This musical, with a book by James Goldman, takes place at a reunion of the Weisman (pseudo-Ziegfeld) Follies girls, gathering at their old theatre on the eve of its leveling to become a parking lot. When Sally tries to rekindle her old flame with Ben (who married her best friend from the old days, Phyllis), chaos ensues until Sally, Buddy (her husband), Ben, and Phyllis break down and acknowledge their follies in a dream-Follies sequence, "Loveland."
The entire show is interspersed with ex-showgirls reprising their old big numbers, and the atmosphere is heightened by the presence of the ghosts of everyone's former selves, who sometimes sing along, sometimes reenact important events, and sometimes even interact with the present. Follies contains two scores -- the Follies pastiche numbers and the book numbers. The convergence of the two scores results in the Loveland sequence, where the characters use traditional songs to comment on their current concerns. The final piece (in the original script) is "Live Laugh, Love" where Ben attempts to present the suave, man-about-town character, but is unable to continue the charade and breaks down as the chorus continues, highlighting the dichotomy between forms.
In 1987, Follies was reworked for the West End stage. This new production featured a completely new book and five new songs, replacing others which were cut.
Follies includes the songs "Too Many Mornings," "I'm Still Here," and "Losing My Mind."
Show Data
- Original Broadway Production Info
- Musical Numbers
- Added Songs
- Cut Songs
- Original Broadway Cast
- Awards
- Recordings
- Production Rights
Original Broadway Production Info:
| Opened | April 4, 1971 |
| Closed | July 1, 1972 |
| Ran | 522 Performances |
| Theatre | Winter Garden Theatre |
| Music | Stephen Sondheim |
| Lyrics | Stephen Sondheim |
| Book | James Goldman |
| Producers | Harold Prince |
| in association with Ruth Mitchell | |
| Directors | Harold Prince |
| Michael Bennett | |
| Scene Designer | Boris Aronson |
| Costume Designer | Florence Klotz |
| Lighting Designer | Tharon Musser |
| Dance Music Arranger | John Berkman |
| Musical Direction | Harold Hastings |
| Paul Gemignani | |
| Orchestrations | Jonathan Tunick |
Musical Numbers:
Added Songs:
Cut Songs:
| Major-Domo | Dick Latessa |
| Sally Durant Plummer | Dorothy Collins |
| Young Sally | Marti Rolph |
| Christine Donovan | Ethel Barrymore Colt |
| Willy Wheeler | Fred Kelly |
| Stella Deems | Mary McCarty |
| Max Deems | John J. Martin |
| Heidi Schiller | Justine Johnston |
| Chauffeur | John Grigas |
| Meredith Lane | Sheila Smith |
| Roscoe | Michael Bartlett |
| Deedee West | Helon Blount |
| Hattie Walker | Ethel Shutta |
| Emily Whitman | Marcie Stringer |
| Theodore Whitman | Charles Welch |
| Vincent | Victor Griffin |
| Vanessa | Jayne Turner |
| Young Vincent | Michael Misita |
| Young Vanessa | Graciela Daniele |
| Solange LaFitte | Fifi D'Orsay |
| Carlotta Campion | Yvonne De Carlo |
| Phyllis Rogers Stone | Alexis Smith |
| Benjamin Stone | John McMartin |
| Young Phyllis | Virginia Sandifur |
| Young Ben | Kurt Peterson |
| Buddy Plummer | Gene Nelson |
| Young Buddy | Harvey Evans |
| Dimitri Weismann | Arnold Moss |
| Kevin | Ralph Nelson |
| Young Stella | Julie Pars |
| Young Heidi | Victoria Mallory |
| Party Musicians | Taft Jordan |
| Aaron Bell | |
| Charles Spies | |
| Robert Curtis | |
| Show Girls | Suzanne Briggs |
| Trudy Carson | |
| Kathie Dalton | |
| Ursula Maschmeyer | |
| Linda Perkins | |
| Margot Travers | |
| Singers, Dancers | Graciela Daniele |
| Mary Jane Houdina | |
| Sonja Levkova | |
| Rita O'Connor | |
| Julie Pars | |
| Suzanne Rogers | |
| Roy Barry | |
| Steve Boockvor | |
| Michael Misita | |
| Joseph Nelson | |
| Ralph Nelson | |
| Ken Urmston | |
| Peter Walker | |
| Donald Weissmuller |
1972 Tony Awards
New York Drama Critics' Award
Awards:
Recordings:
Angel, 2DM 7 64666 2 0
RCA Victor RCD2-7128
First Night Encore CD3
Secondary performance rights handled by Music Theatre International
Discuss this show in Sondheim.com's
community forum: Finishing the Chat... ››
“Assassins is about how society interprets the American Dream, marginalizes outsiders and rewrites and sanitizes its collective history. "Something Just Broke" is a major distraction and plays like an afterthought, shoe horned simply to appease. The song breaks the dramatic fluidity and obstructs the overall pacing and climactic arc which derails the very intent and momentum that makes this work so compelling...”
- Mark Bakalor
“I found [the Sondheim Celebration's Company] to be completely delightful. Almost all of the numbers excited and energized me, and most of the scenes were about as pitch-perfect as you can get. I just sat there with a big smile on my face the whole show.
Which is not to say that it is perfect...”
- popcornonmyknees
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