynda Baron, Leonard Sachs, Maria Charles, Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson. Ben becomes frenzied, while the dancing ensemble continues as if nothing was wrong. SIMON: And you were talking like this or something? but cold Jessie could only combine then I could tell you someone The evening follows a reunion of the Weismann Girls who performed during the interwar period. and sleek. So, you grow up listening to your mother. She then tells Ben that their marriage can't continue the way it has been. I thought I wasn't a Sondheim girl. Sally thinks this is a sign that the two will finally get married, and Ben is about to protest until Sally interrupts him with a kiss and runs off to gather her things, thinking that the two will leave together. Buddy and Phyllis join their spouses and the foursome reminisces about the old days of their courtship and the theater, their memories vividly coming to life in the apparitions of their young counterparts ("Waiting For The Girls Upstairs"). On her debut solo album, Broadway veteran Dorothy Loudon performs a set of theater songs she was too young to do on stage. "Follies' Restaged In London". The 2017 production was nominated for 10 Laurence Olivier Awards and won 2 for Best Musical Revival and Best Costume Design (by Vicki Mortimer). [39], A full production ran at the Forum Theatre, Wythenshawe, England, from April 30, 1985, directed by Howard Lloyd-Lewis, design by Chris Kinman, costumes by Charles Cusick-Smith, lighting by Tim Wratten, musical direction by Simon Lowe, and choreographed by Paul Kerryson. SIMON: Does this story reach you now in a way it might not have during the 1970s? [19] However, the August 23, 2011 Broadway preview performance was performed without an intermission. That paradox is crystallized in " One More Kiss ," warbled by an ancient Viennese soprano while . days waiting around for the girls upstairs, but they're still here. It was directed by Prince and starred Dorothy Collins (Sally; replaced by Janet Blair), Alexis Smith (Phyllis), John McMartin (Ben; replaced by Edward Winter), Gene Nelson (Buddy), and Yvonne De Carlo (Carlotta) reprising their original roles. I am happy to report that since then, Ms Peters has connected with her inner frump, Mr. Raines has found the brittle skeleton within his solid flesh, and Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Burstein have only improved. Before she has a chance to really let loose, they are both called on to participate in another performance Stella Deems gets Sally, Phyllis, Emily, Hattie, and some others to perform an old number ("Who's That Woman? "[87] This recording includes "extended segments of the show's dialogue". Buddy, nothing is so certain but that Love Will See Us Through. Other cast replacements included Millicent Martin as Phyllis. "[65], Theater writer and historian John Kenrick wrote "the bad news is that this Follies is a dramatic and conceptual failure. (1965), for which he had written the lyrics to Richard Rodgers's music, Sondheim decided that he would henceforth work only on projects where he could write both the music and lyrics himself. The musical numbers "Ah, but Underneath" (replacing "The Story of Lucy and Jessie"), "Country House", "Make the Most of Your Music" (replacing "Live, Laugh, Love"), "Social Dancing" and a new version of "Loveland" have been incorporated into various productions. He predicted that the show eventually would achieve recognition as a Broadway classic. In 2001, a physically scaled-back but starry-cast production was mounted by the Roundabout Theatre Company.
