I have seen four live productions of "Follies" in my theater going experience, and have found a mixed bag for what is obviously a difficult show to do completely successfully. My introduction to this musical drama was the 1985 Lincoln Center concert, filmed as both a documentary and expanded clips for PBS and home video. It wasn't until 2001 when I got to see the entire show live with the Roundabout production, disappointing for those expecting the glitz and glamour of the original 1971 production, and not nearly as memorable as the starry 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production. A Los Angeles production, the Kennedy Center presentation, and its Broadway transfer in 2011 also ended up being a part of my "Follies" experience. It is a musical that delights audiences with its pastiche songs and dances yet often audiences become depressed over its analogy of middle age people as successful in life yet full of "Follies" in their individual choices.
The star of this production is the surprisingly musically talented Imelda Staunton, who would not be my choice to play a former "Follies" chorus girl, but as the seemingly innocent Sally, she's far less obvious than her Mama Rose in the National Theater's production of "Gypsy". In a sense, that makes Sally much more passive/aggressively dangerous, manipulating men for her extreme emotional needs, and like the wealthy Ben Stone (Philip Quast), an old admirer from her "Follies" days, she ends up nearing a nervous breakdown by the end of the night. Ben is now married to her former roommate, Phyllis (Janie Dee), and she has gone from innocent struggling chorus girl to jaded sophisticate. Sally ended up marrying Ben's best friend, Buddy (Peter Forbes), who reveals his own infidelities and insecurities throughout the evening, yet is obviously very much in love with his wife who obviously doesn't appreciate them.
Probably the last group of "Follies" chorus girls, Sally and Phyllis are complete opposites at this reunion, but the flashbacks of their young selves show why they were best friends at one time. Sally lies in her song, "In Buddy's Eyes", of her undying devotion to her husband and her delusional satisfaction with their marriage, and Phyllis comes off as bitchy and icy. Ah, but underneath Phyllis (to utilize a song cut from the original pre-Broadway tryout), Dee is as insecure as Sally is neurotic, and in her big solo, "Could I Leave You?", her venom comes pouring out as years of pain and regret come pouring out. Everyone from Alexis Smith to Constance Towers to Lee Remick to Blythe Danner to Jan Maxwell has shown the truth underneath Phyllis's cool demeanor, and it's a lonely woman dying inside out of the knowledge that her husband has perhaps never loved her.
Surrounding these two couples are former chorus girls and headliners of various Weismann Follies dating back to the end of World War I. Veteran Heidi (Josephine Barstow) sings "All things beautiful must die" as her ghostly self from the past sings along side her. Bookwriter James Goldman shows that inside every elegant old lady was once a beautiful young lady, and she reminds me of the Susan French/Jane Seymour character in the 1980 romantic classic "Somewhere in Time". There's a bit of Judy Garland in Tracie Bennett's Carlotta, the one "Follies" star who made it big elsewhere, belting out that great survival anthem, "I'm Still Here!". Like other actors to play the great Garland on stage or screen (Judy Davis and Isabel Keating), it's hard not to see Judy Garland in her onstage performance, yet like the others, that feeling disappears the moment they sink into their character.
The blowsy Di Botcher is an absolute gem as Hattie Walker, with the look of a grandma you love to hug and hear old stories from, as she belts "Broadway Baby". She puts her whole heart into the song, and as she concludes the three part number (others sing their songs as part of a trio of "Follies" memories) , it's her you are focusing on, not the other three performers, as great as they are. Dawn Hope turns my favorite "Follies" number, "Who's That Woman?" (aka "The Mirror Song") into a huge production number that has the ghosts of all the "Follies" girls joining in a riotous dance that had me cheering, even in a filmed performance. A different take on the "Loveland" sequence is unique, different than all the other productions I've seen stateside, and if it isn't as lavish as the Bernadette Peters/Jan Maxwell revival, it's still highly memorable. I've always wanted "Follies" to be made into a movie, but this did give me the burning question: Can it be done successfully while being faithful to the show? Time will tell, but this "Follies" will live as a testament to a controversial show that has a massive cult following yet was never a huge moneymaker thanks to its lavish and expensive production design.
The star of this production is the surprisingly musically talented Imelda Staunton, who would not be my choice to play a former "Follies" chorus girl, but as the seemingly innocent Sally, she's far less obvious than her Mama Rose in the National Theater's production of "Gypsy". In a sense, that makes Sally much more passive/aggressively dangerous, manipulating men for her extreme emotional needs, and like the wealthy Ben Stone (Philip Quast), an old admirer from her "Follies" days, she ends up nearing a nervous breakdown by the end of the night. Ben is now married to her former roommate, Phyllis (Janie Dee), and she has gone from innocent struggling chorus girl to jaded sophisticate. Sally ended up marrying Ben's best friend, Buddy (Peter Forbes), who reveals his own infidelities and insecurities throughout the evening, yet is obviously very much in love with his wife who obviously doesn't appreciate them.
Probably the last group of "Follies" chorus girls, Sally and Phyllis are complete opposites at this reunion, but the flashbacks of their young selves show why they were best friends at one time. Sally lies in her song, "In Buddy's Eyes", of her undying devotion to her husband and her delusional satisfaction with their marriage, and Phyllis comes off as bitchy and icy. Ah, but underneath Phyllis (to utilize a song cut from the original pre-Broadway tryout), Dee is as insecure as Sally is neurotic, and in her big solo, "Could I Leave You?", her venom comes pouring out as years of pain and regret come pouring out. Everyone from Alexis Smith to Constance Towers to Lee Remick to Blythe Danner to Jan Maxwell has shown the truth underneath Phyllis's cool demeanor, and it's a lonely woman dying inside out of the knowledge that her husband has perhaps never loved her.
Surrounding these two couples are former chorus girls and headliners of various Weismann Follies dating back to the end of World War I. Veteran Heidi (Josephine Barstow) sings "All things beautiful must die" as her ghostly self from the past sings along side her. Bookwriter James Goldman shows that inside every elegant old lady was once a beautiful young lady, and she reminds me of the Susan French/Jane Seymour character in the 1980 romantic classic "Somewhere in Time". There's a bit of Judy Garland in Tracie Bennett's Carlotta, the one "Follies" star who made it big elsewhere, belting out that great survival anthem, "I'm Still Here!". Like other actors to play the great Garland on stage or screen (Judy Davis and Isabel Keating), it's hard not to see Judy Garland in her onstage performance, yet like the others, that feeling disappears the moment they sink into their character.
The blowsy Di Botcher is an absolute gem as Hattie Walker, with the look of a grandma you love to hug and hear old stories from, as she belts "Broadway Baby". She puts her whole heart into the song, and as she concludes the three part number (others sing their songs as part of a trio of "Follies" memories) , it's her you are focusing on, not the other three performers, as great as they are. Dawn Hope turns my favorite "Follies" number, "Who's That Woman?" (aka "The Mirror Song") into a huge production number that has the ghosts of all the "Follies" girls joining in a riotous dance that had me cheering, even in a filmed performance. A different take on the "Loveland" sequence is unique, different than all the other productions I've seen stateside, and if it isn't as lavish as the Bernadette Peters/Jan Maxwell revival, it's still highly memorable. I've always wanted "Follies" to be made into a movie, but this did give me the burning question: Can it be done successfully while being faithful to the show? Time will tell, but this "Follies" will live as a testament to a controversial show that has a massive cult following yet was never a huge moneymaker thanks to its lavish and expensive production design.