[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. Oh. Arlington, VA, Camp Director at Traveling Players Ensemble 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. PHYLLIS ROGERS STONE - Ben's 50-year old society wife, smart, tart, vicious "), as they are mirrored by their younger selves. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the Ziegfeld Follies). HATTIE WALKER - After all these years, still a Broadway Baby. a 23-year old called Margie. Mr. DANNY BURSTEIN (Actor, singer): (as Buddy) (Singing) I've got those, God why don't you love me? to get him down, as he scuttles frantically between mistress and Sondheim, Stephen and Goldman, James (2001). [57], A concert was held at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, on December 8, 1996, and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on February 15, 1997. Stephen Sondheim Songs from Musicals Follies the Musical - Broadway Baby Lyrics I'm just a Broadway Baby. Sally is bitter, having never been happy with Buddy, although he has always adored her. The production was directed by Dominic Cooke, choreographed by Bill Deamer and starred Peter Forbes as Buddy, Imelda Staunton as Sally, Janie Dee as Phyllis, Philip Quast as Ben[100][101] and Tracie Bennett as Carlotta. Ms. PETERS: She is horribly disappointed with her life, comes back to the Follies Theater that she performed in 30 years ago, where she was the happiest in her life, and trying to recapture the happiness again and think she is actually, that evening. in. indestructibly, a Broadway Baby. They've come a long way from those 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 MOT production starred Nancy Dussault (Sally), John-Charles Kelly (Buddy), Juliet Prowse (Phyllis) and Ron Raines (Ben), Edie Adams (Carlotta), Thelma Lee (Hattie), and Dennis Grimaldi (Vincent). Only Carlotta seems 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. Ben admits to Phyllis his admiration for her, and Phyllis shushes him and helps Ben regain his dignity before they leave. 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: On her debut solo album, Broadway veteran Dorothy Loudon performs a set of theater songs she was too young to do on stage. in a revised version, 21 July 1987 with Diana Rigg, Daniel Massey, Pounding Forty-Second Street To be in a show. He creates what's necessary for the piece. 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'. 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. Music and lyrics Buddy warns Phyllis that Sally is still in love with Ben, and she is shaken by how the past threatens to repeat itself. [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. The score offers a pastiche of 1920s and 1930s musical styles, evoking a nostalgic tone. Do again. 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). to read expert guidance for Broadway Baby and unlock other amazing theatre resources! Stephen Sondheim. a Follies girl. 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. are gleefully dusting off their old acts: Theodore and Emily Sondheim "did not think the London script was as good as the original." In 1971, on the soon-to-be-demolished stage of the Weismann Theatre, a reunion is being held to honor the Weismann's Follies shows past and the beautiful chorus girls who performed there every year between the two world wars. of the derelict theatre Loveland rises - the apotheosis of a Weismann [33], For commercial reasons, the cast album was cut from two LPs to one early in production. "[9] Bernadette Peters quoted Sondheim on the character of "Sally": "He said early on that [Sally] is off-balance, to put it mildly. And I thought oh, this would be lovely to do. 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? Girl and he has, sort of. And this is a very interesting character, probably unlike any other character I've ever played really. She's hale and hearty, singing and swinging better than ever. Former MGM and onetime Broadway star Betty Garrett, best known to younger audiences for her television work, played Hattie. [86] A two-disc cast album of this production was recorded by PS Classics and was released on November 29, 2011. "[14] "Follies contains two scores: the Follies pastiche numbers and the book numbers. "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" / "Love Will See Us Through" - Young Ben, Young Sally, Young Phyllis and Young Buddy. Amidst a deafening discord, Ben screams at all the figures from his past and collapses as he cries out for Phyllis. Were Still Here! serenades those Beautiful Girls, the now-elderly ing6nues He feigns a lack of interest; there is an underlying tension in their relationship. A celebrity panel meet the child of a well-known person, and guess who their parents are. It was Prince who changed the title to Follies; he was "intrigued by the psychology of a reunion of old chorus dancers and loved the play on the word 'follies'".[2]. 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. 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. I'm Scott Simon. 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. "[87] This recording includes "extended segments of the show's dialogue". On the drab stage The reunion, if it reunifies one couple, destroys another. really changed in their lives. 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. The exceptions are the title song, from Follies, which she sang memorably at the 1984 Tony Awards show, and "Bobo's" from The Act. Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! "[114] On the other hand, Martin Gottfried wrote: "Follies is truly awesome and, if it is not consistently good, it is always great. 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. [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). 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). but In Buddy's Eyes, she knows, she's still his princess. Group Sales Associate at Broadway at The National BENJAMIN STONE - A big man on Wall Street, with a chic Manhattan wife, [54] This production received a full-length recording on two CDs, including not only the entire score as originally written but a lengthy appendix of songs cut from the original production in tryouts. SIMON: Is there a role you wish you could do over or do again? 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. Follies is a blend of both, and the new production is rounded out with production numbers celebrating love's simple hope for young lovers, its extravagant fantasies for Ziegfeld aficionados, and its fresh lesson for the graying principals. 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. Ben confides to Sally that his life is empty. The London production had new songs and dialogue. 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. "[11], Joanne Gordon, author and chair and artistic director, Theatre, at California State University, Long Beach,[12][13] wrote "Follies is in part an affectionate look at the American musical theatre between the two World Wars and provides Sondheim with an opportunity to use the traditional conventions of the genre to reveal the hollowness and falsity of his characters' dreams and illusions. [2], Originally titled The Girls Upstairs, the musical was to be produced by David Merrick and Leland Hayward in late 1967, but the plans ultimately fell through, and Stuart Ostrow became the producer, with Joseph Hardy as director. He predicted that the show eventually would achieve recognition as a Broadway classic. Lastly Ben takes the stage Cast. HATTIE WALKER - After all these years, still a Broadway Baby. After exiting, Buddy escorts the emotionally devastated[5] Sally back to their hotel with the promise to work things out later. "[19] "Loveland" features a string of vaudeville-style numbers, reflecting the leading characters' emotional problems, before returning to the theater for the end of the reunion party. Ms. PETERS: Do over. follies. as he looks back at a lifetime of lost opportunities (The Ms. PETERS: Oh, you know, what's great about it is that there's no comparison. [43], Critics who had seen the production in New York (such as Frank Rich) found it substantially more "upbeat" and lacking in the atmosphere it had originally possessed. [72] Hal Linden originally was going to play Ben, but left because he was cast in the Broadway revival of Cabaret as Herr Schultz. 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. But when Bernadette Peters sings the song, it could be a kind of anthem. The Complete Follies Collection puiblished by Hal Leonard publishers>. HEIDI SCHILLER - A 90-year old Broadway legend, whose ringing soprano without his sneered jokes, his loveless love-making, his dreary These plans also did not work out,[3] and finally Harold Prince, who had worked previously with Sondheim, became the producer and director.
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