The Plot: A decaying
Broadway theater is the place set for a reunion of past performers of the
“Weismann’s Follies” that played there in the golden days. Among them there’s
Sally and Phyllis, two chorus girls, and their husbands. Both couples are
unhappy and Sally hopes to regain the love of Ben, with whom she had an affair
in the past and who is now married to Phyllis.
The Show: “I had a dream,
a wonderful dream” that one day I would finally see a production of FOLLIES. It
wasn’t exactly a dream, but I always said that one day I would see this show on
stage and it would be in London at the National Theatre. You can imagine my
surprise when I heard the news that the National was planning to put it on
stage. That was reason more than enough for me to visit London and as soon as
the tickets were on sale, I booked mine.
FOLLIES is one my
top four musical scores (the others are CHICAGO, MACK AND MABEL and GYPSY) and
I can hardly express what I felt when the show began, with the ghosts moving
around the ruined stage and the live characters start appearing. Then, as
always, Roscoe “brings on the Weismann girls” and I felt shivers up and down my
spine. This was much more than I expected and my hopes roused high.
The set design by
Vicki Mortimer is beautiful and director Dominic Cooke took full advantage of
it, both giving a ghostly quality to the entire production. I loved the way the
characters moved around the set, giving it life and grabbing our attention from
several different spots at the same time (although, sometimes, it becomes a
little confusing).
Besides the
opening, the other big moment that made my spirit rise was when Dawn Hope leads
the ladies in “Who’s That Woman?” and the entire stage shines with life and
joy. In the “Loveland” sequence the four leading actors, Imelda Staunton, Janie
Dee, Peter Forbes and Philip Quast all excel in their numbers: Staunton is
heartbreaking with “Losing My Mind”, Dee gets deliciously loose with “The Story
of Lucy and Jessie”, Forbes has fun and is funny with “The
God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues” and Quast goes from a stout man to a rag with
“Live, Laugh, Love”. As they younger selves, Alex Young, Zizi Strallen, Fred
Haig and Adam Rhys-Charles have their big time with “You're Gonna Love Tomorrow”
and “Love Will See Us Through”.
The most
emotional moments of the evening are when Josephine Barstow duets with her
younger self, Alison Langer, in “One More Kiss” and when Imelda Staunton
delivers “In Buddy’s Eyes”. Tracie Bennett becomes very personal with “I’m
Still Here” (my favorite song of the score), Di Botcher sounds like a true
“Broadway Baby”, Geraldine Fitzgerald gives us a sensuality funny “Ah, Paris!”
and Billy Boyle and Norma Atallah are delicious with “Rain on the Roof”.
To be able to see
this legendary musical live on stage and to hear the cast giving life to its
amazing score was an unforgettable experience, even if it wasn’t as great as I
hoped it would be. But it’s not every day that we see a dream come true and I
feel truly blessed to fulfill mine!
Creative Team: Music and Lyrics
by Stephen Sondheim • Book by James Goldman • Choreography by Bill Deamer •
Directed by Dominic Cooke
My Rate: 9 (from 1 to 10)
/ Photos: Johan Persson and Tristram Kenton
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