Follies
Sondheim: "Isn't he rich?"
Webber: "Richer than me!"
- Book by James Goldman
- Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
- Produced for records by Dick Jones
- Orchestration by Jonathan Tunick
- Musical direction by Harold Hastings
- Opened 4/4/71 at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York. 521 performances.
Main Players/Characters
Alexis Smith
Phyllis Rogers Stone John McMartin
Benjamin Stone Dorothy Collins
Sally Durant Plummer Gene Nelson
Buddy Plummer Virginia Sandifur
Young Phyllis Kurt Peterson
Young Ben Marti Rolph
Young Sally Harvey Evans
Young Buddy Edwin Steffe
Dimitri Weismann Ethel Barrymore Colt
Christine Crane Mary McCarty
Stella Deems Justine Johnston
Heidi Schiller Victoria Mallory
Young Heidi Ethel Shutta
Hattie Walker Mary Jane Houdina
Young Hattie Fifi D'Orsay
Solange LaFitte Yvonne De Carlo
Carlotta Campion Suzanne Rogers
Showgirl (with Buddy) Rita O'Conner
Showgirl (with Buddy) - There are also a ton of other actors and actresses who were not represented on the CD, including nearly all of the men.
Plot Summary
Follies was based on an original idea by Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman.
The date is 1971. The setting is a crumbling theatre on the verge of being torn down to make way for a parking lot. The event is a reunion party for onetime participants in the Weismann Follies, largely showgirls. Although there are many characters interacting, the four important ones are Benjamin and Phyllis Stone and Buddy and Sally Plummer, two couples who were good friends 30 years ago but have not had contact with one another until now. As "ghosts" of the showgirls mirror what their aging counterparts do, so too do the young versions of the four principals reenact significant moments in their past. Notably, Sally had a major torch for Ben but accepted Buddy's proposal. Now, all four hate their lives, but have been living under a veneer of civility until this party, and the memories it drags up, reveals the cracks. The final half-hour of the show is a macabre dream sequence where Buddy, Sally, Phyllis, and Ben act out their "follies." Buddy is a burlesque comedian who sings with desperate humor of how he can't love anyone who loves him. Sally sings a torch song that aptly expresses her problem: she's going crazy with love for Ben, or at least her memory of Ben. Phyllis, as a stripper, is conflicted between the ice queen she's become and the passionate youngster she used to be. Finally, Ben has no self-esteem whatsoever; a dancer in top hat and ties, with a huge chorus behind him, he starts out confidentally, then realizes his whole life has been a fraud and a waste, and the whole fantasy sequence breaks down. Ultimately, the couples remain together to offer each other what comfort they can.
Songs
- Prologue: Beautiful Girls
- Don't Look at Me
- Waiting for the Girls Upstairs
- Ah! Paris/Broadway Baby
- The Road You Didn't Take
- In Buddy's Eyes
- Who's That Woman?
- I'm Still Here
- Too Many Mornings
- The Right Girl
- One More Kiss
- Could I Leave You?
- You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through
- The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues
- Losing My Mind
- The Story of Lucy and Jesse
- Live, Laugh, Love/Finale
Tony Awards
Entries in red were winners.
Evaluation
God, it's hard to come up with something to say about this astonishing show. It's one of three Sondheim works (the others being Sweeney Todd and the London cast album of Into the Woods) that sparked my deep and undying admiration of the man. It's much easier to talk about shows that are less classic
The first thing I thought after I listened to this CD for the first time, some years ago, was, "Why doesn't everyone know about this show?"
CD Packaging
Summary
Oh, my, what a classic. It's woefully truncated
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