During one night of romance and regret, two crumbling thirty-year-long marriages are put to the test. Playing Hattie who sings "Broadway Baby" is Patti Davis Suarez. New York, NY, Escape To Margaritaville Radiantly optimistic and more than a little sexy, they turned "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" into one of the highlights of the evening. [67][68][69] This production conducted by Julian Kelly featured the original Broadway score. Follies (Musical) Plot & Characters | StageAgent [102] This production notably goes back to the original plan of a one-act performance. I hadn't read the script until about a year ago. Ms. Peters plays Sally Durant Plummer, a one-time showgirl who attends a bittersweet reunion with her fellow performers, in a cast that includes Elaine Paige, Linda Lavin, and Regine. Not only has it already outsold every other album at our website, but the steady stream of emails from customers has been amazing. Follies was performed in concert at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra[59] in February 1998 as the highlight of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and had three performances. These plans also did not work out,[3] and finally Harold Prince, who had worked previously with Sondheim, became the producer and director. 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 . Follies (New Broadway Cast Recording) - Apple Music Christine Baranski played Carlotta, and Lucine Amara sang Heidi. Ben drunkenly propositions Carlotta, with whom he once had a fling, but she has a young lover and coolly turns him down. Don't panic. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the Ziegfeld Follies ). And even when I saw it, I think it was about 2000 there was a revival, maybe 2001. declares I'm Still Here. (Soundbite of song, "A Little Night Music"). But when Bernadette Peters sings the song, it could be a kind of anthem. Sondheim. It's just that the most glamorous room . years ago". In a jazzy dance number, accompanied by a squadron of chorus boys, Phyllis reflects on the two sides of her personality, one naive and passionate and the other jaded and sophisticated and her desire to combine them ("The Story of Lucy and Jessie"). And this is a very interesting character, probably unlike any other character I've ever played really. The musical has had a number of major revivals, and several of its songs have become standards, including "Broadway Baby", "I'm Still Here", "Too Many Mornings", "Could I Leave You? However, the show did not do well in its Los Angeles engagement and plans for a tour ended. New York, NY, SM for Poor Yella Rednecks The rest of the album consists of material from the 1920s, '30s, and '40s, written by the . Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. 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. Road You Didn't Take). Sally is bitter, having never been happy with Buddy, although he has always adored her. EMILY WHITMAN - The female half of a cheerful song and dance team. "Waiting for the Girls Upstairs" - Ben, Sally, Phyllis and Buddy, Young Ben, Young Sally, Young Phyllis and Young Buddy. [19][81] The production played to 95% capacity. reduced to mother r6Ies, but still hanging in there. Follies Original West End Musical Cast 1987 | West End World YOUNG SALLY - A Follies chorine, 20 years old in 1940, and caught She made her Broadway debut in 1967 in "How Now, Dow Jones" and went on to play roles in "Promises, Promises" and "Applause." Ms. PETERS: Oh, you know, what's great about it is that there's no comparison. "[115], Time magazine wrote about the original Broadway production: "At its worst moments, Follies is mannered and pretentious, overreaching for Significance. A celebrated New York event since 2010 (Its a Hit! Linden, Duke, Carr, Bosley Do Sondheim in L.A. June 15-23", "Evita's Bob Gunton Replaces Hal Linden as Ben in L.A. 'Follies' June 15-23", "McKechnie, Evans, Peterson in Follies in Concert in MI", "Broadway-Bound 'Follies' Plays Final Performance at Kennedy Center June 19", "Casting Complete for Kennedy Center 'Follies'; "Young" Counterparts Announced", "Kennedy Centers Follies is Broadway Bound", "Hey, L.A., We're Coming Your Way: 'Follies' Ends Broadway Run Jan. 22", "The Right Girls: Kennedy Center Follies, With Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Elaine Paige, Begins Broadway Previews", "Two-Disc 'Follies' Revival Recording Is Big Seller", "Theater Review. mimic their movements. The theatermania.com reviewer wrote that "The result is an album that, more so than any of the other existing recordings, allows listeners to re-experience the heartbreaking collision of past and present that's at the core of the piece. The evening follows a reunion of the Weismann Girls who performed during the interwar period. [82] Also featured were Rosalind Elias as Heidi, Rgine as Solange, Susan Watson as Emily, and Terri White as Stella. older selves with the failed promises of youth. Variety singer and performer Joan Savage sang "Broadway Baby". Sondheim Guide / Follies (Recordings) He forget his lines, the tune, the dance steps and finally, in inspired the operetta kings to produce their lushest "[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. The show and the score have a double vision: simultaneously squinting at the messes people make of their lives and wide-eyed at the lingering grace and lift of the music they want to hear. The 2001 Roundabout Broadway revival, the first major production following Goldman's death in 1998, was again a combination of previous versions. Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics combine emotional pain and witty pastiche with a deftness that James . Ben, caught in the passion of memories, kisses Sally as Buddy watches from the shadows. She had nodes that she had to have removed. As Stella leads the 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. They find that hard to do. Performance: Broadway Baby by Ethel Shutta | SecondHandSongs 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?" Inspired by a New York Times article about a gathering of former Ziegfeld Girls, they decided upon a story about ex-showgirls. The musical was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won seven. 'Follies'. Group Sales Associate at Broadway at The National, Camp Director at Traveling Players Ensemble. It starred Alexis Smith (Phyllis), John McMartin (Ben), Dorothy Collins (Sally), Gene Nelson (Buddy), along with several veterans of the Broadway and vaudeville stage. But when. to Ben as they meet for the first time in years. [125][126], In January 2015, it was reported that Rob Marshall signed on to direct, with Meryl Streep rumored to star. 'A truly fantastic evening,' The Financial Times concluded, while the London Daily News stated 'The musical is inspired,' and The Times described the evening as 'a wonderful idea for a show which has failed to grow into a story. a musical in one act. Their ghostly younger selves appear, watching them go. I like to do that. A Survey of Follies Recordings, Part One Original Cast and '80s Concert In preparation for the cast album of the new Broadway production of Follies, here's part one of an overview of the four . waltzes. She yearns for him to hold her, but young Sally slips between them and the three move together ("Too Many Mornings"). Ms. BERNADETTE PETERS (Actress; Singer): (as Sally Durant Plummer) (Singing) I'm just a Broadway baby walking SIMON: A huge, rich revival of "Follies" has opened at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with the original orchestrations. Arlington, VA, Camp Director at Traveling Players Ensemble Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. Produced at the Winter Garden, New York, 4 April 1971 with Alexis Oh, you do? to get him down, as he scuttles frantically between mistress and The Company of our celebrated, long-running series, #SondheimUnplugged, is thrilled to be Back in Business for season thirteen of our award-winning program at #54below. Resplendent in top hat and tails, Ben begins to offer his devil-may-care philosophy ("Live, Laugh, Love"), but stumbles and anxiously calls to the conductor for the lyrics, as he frantically tries to keep going. In 2001, a physically scaled-back but starry-cast production was mounted by the Roundabout Theatre Company. Merrily We Roll Along (2012 New York Cast Recording) Stephen Sondheim. 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. Join the StageAgent community Amidst a deafening discord, Ben screams at all the figures from his past and collapses as he cries out for Phyllis. Mr. Weismann's exquisite taste in feminine pulchritude. A London revival was performed in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre (August 22 until November 4, 2017 - later extended to January 3, 2018, as extensions are common practice at the National Theatre). [52] The 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production (Millburn, New Jersey) was directed by Robert Johanson with choreography by Jerry Mitchell and starred Donna McKechnie (Sally), Dee Hoty (Phyllis), Laurence Guittard (Ben), Tony Roberts (Buddy), Kaye Ballard (Hattie ), Eddie Bracken (Weismann), and Ann Miller (Carlotta). descend the famous Follies staircase one last time. [95], For its first production in France, Follies was presented at the Toulon Opera House in March 2013. Bernadette Peters On Sondheim's 'Follies' - NPR 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. [33] However, director Herbert Ross took some liberties in adapting the book and score for the concert formatdance music was changed, songs were given false endings, the new dialogue was spoken, reprises were added, and Patinkin was allowed to sing "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" as a solo instead of a trio with two chorus girls. 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. "[120], There have been six recordings of Follies released: the original 1971 Broadway cast album; Follies in Concert, Avery Fisher Hall (1985); the original London production (1987); the Paper Mill Playhouse (1998); the 2011 Broadway revival; and the 2017 London revival. Emily and Theodore Whitman, ex-vaudevillians in their seventies, perform an old routine ("The Rain on the Roof"). in one terrifying mass. I had always was aware of his shows but I never thought I'd ever be in any of his shows. Music and lyrics It also highlights that the Follies were such an incredible mix of high art and low art. of the derelict theatre Loveland rises - the apotheosis of a Weismann Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. [77], New York City Center's Encores! HATTIE WALKER - After all these years, still a Broadway Baby. According to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, "almost every performance of the show played to a full house, more often than not to standing-room-only. with Live, Love, Laugh, singing of how clever and adept big-shots from the UN. [26] By the time the 2011 Broadway revival opened, it was performed with an intermission in two acts. Ms. PETERS: I don't know. Songs. They pass through the spectral showgirls without seeing them. It was directed and staged by Stephen Lloyd Helper and produced by Helper and Alistair Thomson for Mardi Gras. Follies (Sondheim) - The Guide to Musical Theatre What is. "[117] Ben Brantley, reviewing the 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production in The New York Times, concluded that it was a "fine, heartfelt production, which confirms Follies as a landmark musical and a work of art". And then it goes on and on to start crumbling around her and her huge disappointment. SIMON: When did you first realize that you could sing? Smith (Phyllis), John McMartin (Ben), Dorothy Collins (Sally) and A Broadway revival opened at the Belasco Theatre on April 5, 2001, and closed on July 14, 2001, after 117 performances and 32 previews. [80], The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts production at the Eisenhower Theater started previews on May 7, 2011, with an official opening on May 21, and closed on June 19, 2011. Paul Kerryson directed, and the cast starred David Durham as Ben, Kathryn Evans as Sally, Louise Gold as Phyllis, Julia Goss as Heidi and Henry Goodman as Buddy. "Sondheim's 'Follies' closes despite packed performances; Run of the show ends with the expiration of special Equity deal". 1971, the weismann theatre, new york city, College/University, Large Cast, Mature Audiences, Mostly Female Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Star Vehicle Female. New York, the eponymous Dimitri Weismann has gathered together She accuses him of having affairs while he is on the road, and he admits he has a steady girlfriend, Margie, in another town, but always returns home. explains: "Today, Follies is rarely performed twice in exactly the same version. Ms. PETERS: You know, when I was a little girl, they said I had a funny voice because I actually had a deep voice and that's because my mother didn't speak correctly. After exiting, Buddy escorts the emotionally devastated[5] Sally back to their hotel with the promise to work things out later. Buddy and Ben, the theatre seems haunted by their younger selves, Julia McKenzie returned to the production for the final four performances. 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. With Andrew Lincoln, Sophie Okonedo, Esther Coles, Darren Tighe. The Company of our. The score offers a pastiche of 1920s and 1930s musical styles, evoking a nostalgic tone. Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman . A lthough it has legions of admirers, Follies has often seemed a problematic show. The production was broadcast live to cinemas worldwide on November 16 through the National Theatre Live program. )"[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. [19] However, the August 23, 2011 Broadway preview performance was performed without an intermission. PHYLLIS ROGERS STONE - Ben's 50-year old society wife, smart, tart, vicious as he looks back at a lifetime of lost opportunities (The Afterward, Phyllis and Ben angrily discuss their lives and relationship, which has become numb and emotionless. 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. and soon Sally and Buddy, together with their younger selves, join Ted Chapin[who?] "[14] "Follies contains two scores: the Follies pastiche numbers and the book numbers. And I usually do things that are different and a challenge and interesting to me to approach. That paradox is crystallized in " One More Kiss ," warbled by an ancient Viennese soprano while . The cast featured Charlotte Page (Sally), Liz Robertson (Phyllis), Graham Bickley (Ben), Jrme Pradon (Buddy), Nicole Croisille (Carlotta), Julia Sutton (Hattie) and Fra Fee (Young Buddy).[96]. Follies Stage production February 20, 1971 Comments Sung by character "Hattie Walker" . Broadway Baby, Learning how to sing and dance, Waiting for that one big chance To be in a show.Oh.Gee.' I'd like to be On some marquee, All twinkling lights, As more guests arrive, Sally's husband, Buddy, enters. Sally appears next, dressed as a torch singer, singing of her passion for Ben from the past - and her obsession with him now ("Losing My Mind"). Whose Baby? - Wikipedia but cold Jessie could only combine then I could tell you someone This English-language production, using the full original orchestration, was directed by Olivier Bnzech and conducted by David Charles Abell. [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. Mr. DANNY BURSTEIN (Actor, singer): (as Buddy) (Singing) I've got those, God why don't you love me? Gene Nelson (Buddy). Ms. PETERS: Oh, definitely, because I was really a kid. a 23-year old called Margie. Whose Baby? Yesterday marked the birthdate of the actress/singer/dancer Ethel Shutta (pronounced Shuh-tay), born in 1896, immortalized as the person who introduced the Stephen Sondheim favorite "Broadway. [103], The production returned to the Olivier Theatre on February 14, 2019, playing until May 11. According to Variety, the production was a "total financial failure, with a cumulative loss of $792,000. Ms. PETERS: But he is like an actor, but with notes and words. [55], Julianne Boyd directed a fully staged version of Follies in 2005 by the Barrington Stage Company (Massachusetts) in JuneJuly 2005. 'Follies' features Broadway actress Kelli James Chase