Follies

"Follies" at the Marquis Theatre, September 8, 2011

Stephen Sondheim's 1972 musical returns to Broadway via the Kennedy Center transfer from a successful run this summer. 

It's got star power with Bernadette Peters and Jan Maxwell as Sally and Phyllis, respectively.  There's some depth in the cast as well, with Danny Burstein, Jayne Houdyshell and featuring Elaine Paige as Carlotta.

Director Eric Shaeffer creates an aptly dark mood with a ghostly chorus line of deco-clad follies girls haunting the stage, already in motion as the house opens pre-show.  His sound designer carried it a bit too far, employing effects from Disney's Haunted Mansion before the show begins.  Derek McLane's sets also straddle the line of success.  The crumbling proscenium and brick-walled set, with iron catwalks and stairs evoke nicely, but draping the entire theatre in dirty oil cloth pushes too far.

Follies: A Review

I was a lucky SOB and scored a preview performance ticket to the current revival of Follies that is playing at the Marriot Marquis Theater on Broadway.

For those of you who don't know, Follies is one of those shows within the musical theater world that is so fraught with expectation, dogma and preconceived notions that mounting a production is not something for the faint of heart. I did not see the original and legendary production from the 70's, which many hold up as the holy grail of versions, but I saw the much reviled Roundabout revival and enjoyed it. Obviously I'm not a purist so bear that in mind.

A Little Night Music 2.0 - A Review

Posted by David
I recently had the pleasure to attend a performance of the current revival of Stephen (can we just canonize him and be done with it?) Sondheim's musical A Little Night Music, performing at the Walter Kerr Theater.  The production originally opened starring Catherine Zeta-Jones along with Angela Lansbury.  These two leading ladies have left the production and their roles are now being assayed by Broadway veterans Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch, respectively.

I did not see the production with original cast of Zeta-Jones and Lansbury, so I cannot compare the current incarnation to the previous, and perhaps that is for the best as I would have hated to have that little comparative voice whispering in my head throughout the performance and spoiling my fun.