The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
SONDHEIM’S ‘FOLLIES’
Musical captures lost American innocence in post-Kennedy-years
Torrington » Considered by many to be the greatest musical ever created, “Follies” will be presented by the Warner Stage Company on the Warner Main Stage May 6-14.
Surreal, sophisticated, compelling, heart wrenching and epic in scope, Follies by musical theatre legend, Stephen Sondheim, and author, James Goldman, uses the musical theatre as a metaphor for the collapse of American innocence and naiveté in the post-Kennedy years.
The time is 1971, and theatrical impresario Dimitri Weissmann hosts a reunion of ex-Follies performers in his crumbling theatre, setting the stage for a parade of brilliant pastiche numbers, including “Losing My Mind,” “I’m Still Here,” and “Broadway Baby.”
Amid the reminiscing, two middle-aged couples confront some unpleasant truths about their past and present, and come face to face with the future.
On www.sondheim.com, a description of the story explains: 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-show-girls 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.
The Warner Stage Company’s production is directed by Michael Berkeley with music director Willard C. Minton and choreographer Donna Bonasera. Performances are May 6, 12 and 13 at 8 p.m., and May 7 and 14 at 2 p.m.
To purchase tickets, call the Warner Box Office at 860-4897180 or visit warnertheatre.org.