Buddy tells her she must be either crazy or drunk, but he's already supported Sally through rehab clinics and mental hospitals and cannot take any more. When Sally sees Ben, her former lover, she greets him self-consciously ("Don't Look at Me"). [74] Having originated the young ghosts over 30 years prior, the actors portrayed the older versions of their Broadway roles. [75][76] Donna McKechnie enjoyed top billing as Carlotta. ", "Who Could Be Blue? Elsewhere, Willy Wheeler (portly, in his sixties) cartwheels for a photographer. The musical was written in one act, and the original director, Prince, did not want an intermission, while the co-director, Bennett, wanted two acts. On her debut solo album, Broadway veteran Dorothy Loudon performs a set of theater songs she was too young to do on stage. SIMON: And you were talking like this or something? Hard-hitting drama about a man who discovers that he has fathered a child only when he is approached by a child support agency. days waiting around for the girls upstairs, but they're still here. Ben denies this, but still wants Phyllis out of his life. 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. Sally tells Ben about her life with 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. The Company of our. The musical was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won seven. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. If you're somebody that gets it and then thinks, you know, I've done it, I've gotten it now and there's no place else to go. Similarly, ghosts of the Twenties shows slip through the evening as the characters try desperately to regain their youth through re-creations of their performances and inane theatre sentiments of their past. [31], Frank Rich, for many years the chief drama critic for The New York Times, had first garnered attention, while an undergraduate at Harvard University, with a lengthy essay for the Harvard Crimson about the show, which he had seen during its pre-Broadway run in Boston. Yet he and Warren Carlyle just as clearly revel in the richness of the knowing pastiche songs with which Mr. Sondheim evokes the popular music of the prerock era. the memories of three decades come flooding back - all those 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 . OTHER GUESTS and PERFORMERS, STAGE MANAGER, Variations are discussed in Versions. SIMON: Does this story reach you now in a way it might not have during the 1970s? Sally tells Ben how her days have been spent with Buddy, trying to convince him (and herself) ("In Buddy's Eyes"). out the inadequacies of their marriages. However, he thought that it was "wonderful" that, at the end of the first act, "the principal characters recognized their younger selves and were able to acknowledge them throughout the last thirty minutes of the piece. )"[36][37], The musical was produced at The Muny, St. Louis, Missouri in July 1972 and then transferred to the Shubert Theatre, Century City, California, running from July 22, 1972, through October 1, 1972. The AP quoted Michael Coveney of the Financial Times, who wrote: "Follies is a great deal more than a camp love-in for old burlesque buffs and Sondheim aficionados. Barnes also called the story shallow and Sondheim's words a joy "even when his music sends shivers of indifference up your spine. And then the rest of the cast is fantastic, Jan Maxwell and Ron Raines and Danny Burstein. The director and choreographer was Casey Nicholaw. This production has taken on the glint of crystalline sharpness. Goldman's revised book offered some small improvements over the original. As their younger counterparts approach them, Phyllis comments to Ben about their past. Ben drunkenly propositions Carlotta, with whom he once had a fling, but she has a young lover and coolly turns him down. Ms. PETERS: I don't know. Sondheim, too, has added and removed songs that he judged to be problematic in various productions. [91] Out of seven Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical, it won only one, for Barnes' costumes. It could be. 'Follies'. (1999 Broadway Revival Cast) Cole Porter, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Michael Berresse & Amy Spanger. The supporting role of Carlotta was created by Yvonne De Carlo and usually is given to a well-known veteran performer who can belt out a song. I'll see you later blues. The net result was four new songs For reasons which I've forgotten, I rewrote "Loveland" for the London production. Ms. PETERS: And then I got the call when I was I was performing at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, James Lapine called me to say he wrote this new show with Stephen Sondheim and it's to play an artist model. He tells Sally that he's done, but she is lost in a fantasy world and tells him that Ben has asked her to marry him. Follies girls through "the mirror number" with Live, Love, Laugh, singing of how clever and adept For the 1985 concert, no one was going. of the derelict theatre Loveland rises - the apotheosis of a Weismann 66. that he no longer loves her, that for him "all of it was over '"[10] Martin Gottfried wrote: "The concept behind Follies is theatre nostalgia, representing the rose-colored glasses through which we face the fact of age the show is conceived in ghostliness. "[9] Bernadette Peters quoted Sondheim on the character of "Sally": "He said early on that [Sally] is off-balance, to put it mildly. [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]. Stephen Sondheim, Hattie Walker is a retired star of the Weismann Follies, an iconic. Former MGM and onetime Broadway star Betty Garrett, best known to younger audiences for her television work, played Hattie. "MOT Box Office Opens Sept. 11 For Fall Season". indestructibly, a Broadway Baby. The production was directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman, set design by Ray Klausen, lighting design by Tom Ruzika, costumes by Randy Gardell, sound design by Philip G. Allen, choreography by Kay Cole, musical director Gerald Sternbach.[71]. "), and Hattie Walker performs her old showstopping number ("Broadway Baby"). Solange proves she is still fashionable at what she claims is 66 ("Ah, Paris! Suddenly, at the peak of madness and confusion, the couples are engulfed by their follies, which transform the rundown theater into a fantastical "Loveland", an extravaganza even more grand and opulent than the gaudiest Weismann confection: "the place where lovers are always young and beautiful, and everyone lives only for love". Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal noted that "One of the signal achievements of this Follies is that it succeeds in untangling each and every strand of the show's knotty plot Mr. Schaeffer is clearly unafraid of the darkness of Follies, so much so that the first act is bitter enough to sting. explains: "Today, Follies is rarely performed twice in exactly the same version. That new jukebox musical is the new Broadway smash & Juliet. "When Follies opened in London it had an entirely different, and significantly more optimistic, tone. [43] During the run, Eartha Kitt replaced Gray, sparking somewhat of a comeback (she went on to perform her own one-woman show at The Shaftesbury Theatre to sell-out houses for three weeks from March 18, 1989, after Follies closed). At its very start, ghosts of Follies showgirls stalk the stage, mythic giants in winged, feathered, black and white opulence. [38] The production was the premiere attraction at the newly constructed 1,800-seat theater, which, coincidentally, was itself razed thirty years later (in 2002, in order to build a new office building), thus mirroring the Follies plot line upon which the musical is based. 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. Heidi Schiller, joined by her younger counterpart, performs "One More Kiss", her aged voice a stark contrast to the sparkling coloratura of her younger self. Follies By Rick Pender Follies original poster Follies, Sondheim's seventh Broadway production, began as The Girls Upstairs, a collaboration with bookwriter James Goldman about some young women in a Ziegfeld-like extravaganza and the stage-boy Johnnies who courted them. Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman . despite the routine of married life. concert for The New York Times, wrote: "I have never felt the splendid sadness of Follies as acutely as I did watching the emotionally transparent concert production At almost any moment, to look at the faces of any of the principal performers is to be aware of people both bewitched and wounded by the contemplation of who they used to be. Several show-stopping routines are provided by choreographer Warren Carlyle." YOUNG STELLA - The singer and dancer as she was in 1940. 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. The concert starred Barbara Cook (Sally), George Hearn (Ben), Mandy Patinkin (Buddy), and Lee Remick (Phyllis), and featured Carol Burnett (Carlotta), Betty Comden (Emily), Adolph Green (Theodore), Liliane Montevecchi (Solange LaFitte), Elaine Stritch (Hattie Walker), Phyllis Newman (Stella Deems), Jim Walton (Young Buddy), Howard McGillin (Young Ben), Liz Callaway (Young Sally), Daisy Prince (Young Phyllis), Andre Gregory (Dmitri), Arthur Rubin (Roscoe), and Licia Albanese (Heidi Schiller). The once resplendent theater is now little but planks and scaffolding ("Prologue"/"Overture"). [48], Follies was voted ninth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the UK's "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals". Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists, See more songs from He creates what's necessary for the piece. He forget his lines, the tune, the dance steps and finally, in "[35] "One More Kiss" was omitted from the final release but was restored for CD release. [73] Tom Bosley originally was cast as Dimitri Weismann. The 2001 Roundabout Broadway revival, the first major production following Goldman's death in 1998, was again a combination of previous versions. He predicted that the show eventually would achieve recognition as a Broadway classic. A recording of the National Theatre production was released on January 18, 2019.[104]. Ms. PETERS: Wow. Seeing Sally again, Ben realises In a shabby yet sparkling atmosphere of bittersweet nostalgia, a wide variety of faded glamour girls -- the famous Follies beauties of years gone by -- laugh, reminisce, brag, boast, express regret, and perform the musical numbers which made them famous, trailed by the ghostly memories of their younger selves. At first too weary to stand, and wearing clunky spectacles, she is incongruously dowdy - comic and poignant. no children but everything else. Angry and hurt, Phyllis considers whether to grant his request ("Could I Leave You?"). The coffee cup, I think about you. a Follies girl. With Andrew Lincoln, Sophie Okonedo, Esther Coles, Darren Tighe. I had always was aware of his shows but I never thought I'd ever be in any of his shows. kiss me, " Sally tells him, I think I'm going to die.". Ben becomes frenzied, while the dancing ensemble continues as if nothing was wrong. Buddy then appears, dressed in "plaid baggy pants, garish jacket, and a shiny derby hat", and performs a high-energy vaudeville routine depicting how he is caught between his love for Sally and Margie's love for him[4] ("The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues"). It was directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett, with choreography by Bennett, scenic design by Boris Aronson, costumes by Florence Klotz, and lighting by Tharon Musser. Young Phyllis, Ben, Sally and Buddy taunt their disillusioned [64] It was significantly stripped down (earlier productions had featured extravagant sets and costumes) and was not a success critically. It was directed and staged by Stephen Lloyd Helper and produced by Helper and Alistair Thomson for Mardi Gras. BENJAMIN STONE - A big man on Wall Street, with a chic Manhattan wife, "Liner notes to original Broadway cast recording". seems to be seeping into the present. SIMON: Stephen Sondheim wrote "Broadway Baby" in the early 1970s for "Follies," the award-winning musical he created with James Goldman. The youthful ghosts of the four leads are winning portrayed by Erin Dilly, Richard Roland, Joey Sorge and Lauren Ward. However, it is clear that Sally is still in love with Ben even though their affair ended badly when Ben decided to marry Phyllis. glad they came. SIMON: When did you first realize that you could sing? It starred Alexis Smith (Phyllis), John McMartin (Ben), Dorothy Collins (Sally), Gene Nelson (Buddy), along with several veterans of the Broadway and vaudeville stage. ; later replaced by Marni Nixon), Larry Raiken (Roscoe) and an assortment of famous names from the past. Ben tells Sally This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. Janie Dee and Peter Forbes returned as Phyllis and Buddy, while Joanna Riding and Alexander Hanson replaced Staunton and Quast as Sally and Ben. The Complete Follies Collection puiblished by Hal Leonard publishers>. It is 1970 and on the stage of the Weismann Theatre, Like you have Linda Lavin singing "Broadway Baby," and you have Elaine Paige bringing down the house singing "I'm Still Here," and Regine bringing all her history. During one night of romance and regret, two crumbling thirty-year-long marriages are put to the test. Sondheim, Stephen and Goldman, James (2001). The producer was Cameron Mackintosh, the direction was by Mike Ockrent, with choreography by Bob Avian and design by Maria Bjrnson. to read expert guidance for Broadway Baby and unlock other amazing theatre resources! Mr. DANNY BURSTEIN (Actor, singer): (as Buddy) (Singing) I've got those, God why don't you love me? YOUNG PHYLLIS - A showgirl in the chorus of the final edition of in one terrifying mass. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the Ziegfeld Follies). Jayne Houdyshell as Hattie, Mary Beth Peil as Solange LaFitte, and Don Correia as Theodore joined the Broadway cast. Accuracy and availability may vary. Music and lyrics Broadway Cast, 2011 (PS Classics, 2 CDs) (4 / 5) The success of the Paper Mill Playhouse production played a sizable role in convincing Broadway that a Follies revival was, in fact, feasible. For Sally and Buddy, Phyllis and Ben, [40] The cast included Mary Millar (Sally Durant Plummer), Liz Izen (Young Sally), Meg Johnson (Stella Deems), Les Want (Max Deems), Betty Benfield (Heidi Schiller), Joseph Powell (Roscoe), Chili Bouchier (Hattie Walker), Shirley Greenwood (Emily Whitman), Bryan Burdon (Theodore Whitman), Monica Dell (Solange LaFitte), Jeannie Harris (Carlotta Campion), Josephine Blake (Phyllis Rogers Stone), Kevin Colson (Ben), Debbie Snook (Young Phyllis), Stephen Hale (Young Ben), Bill Bradley (Buddy Plummer), Paul Burton (Young Buddy), David Scase (Dimitri Weismann), Mitch Sebastian (Young Vincent), Kim Ismay (Young Vanessa), Lorraine Croft (Young Stella), and Meryl Richardson (Young Heidi). Do again. She then tells Ben that their marriage can't continue the way it has been. Ben, caught in the passion of memories, kisses Sally as Buddy watches from the shadows. [53] "Ah, but Underneath" was substituted for "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" in order to accommodate non-dancer Hoty. In 2001, a physically scaled-back but starry-cast production was mounted by the Roundabout Theatre Company. EMILY WHITMAN - The female half of a cheerful song and dance team. for a first and last reunion: an invitation "to glamorize [5] Sally, Phyllis, Ben, and Buddy show their "real and emotional lives" in "a sort of group nervous breakdown".[6]. The production was broadcast live to cinemas worldwide on November 16 through the National Theatre Live program. 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. "[87] This recording includes "extended segments of the show's dialogue". YOUNG BEN - Ben thirty years earlier, in 1940, when he was dating Road You Didn't Take). 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. 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. and Loveland calls, luring them back to a playground of "[122] descend the famous Follies staircase one last time. New York, the eponymous Dimitri Weismann has gathered together Rounding out the ensemble is Lawrence Alexander, Brandon Bieber, John Carroll, Sara Edwards, Leslie Flesner, Jenifer Foote, Leah Horowitz, Suzanne Hylenski, Danielle Jordan, Joseph Kolinski, Amanda. 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! You know, when I went to see "A Little Night Music," before I was even knew I was going to be in it, the music started and I went: Oh my God, I can't believe the person that wrote all those other things also wrote this. The evening follows a reunion of the Weismann Girls who performed during the interwar period. The 2017 production was nominated for 10 Laurence Olivier Awards and won 2 for Best Musical Revival and Best Costume Design (by Vicki Mortimer). "Great American Musicals in Concert" series featured Follies as its 40th production for six performances in February 2007 in a sold out semi-staged concert. Leading Lady / Broadway Baby / Another Openin' Another Show: Jill Perryman: 1975: Medley: Broadway Baby: Bernadette Peters: 1981: Broadway Baby: Dorothy Loudon: 1986: Broadway Baby: Daisy Eagan: February 23, 1993: And as you keep learning and growing and studying your range, you know, grows and grows. "Who's That Woman?" - Stella and Company. Most songs were therefore heavily abridged and several were left entirely unrecorded. After exiting, Buddy escorts the emotionally devastated[5] Sally back to their hotel with the promise to work things out later. It's so hard to put into words. Phyllis interrupts this tender moment and has a biting encounter with Sally. SIMON: Is there a role you wish you could do over or do again? 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. Vance, David. And when I read it, I thought this is just so heartbreaking, really. their dressing rooms - but for Ben these memories awake old regrets "Waiting for the Girls Upstairs" - Ben, Sally, Phyllis and Buddy, Young Ben, Young Sally, Young Phyllis and Young Buddy. I dare you not to fall in love with Betty Garrett's understated "Broadway Baby" you just want to pick her up and hug her. [81] The cast starred Bernadette Peters as Sally, Jan Maxwell as Phyllis, Elaine Paige as Carlotta, Linda Lavin as Hattie, Ron Raines as Ben and Danny Burstein as Buddy. [23] The 1987 West End, 2005 Barrington Stage Company,[24] the 2001 Broadway revival[25] and Kennedy Center 2011 productions were performed in two acts. "[30] Prince planned to present the musical on the West Coast and then on a national tour. [77], New York City Center's Encores! [93][94] Other new cast members included Carol Neblett as Heidi, Sammy Williams as Theodore and Obba Babatunde as Max. Washington, DC, Auditons for AMDA (Washington) Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! And as years went on and I got out of that bad habit, my real voice revealed itself. As the guests reminisce, the stories of Ben, Phyllis, Buddy, and Sally unfold. The music is so beautiful, classical, involved, intricate. The majority of the Broadway cast reprised their roles, with the exception of Bernadette Peters, who had prior concert commitments and was replaced by Victoria Clark in the role of Sally, a role she has previously played in New York. That's a surprise. the Weismann Follies. "[19][84], The production transferred to Broadway at the Marquis Theatre in a limited engagement starting previews on August 7, 2011, with the official opening on September 12, and closing on January 22, 2012, after 151 performances and 38 previews. 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. Don't panic. The young sweethearts Ben and Phyllis promise each other "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" / "Love Will See Us Through" - Young Ben, Young Sally, Young Phyllis and Young Buddy. screen goddess Carlotta Campion to the most nondescript chorine, He thinks she's very neurotic, and she is very neurotic, so he said to me 'Congratulations. [50][51], A production also ran from March to April 1995 at the Theatre Under the Stars, Houston, Texas, and in April to May 1995 at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle with Constance Towers (Phyllis), Judy Kaye (Sally), Edie Adams, Denise Darcel, Virginia Mayo, Maxene Andrews (Hattie), and Karen Morrow (Carlotta). how many games did michael jordan play,
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