With Andrew Lincoln, Sophie Okonedo, Esther Coles, Darren Tighe. DIMITRI WEISMANN - An impresario who flourished between the wars and That, long as you ignore me, you're the only thing that matters, feeling. SIMON: Stephen Sondheim wrote "Broadway Baby" in the early 1970s for "Follies," the award-winning musical he created with James Goldman. "[87] This recording includes "extended segments of the show's dialogue". "), and Hattie Walker performs her old showstopping number ("Broadway Baby"). to get him down, as he scuttles frantically between mistress and [128], In November 2019, it was announced that Dominic Cooke will adapt the screenplay as well as direct, following the successful 2017 National Theatre revival in London, which returned in 2019 due to popular demand.[129]. In a jazzy dance number, accompanied by a squadron of chorus boys, Phyllis reflects on the two sides of her personality, one naive and passionate and the other jaded and sophisticated and her desire to combine them ("The Story of Lucy and Jessie"). Ms. PETERS: But he is like an actor, but with notes and words. Whose Baby? - Wikipedia He asked author and playwright James Goldman to join him as bookwriter for a new musical. Casting a 'Follies' of the Future, With Beyonc and Ben Platt A recording of the National Theatre production was released on January 18, 2019.[104]. The concert starred Barbara Cook (Sally), George Hearn (Ben), Mandy Patinkin (Buddy), and Lee Remick (Phyllis), and featured Carol Burnett (Carlotta), Betty Comden (Emily), Adolph Green (Theodore), Liliane Montevecchi (Solange LaFitte), Elaine Stritch (Hattie Walker), Phyllis Newman (Stella Deems), Jim Walton (Young Buddy), Howard McGillin (Young Ben), Liz Callaway (Young Sally), Daisy Prince (Young Phyllis), Andre Gregory (Dmitri), Arthur Rubin (Roscoe), and Licia Albanese (Heidi Schiller). Follies - New Broadway Cast Recording Produced by Tommy Krasker and Philip Chaffin Executive Producers: Michael M. Kaiser, Sean Patrick Flahaven Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York City on October 3-4, 2011 Recorded and Mixed by Bart Migal Assistand Engineer: Bob Mallory, Tim Marchiafava, Tyler Hartman & Mike Bauer Music Coordinator: John Miller The former radio star Ethel Shutta was 74 when she originated the role and debuted its great song "Broadway Baby"; her own Broadway debut was in 1922. Ms. PETERS: As a little girl, yeah. Gene Nelson (Buddy). Thanks very much for being with us. Not to say the show's not fun, the show has got lots of fun moments and it's haunting and it's gorgeous, because they've come back to this old theater and you notice ghostly, walking really slow, gorgeous showgirls. Against this volatile atmosphere of drunken remembrances, a decades-old love quadrangle receives a revival when Follies dancers Sally and Phyllis, and their respective husbands, Buddy and Ben -- who used to hang around backstage, waiting for their girls -- meet again. SIMON: When did you first realize that you could sing? Buddy and Phyllis join their spouses and the foursome reminisces about the old days of their courtship and the theater, their memories vividly coming to life in the apparitions of their young counterparts ("Waiting For The Girls Upstairs"). Peter Marks of The Washington Post wrote that the revival "takes an audience halfway to paradise." Directed by Michael Scott, the cast included Lorna Luft, Millicent Martin, Mary Millar, Dave Willetts, Trevor Jones Bryan Smyth, Alex Sharpe, Christine Scarry, Aidan Conway and Enda Markey. Do again. Former MGM and onetime Broadway star Betty Garrett, best known to younger audiences for her television work, played Hattie. [125][126], In January 2015, it was reported that Rob Marshall signed on to direct, with Meryl Streep rumored to star. descend the famous Follies staircase one last time. Barnes also called the story shallow and Sondheim's words a joy "even when his music sends shivers of indifference up your spine. Inspired by a New York Times article about a gathering of former Ziegfeld Girls, they decided upon a story about ex-showgirls. Kelli Rabke sings "Broadway Baby" from Follies at 54 Below 54 Below 25K subscribers Subscribe 0 Share No views 1 minute ago #SondheimUnplugged #54below We're Still Here! and sleek. Ms. PETERS: Well, it depends how what their makeup is. It could be. Resplendent in top hat and tails, Ben begins to offer his devil-may-care philosophy ("Live, Laugh, Love"), but stumbles and anxiously calls to the conductor for the lyrics, as he frantically tries to keep going. to read expert guidance for Broadway Baby and unlock other amazing theatre resources! Broadway impresario Dimitri Weismann arranges a reunion of the actors, singers, dancers, and personalities who peopled his famous Follies in the years between the World Wars, as a farewell tribute to the doomed building. Broadway Baby - Daisy Eagan - Follies - YouTube It was Prince who changed the title to Follies; he was "intrigued by the psychology of a reunion of old chorus dancers and loved the play on the word 'follies'".[2]. Songs cut before the Broadway premiere include "All Things Bright and Beautiful" (used in the prologue), "Can That Boy Foxtrot! Follies set, a fabulous wedding cake reaching for the stars, an The musical numbers "Ah, but Underneath" (replacing "The Story of Lucy and Jessie"), "Country House", "Make the Most of Your Music" (replacing "Live, Laugh, Love"), "Social Dancing" and a new version of "Loveland" have been incorporated into various productions. the giddy hopefuls of 1940. Heidi Schiller, joined by her younger counterpart, performs "One More Kiss", her aged voice a stark contrast to the sparkling coloratura of her younger self. I dare you not to fall in love with Betty Garrett's understated "Broadway Baby" you just want to pick her up and hug her. The principal cast included Kim Crosby (Sally), Leslie Denniston (Phyllis), Jeff McCarthy (Ben), Lara Teeter (Buddy), Joy Franz (Solange), Marni Nixon (Heidi), and Donna McKechnie (Carlotta). [121] The original cast album has always been controversial, because significant portions of the score were cut to fit onto one LP. Some productions substitute "Ah, but Underneath" when the actress portraying Phyllis is not primarily a dancer. [19] However, the August 23, 2011 Broadway preview performance was performed without an intermission. [48], Follies was voted ninth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the UK's "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals". ), Sondheim Unplugged features some of Broadway and cabarets most dynamic voices accompanied by piano only.Kelli Rabke is best known as Eponine in Les Miserables and the original Narrator in Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat.For more videos from 54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, subscribe here https://54Below.org/YouTubeView upcoming shows and purchase tickets on our website https://54Below.org/calendarFollow us on social media!Facebook https://54Below.org/FacebookInstagram https://54Below.org/InstagramTwitter https://54Below.org/TwitterTikTok https://54Below.org/TikTok He predicted that the show eventually would achieve recognition as a Broadway classic. [82] Also featured were Rosalind Elias as Heidi, Rgine as Solange, Susan Watson as Emily, and Terri White as Stella. The exceptions are the title song, from Follies, which she sang memorably at the 1984 Tony Awards show, and "Bobo's" from The Act. Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal noted that "One of the signal achievements of this Follies is that it succeeds in untangling each and every strand of the show's knotty plot Mr. Schaeffer is clearly unafraid of the darkness of Follies, so much so that the first act is bitter enough to sting. From Porn Stars to Shakespeare: David West Read Has Had a Wild Broadway A London revival was performed in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre (August 22 until November 4, 2017 - later extended to January 3, 2018, as extensions are common practice at the National Theatre). Phyllis Newman and Liliane Montevecchi reprised the roles they played in the Lincoln Center production. The theatermania.com reviewer wrote that "The result is an album that, more so than any of the other existing recordings, allows listeners to re-experience the heartbreaking collision of past and present that's at the core of the piece. Arlington, VA, Camp Director at Traveling Players Ensemble Variety singer and performer Joan Savage sang "Broadway Baby". She made her Broadway debut in 1967 in "How Now, Dow Jones" and went on to play roles in "Promises, Promises" and "Applause." As Stella leads the 1940 These plans also did not work out,[3] and finally Harold Prince, who had worked previously with Sondheim, became the producer and director. Solange proves she is still fashionable at what she claims is 66 ("Ah, Paris! Ted Chapin[who?] Follies review - a stupendous Sondheim revival - The Guardian Follies is a blend of both, and the new production is rounded out with production numbers celebrating love's simple hope for young lovers, its extravagant fantasies for Ziegfeld aficionados, and its fresh lesson for the graying principals. "Who's That Woman?" - Stella and Company. New York, the eponymous Dimitri Weismann has gathered together EMILY WHITMAN - The female half of a cheerful song and dance team. Stephen Sondheim | "Broadway Baby" - The New York Times [73] Tom Bosley originally was cast as Dimitri Weismann. Sally tells Ben how her days have been spent with Buddy, trying to convince him (and herself) ("In Buddy's Eyes"). Story of Lucy and Jessie (Lucy being Phyllis and Jessie being Chapin relates that "there was one song that Dick Jones [producer of the cast album] didn't want to include on the album but which Steve Sondheim most definitely did. Girl and he has, sort of. Afterwards, though, Buddy's The-God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me-Blues begin YOUNG HEIDI - The celebrated soprano in her heyday. Ben denies this, but still wants Phyllis out of his life. Young Phyllis, Ben, Sally and Buddy taunt their disillusioned Phyllis, having successfully seduced Kevin, one of the waiters, Follies has had 20 productions including Broadway which opened in 1971, Broadway which opened in 1971, US Tour which opened in 1972, Off . Sondheim. Linden, Duke, Carr, Bosley Do Sondheim in L.A. June 15-23", "Evita's Bob Gunton Replaces Hal Linden as Ben in L.A. 'Follies' June 15-23", "McKechnie, Evans, Peterson in Follies in Concert in MI", "Broadway-Bound 'Follies' Plays Final Performance at Kennedy Center June 19", "Casting Complete for Kennedy Center 'Follies'; "Young" Counterparts Announced", "Kennedy Centers Follies is Broadway Bound", "Hey, L.A., We're Coming Your Way: 'Follies' Ends Broadway Run Jan. 22", "The Right Girls: Kennedy Center Follies, With Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Elaine Paige, Begins Broadway Previews", "Two-Disc 'Follies' Revival Recording Is Big Seller", "Theater Review. She then tells Ben that their marriage can't continue the way it has been. Young Daisy Eagan sings "Broadway Baby" from Sondheim's "Follies."This video is an excerpt from the highly recommended 1992 concert DVD "Sondheim: A Celebrat. we have to face reality: all we can hope for is One More Kiss - Former Weismann performers at the reunion include Max and Stella Deems, who lost their radio jobs and became store owners in Miami; Solange La Fitte, a coquette, who is vibrant and flirtatious even at 66; Hattie Walker, who has outlived five younger husbands; Vincent and Vanessa, former dancers who now own an Arthur Murray franchise; Heidi Schiller, for whom Franz Lehr once wrote a waltz ("or was it Oscar Straus?" Follies - Wikipedia "), as they are mirrored by their younger selves. The resulting album was more complete than the original cast album. the bitterness that has, until now, been more or less repressed. [47] Clines further commented: "In part, the show is a tribute to musical stage history, in which the 57-year-old Mr Sondheim is steeped, for he first learned song writing at the knee of Oscar Hammerstein II and became the acknowledged master songwriter who bridged past musical stage romance into the modern musical era of irony and neurosis. As more guests arrive, Sally's husband, Buddy, enters. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Ms. PETERS: And then I got the call when I was I was performing at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, James Lapine called me to say he wrote this new show with Stephen Sondheim and it's to play an artist model. According to Variety, the production was a "total financial failure, with a cumulative loss of $792,000. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. This page was last edited on 24 April 2023, at 21:33. Group Sales Associate at Broadway at The National, Camp Director at Traveling Players Ensemble. of Ah, Paree! The Who. I hadn't read the script until about a year ago. [42], The musical played in the West End at the Shaftesbury Theatre on July 21, 1987, and closed on February 4, 1989, after 644 performances. She accuses him of having affairs while he is on the road, and he admits he has a steady girlfriend, Margie, in another town, but always returns home. SIMON: Bernadette Peters stars in "Follies" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. through June 19th. Recent episodes in T Greats The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. [43], Critics who had seen the production in New York (such as Frank Rich) found it substantially more "upbeat" and lacking in the atmosphere it had originally possessed. wife, while poor miserable Sally moans in a smouldering torch number It's quite an interesting beautiful show with some rip-roaring numbers. They find that hard to do. and matronly starlets, veterans of a more innocent age of entertainment, despite the routine of married life. Stephen Sondheim Songs from Musicals Follies the Musical - Broadway Baby Lyrics I'm just a Broadway Baby. [18], Goldman continued to revise the book of the musical right up to his death, which occurred shortly before the 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Washington, DC, Auditons for AMDA (Washington) Facts never interest her; what matters is the song! Produced at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, For the 1985 concert, no one was going. "[122] Book by James Goldman. Join the StageAgent community [92], The 2011 Broadway and Kennedy Center production transferred to the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California, in a limited engagement, from May 3, 2012, through June 9. Clines, Francis X. Like you have Linda Lavin singing "Broadway Baby," and you have Elaine Paige bringing down the house singing "I'm Still Here," and Regine bringing all her history. "[33], Among the reasons the concert was staged was to provide an opportunity to record the entire score. Ben drunkenly propositions Carlotta, with whom he once had a fling, but she has a young lover and coolly turns him down. YOUNG HEIDI - The celebrated soprano in her heyday. "Waiting for the Girls Upstairs" - Ben, Sally, Phyllis and Buddy, Young Ben, Young Sally, Young Phyllis and Young Buddy. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists. (1999 Broadway Revival Cast) Cole Porter, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Michael Berresse & Amy Spanger. Emily and Theodore Whitman, ex-vaudevillians in their seventies, perform an old routine ("The Rain on the Roof"). "[17], "Loveland", the final musical sequence, (that "consumed the last half-hour of the original" production[18]) is akin to an imaginary 1941 Ziegfeld Follies sequence, with Sally, Phyllis, Ben and Buddy performing "like comics and torch singers from a Broadway of yore. For Sally and Buddy, Phyllis and Ben, Upgrade to PRO "[11], Joanne Gordon, author and chair and artistic director, Theatre, at California State University, Long Beach,[12][13] wrote "Follies is in part an affectionate look at the American musical theatre between the two World Wars and provides Sondheim with an opportunity to use the traditional conventions of the genre to reveal the hollowness and falsity of his characters' dreams and illusions. Bernadette Peters, who's stopped more shows on Broadway than the stagehands union, joins us in our studios. Hard-hitting drama about a man who discovers that he has fathered a child only when he is approached by a child support agency. Olivier Winner Philip Quast on Why - Broadway.com The production was directed by Eric Schaeffer, with choreography by Warren Carlyle, costumes by Gregg Barnes, set by Derek McLane and lighting by Natasha Katz. Follies on Broadway (Revival 2001) - Musicals101 Oh, you do? [49], Michigan Opera Theatre (MOT) was the first major American opera company to present Follies as part of their main stage repertoire, running from October 21, 1988, through November 6. by Stephen That new jukebox musical is the new Broadway smash & Juliet. [93][94] Other new cast members included Carol Neblett as Heidi, Sammy Williams as Theodore and Obba Babatunde as Max. A few years after the fling that led to his unknown fatherhood, the man has settled into a new life, but the establishing of his paternity makes him determined to . STELLA DEEMS - Another veteran of the final Follies. Radiantly optimistic and more than a little sexy, they turned "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" into one of the highlights of the evening. Carlotta amuses a throng of admirers with a tale of how her dramatic solo was cut from the Follies because the audience found it humorous, transforming it as she sings it into an anthem-like toast to her own hard-won survival ("I'm Still Here"). Read is the book writer, writing a new ending to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, alongside a score comprising the pop music of Grammy . On the drab stage Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Follies (Musical) Songs | StageAgent They've come a long way from those Songs. Dolores Gray was praised as Carlotta, continuing to perform after breaking her ankle, although in a reduced version of the part. The song was "One More Kiss", and the compromise was that if there was time, it would be recorded, even if Jones couldn't promise it would end up on the album. Follies premiered on Broadway on April 4, 1971, at the Winter Garden Theatre. Buddy warns Phyllis that Sally is still in love with Ben, and she is shaken by how the past threatens to repeat itself. is a 1917 American silent comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger and starring Gloria Swanson. with Live, Love, Laugh, singing of how clever and adept Ms. PETERS: Oh, definitely, because I was really a kid. )"[36][37], The musical was produced at The Muny, St. Louis, Missouri in July 1972 and then transferred to the Shubert Theatre, Century City, California, running from July 22, 1972, through October 1, 1972. but In Buddy's Eyes, she knows, she's still his princess. Sondheim "did not think the London script was as good as the original." He feigns a lack of interest; there is an underlying tension in their relationship. Rich, in his review, noted that "As performed at Avery Fisher Hall, the score emerged as an original whole, in which the 'modern' music and mock vintage tunes constantly comment on each other, much as the script's action unfolds simultaneously in 1971 (the year of the reunion) and 1941 (the year the Follies disbanded). Regine & Terrence Currier Will Not Transfer to Broadway with Kennedy The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the Ziegfeld Follies). is by now wondering Could I Leave You and live without Ben, [38] The production was the premiere attraction at the newly constructed 1,800-seat theater, which, coincidentally, was itself razed thirty years later (in 2002, in order to build a new office building), thus mirroring the Follies plot line upon which the musical is based.
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