Follies
Follies is a
musical with music and lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim and a book by
James Goldman.
Follies is set in a crumbling old
Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, during a reunion for all the past members of the "Weismann’s Follies"; a musical
revue (based on the
Ziegfeld Follies) which played in that theatre between the World Wars. The musical mostly focuses on two couples, Buddy and Sally Durant Plummer and Ben and Phyllis Rogers Stone, who are attending the reunion. Sally and Phyllis were both showgirls in the Follies as are many of the other guests. Both marriages are having problems because Buddy, a traveling salesman, is having an affair with a girl on the road, Sally is still in love with Ben as she was years ago, and Ben is so self-absorbed that Phyllis feels emotionally abandoned.
The two couples interact with each other and other partygoers, and throughout the first half, musical numbers from the old Follies are performed by the characters, sometimes accompanied by the ghosts of their former selves. These songs are
pastiches of songs by popular songwriters of the past. The second half contains a string of
vaudeville-style numbers reflecting the characters' own problems and joys, before returning to the theatre for the end of the reunion party.
Act I*Beautiful Girls
*Don't Look at Me
*Waiting for the Girls Upstairs
*Rain on the Roof
*Ah, Paris!
*Broadway Baby
*Road You Didn't Take
*In Buddy's Eyes
*Who's That Woman?
*I'm Still Here
*Too Many Mornings''
Act II*Right Girl
*One More Kiss
*Could I Leave You?
*Loveland
*You're Gonna Love Tomorrow
*Love Will See Us Through
*The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me-Blues
*Losing My Mind
*Ah, But Underneath...
*Live, Laugh, Love
*Finale
Follies opened on April 4, 1971 at the
Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway. It starred
Alexis Smith,
John McMartin,
Dorothy Collins,
Gene Nelson, and
Yvonne De Carlo, along with several veterans of the Broadway and vaudeville stage.
The plum supporting role of Carlotta Campion, the world-weary ex-Follies girl who sings the showstopping "I'm Still Here," is usually performed by a once-celebrated performer making a final return to the stage.
Yvonne De Carlo created the role in
1971. The
1985 concert featured
Carol Burnett in the role, and
Dolores Gray played Carlotta in the
1987 London production, which also featured
Diana Rigg,
Daniel Massey,
Julia McKenzie,
Lynda Baron,
Leonard Sachs,
Maria Charles,
Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson. The 1998
Paper Mill Playhouse revival featured the legendary
MGM star
Ann Miller in the role or Carlotta. Shortly thereafter another former MGM star,
Betty Garrett, played the role of Hattie in the short-lived 2001 Broadway revival, which also starred
Blythe Danner,
Judith Ivey,
Treat Williams,
Gregory Harrison,
Polly Bergen and an assortment of famous names from the past. It was significantly stripped down (previous productions, especially the original, were most notable for their extravagant sets and costumes) and was not a success critically or financially.
The musical has undergone numerous revisions over the years. The initial production was praised in many areas but the book and dialogue were judged to be lacking; Goldman subsequently revised his work right up to his death, which occurred shortly before the 1998 Paper Mill production. Sondheim too has added and removed songs that he judged to be problematic in various productions. The 1987 London production was significantly changed, and was, in the opinion of critics who saw it in New York (such as
Frank Rich), substantially more "upbeat" and lacking in the atmosphere it had originally possessed.
Follies was voted ninth in a
BBC Radio 2 listener
poll of the UK's "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals". [
1]
*
Live, Laugh, Love: Follies*
List of references in "I'm Still Here"*
Palm Springs Follies
