Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a story written by James Goldman. The story takes place in an old and falling apart Broadway theater that is planned to be torn down. This theater once hosted a musical revue inspired by the real-life Ziegfeld Follies. The story follows a reunion of the Weismann Girls, who were performers during the time between World War I and World War II. Many of the former performers sing songs they used to perform, often with the spirits of their younger selves. The music mixes styles from the 1920s and 1930s, creating a feeling of longing for the past.

The original Broadway production was directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett, and choreographed by Bennett. It opened on April 4, 1971. The musical was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won seven at the 26th Tony Awards. It was one of the most expensive productions on Broadway and lasted more than 500 shows, but it ended up losing all the money invested. The musical has been revived many times, and several of its songs have become famous, including "Broadway Baby," "I'm Still Here," "Too Many Mornings," "Could I Leave You?" and "Losing My Mind."

Background

After the musical Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) did not succeed, Stephen Sondheim, who had written the lyrics for Richard Rodgers’s music, decided to work only on projects where he could write both the music and lyrics himself. He asked James Goldman, an author and playwright, to join him as the bookwriter for a new musical. Inspired by a New York Times article about a gathering of former Ziegfeld Girls, they created a story about former showgirls.

The musical was originally called The Girls Upstairs and was planned to be produced by David Merrick and Leland Hayward in late 1967. However, these plans did not happen. Stuart Ostrow became the producer, and Joseph Hardy became the director, but these plans also failed. Finally, Harold Prince, who had previously worked with Sondheim, became the producer and director. Prince agreed to work on The Girls Upstairs if Sondheim agreed to work on Company. Michael Bennett, the young choreographer of Company, was also added to the project. Prince changed the title to Follies because he was "interested in the psychology of a reunion of old chorus dancers and liked the wordplay in 'follies.'"

Plot

In 1971, a reunion is held at the Weismann Theatre, which is about to be torn down. The event honors the past shows of Weismann's Follies and the chorus girls who performed there during the two world wars. The once grand theater is now mostly broken planks and scaffolding ("Prologue"/"Overture"). As the ghosts of young showgirls slowly move through the theater, a manager enters with his group of waiters and waitresses. They walk past the ghosts without seeing them.

Sally Durant Plummer, a woman who was once a Weismann performer, is the first guest to arrive. She is blond, small, and sweet-faced, and at 49, she still looks very much like the girl she was thirty years ago. Phyllis Rogers Stone, a stylish woman, arrives with her husband, Ben, who is a well-known helper of others and a politician. As their younger selves appear, Phyllis talks to Ben about their past. Ben acts uninterested, and there is tension between them. More guests arrive, including Sally’s husband, Buddy, a salesman in his early 50s who is friendly but hides sadness.

Weismann, the theater’s owner, arrives to greet the guests. Roscoe, the old host, introduces the former showgirls ("Beautiful Girls"). The reunion includes Max and Stella Deems, who lost their radio jobs and now own a store in Miami; Solange La Fitte, a flirtatious woman who is still lively at 66; Hattie Walker, who outlived five husbands; Vincent and Vanessa, former dancers who now run an Arthur Murray dance school; Heidi Schiller, for whom a composer once wrote a waltz; and Carlotta Campion, a film star who has lived through many experiences.

As the guests remember the past, stories about Ben, Phyllis, Buddy, and Sally are shared. Phyllis and Sally were roommates in the Follies, and Ben and Buddy were close friends in school. When Sally sees Ben, her former love, she greets him nervously ("Don't Look at Me"). Buddy and Phyllis join their spouses, and the four reminisce about their past love and theater days, their memories brought to life by the ghosts of their younger selves ("Waiting For The Girls Upstairs"). Each person is surprised by how much their lives have changed.

Elsewhere, Willy Wheeler, a heavyset man in his 60s, does a cartwheel for a photographer. Emily and Theodore Whitman, former performers in their 70s, act out an old routine ("The Rain on the Roof"). Solange shows she is still fashionable at what she says is 66 ("Ah, Paris!"), and Hattie Walker performs her old showstopping number ("Broadway Baby").

Buddy warns Phyllis that Sally still loves Ben, and she is shaken by how the past might return. Sally is amazed by Ben’s life, but Ben questions if he made the right choices ("The Road You Didn't Take"). Sally tells Ben how she has spent her time with Buddy, trying to believe she is happy ("In Buddy's Eyes"). However, it is clear Sally still loves Ben, even though their relationship ended when Ben married Phyllis. She dances with Ben, who is moved by the memory of the Sally he once ignored.

Phyllis interrupts this moment and argues with Sally. Before they can talk more, they are asked to perform an old number ("Who's That Woman?"), with their younger selves joining them. Later, Phyllis and Ben argue about their empty and emotionless marriage. Sally is unhappy with Buddy, who claims he has a girlfriend but always returns home. Carlotta tells a story about how her dramatic solo was cut from the Follies because the audience found it funny, and she turns it into a song about her survival ("I'm Still Here").

Ben tells Sally that his life feels empty. She wants him to hold her, but young Sally appears between them, and the three move together ("Too Many Mornings"). Ben kisses Sally as Buddy watches from the shadows. Sally believes this means Ben will marry her, but Ben is about to refuse when Sally kisses him and runs to get her things, thinking they will leave together. Buddy leaves angry, imagining he should have married Margie, who loves him but whom he does not return feelings for ("The Right Girl"). He tells Sally he is done, but she is lost in fantasy and claims Ben asked her to marry him. Buddy says she must be crazy or drunk, but he has already supported her through rehab and hospitals. Ben drunkenly asks Carlotta, with whom he had a past fling, to marry him, but she declines. Heidi Schiller performs "One More Kiss," her older voice contrasting with her younger self’s bright singing. Phyllis kisses a waiter and admits she always wanted a son. She tells Ben their marriage cannot continue. Ben says he wants a divorce, and Phyllis assumes it is because of Sally. Ben denies this but still wants Phyllis gone. Hurt, Phyllis considers whether to agree ("Could I Leave You?").

Phyllis wonders about her younger self, who worked hard to become the socialite Ben needed. Ben yells at his younger self for not valuing Phyllis’s efforts. Both Buddys confront the Bens about taking Sally. Sally and her younger self arrive, and Ben tells Sally he never loved her. All the voices shout at each other. Suddenly, the theater transforms into a magical place called "Loveland," where lovers are always young and beautiful, and everyone lives for love. Sally, Phyllis, Ben, and Buddy show their true emotions in a chaotic scene.

The story continues with musical numbers exploring the characters’ desires. The younger couples sing about their hopes for the future ("You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through"). Buddy performs a lively routine about being torn between his love for Sally and Margie’s love for him ("The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues"). Sally sings of her love for Ben ("Losing My Mind"). Phyllis dances about her two sides—naive and passionate, or jaded and sophisticated ("The Story of Lucy and Jessie"). Ben performs a song about living freely ("Live, Laugh, Love"), but stumbles.

Songs

Songs that were not included in the Broadway premiere are "All Things Bright and Beautiful" (used in the prologue), "Can That Boy Foxtrot!", "Who Could Be Blue?" / "Little White House", "It Wasn't Meant to Happen", "Pleasant Little Kingdom", "That Old Piano Roll Rag", "The World's Full of Girls", "Bring On The Girls", and "Uptown Downtown".

The list of songs originally performed on Broadway in 1971 includes:

• "Prologue" – Orchestra
• "Overture" – Orchestra
• "Beautiful Girls" – Roscoe and Company
• "Don't Look at Me" – Sally and Ben
• "Waiting for the Girls Upstairs" – Ben, Sally, Phyllis and Buddy, Young Ben, Young Sally, Young Phyllis and Young Buddy
• "Montage" ("Rain on the Roof"/"Ah, Paris!"/"Broadway Baby [it]") – Emily, Theodore, Solange, and Hattie
• "The Road You Didn't Take" – Ben
• "Bolero d'Amour" – Danced by Vincent and Vanessa ≠≠
• "In Buddy's Eyes" – Sally
• "Who's That Woman?" – Stella and Company
• "I'm Still Here" – Carlotta
• "Too Many Mornings" – Ben and Sally
• "The Right Girl" – Buddy
• "One More Kiss" – Heidi and Young Heidi
• "Could I Leave You?" – Phyllis
• "Loveland" – Company
• "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" / "Love Will See Us Through" – Young Ben, Young Sally, Young Phyllis and Young Buddy
• "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" – Buddy, "Margie", "Sally"
• "Losing My Mind" – Sally
• "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" – Phyllis and backup male dancers ≠
• "Live, Laugh, Love" – Ben and Company
• "Chaos" – Ben and Company
• "Finale" – Young Buddy and Young Ben

≠ Some shows use "Ah, but Underneath" instead of "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" when the actress playing Phyllis is not a primary dancer. ≠≠ Some shows do not include "Bolero d'Amour".

Other songs that have been used in different productions include "Ah, but Underneath" (replacing "The Story of Lucy and Jessie"), "Country House" (replacing "The Road You Didn't Take"), "Make the Most of Your Music" (replacing "Live, Laugh, Love"), "Social Dancing", and an alternate version of "Loveland".

Analysis

Hal Prince said: "Follies looks closely at obsessive behavior, nervousness, and self-indulgence more than anything I know of." Bernadette Peters shared a quote from Sondheim about the character "Sally": "He said early on that [Sally] is very unbalanced. He believes she is very nervous, and she is very nervous, so he told me, 'Congratulations. She's crazy.' " Martin Gottfried wrote: "The idea behind Follies is about remembering the past in theatre. It shows how people look back at old times with a happy but unrealistic view when facing aging. The show is imagined as ghostly. At the beginning, ghosts of Follies showgirls walk across the stage, appearing like large, mythical figures in colorful, feathered costumes. Similarly, ghosts of shows from the 1920s appear during the performance as characters try to relive their youth by repeating old performances and saying sentimental lines from the past."

Joanne Gordon, an author and leader in theatre at California State University, Long Beach, wrote: "Follies partly looks back at American musical theatre between the two World Wars. This gives Sondheim a chance to use traditional musical styles to show how empty and false the characters' dreams and illusions are. The happiness from the reunion of the Follies girls eventually turns into anger, disappointment, and tired acceptance of reality." Follies has two types of music: songs that copy older musical styles and songs that are part of the story. Some of these copied songs imitate the style of composers from the early 20th century: "Losing My Mind" is like a George Gershwin ballad called "The Man I Love." Sondheim said the song "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" is "another example of copying old styles: music used for comedy scenes and low-energy performances, but with a clever, sarcastic lyric. I tried to make it sound like the witty, knowing style of Lorenz Hart or Frank Loesser."

"Loveland," the final musical scene (which took up the last half of the original production), is similar to an imaginary 1941 Ziegfeld Follies performance. In this scene, Sally, Phyllis, Ben, and Buddy act like comedians and singers from older Broadway shows. "Loveland" includes a series of comedy-style songs that show the main characters' emotional struggles before returning to the theatre for the end of the reunion party. The four characters are "taken into a dream show where each acts out their own main 'folly.'"

Versions

Goldman kept making changes to the story of the musical until he died, which happened just before the 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production. Sondheim also added and removed songs that he thought were not working well in different shows. Ted Chapin, who helped with the original 1971 production and wrote a book about the process in 2003, explained: "Today, Follies is rarely performed in the exact same way twice." James Goldman's wife noted that the show has changed throughout its history. The London production included new songs and dialogue. The Paper Mill Playhouse production used some ideas from London but stayed close to the original. The 2001 Roundabout Broadway revival, the first major show after Goldman's death in 1998, combined elements from earlier versions.

Major changes were made for the original London production, which tried to create a lighter tone and a happier ending than the original Broadway version. Joanne Gordon said, "When Follies opened in London, it had a completely different and much more hopeful tone. Goldman's revised story had some small improvements over the original."

Sondheim said that producer Cameron Mackintosh asked for changes for the 1987 London production. "I was not happy but agreed, except for his request to remove 'The Road You Didn't Take,' which I refused. I believed we could try new things, knowing we could go back to the original if needed. The result was four new songs. For reasons I no longer remember, I rewrote 'Loveland' for the London version. This version had only four showgirls, and each carried a shepherd's crook with a letter of the alphabet on it."

The musical was originally written in one act. The original director, Prince, did not want a break between acts, while co-director Bennett wanted two acts. The show was first performed in one act. The 1987 West End, 2005 Barrington Stage Company, 2001 Broadway revival, and 2011 Kennedy Center productions were performed in two acts. However, the August 23, 2011 Broadway preview was performed without a break. By the time the 2011 Broadway revival opened, it included a break and was in two acts. The 2017 National Theatre production was performed without a break and mostly returned to the 1971 version of the story. As with earlier shows, the book for this production was unique to this version.

Productions

Follies had its pre-Broadway test run at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, beginning previews on February 20, 1971, and running from February 24 through March 20, 1971. The musical premiered on Broadway on April 4, 1971, at the Winter Garden Theatre. Harold Prince and Michael Bennett directed the show, with Bennett also handling the choreography. Boris Aronson designed the scenery, Florence Klotz created the costumes, and Tharon Musser handled the lighting. The original cast included Alexis Smith as Phyllis, John McMartin as Ben, Dorothy Collins as Sally, Gene Nelson as Buddy, and other experienced performers. Yvonne De Carlo played the role of Carlotta, a part usually performed by a well-known veteran singer. Other notable performers in the original production were Fifi D'Orsay as Solange LaFitte, Justine Johnston as Heidi Schiller, Mary McCarty as Stella Deems, Arnold Moss as Dimitri Weismann, Ethel Shutta as Hattie Walker, and Marcie Stringer and Charles Welch as Emily and Theodore Whitman.

The show closed on July 1, 1972, after 522 performances and 12 previews. According to Variety, the production was a financial failure, losing $792,000 in total. Harold Prince planned to stage the musical on the West Coast and on a national tour, but the show did not succeed in Los Angeles, and the tour plans were canceled.

Frank Rich, a longtime drama critic for The New York Times, first gained attention while a student at Harvard University with an essay about Follies published in the Harvard Crimson. He saw the show during its pre-Broadway run in Boston and predicted it would eventually be recognized as a Broadway classic. He later wrote that audiences at the original production were confused and restless.

For commercial reasons, the cast album was reduced from two LPs to one early in production. Most songs were shortened, and some were not recorded at all. Craig Zadan said that Prince made a mistake by giving the recording rights to Capitol Records, which condensed some songs and omitted others to fit the long score onto one disc. Chapin confirmed this, noting that Capitol Records refused to use two records, so cuts were made throughout the score. The song "One More Kiss" was not included in the original album but was later added to the CD reissue.

The musical was produced at The Muny in St. Louis, Missouri, in July 1972, and later moved to the Shubert Theatre in Century City, California, running from July 22 through October 1, 1972. Prince directed the production, and the original cast members, including Dorothy Collins, Alexis Smith, John McMartin, Gene Nelson, and Yvonne De Carlo, reprised their roles. The Shubert Theatre was the main attraction at the newly built 1,800-seat venue, which was later demolished in 2002 to build an office building, mirroring the story of Follies.

The first fully staged Australian production of Follies opened on September 7, 1979, at the Camberwell Civic Theatre in Melbourne. The Festival Theatre Company produced the show with Stephen Sondheim's permission. The cast included Marie-Therese Byrne as Sally Durant Plummer, Eric Donnison as Benjamin Stone, Bev McKern as Phyllis Rogers Stone, Barry Quin as Buddy Plummer, Val Lehman as Carlotta Campion, and others. Rex Callahan directed the production, and Jean McQuarrie led the 22-piece orchestra.

A second Australian production by CLOC Musical Theatre ran from October 17 through November 1, 1986, at the Alexander Theatre in Monash University, Clayton. The cast included Fay Brown as Sally Durant Plummer, Clive Hearne as Benjamin Stone, Bev McKern as Phyllis Rogers Stone, and others. David Wilson directed the production, and Kirk Skinner led the 29-piece orchestra.

A full production of Follies was staged at the Forum Theatre in Wythenshawe, England, from April 30, 1985. Howard Lloyd-Lewis directed the show, with design by Chris Kinman, costumes by Charles Cusick-Smith, lighting by Tim Wratten, and musical direction by Simon Lowe. The cast included Mary Millar as Sally Durant Plummer, Liz Izen as Young Sally, and many other performers.

A staged concert of Follies was performed at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, on September 6 and 7, 1985. The concert featured Barbara Cook as Sally, George Hearn as Ben, Mandy Patinkin as Buddy, and Lee Remick as Phyllis. Carol Burnett, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and others also performed. The concert was staged to record the complete score, which was more complete than the original cast album. However, director Herbert Ross made some changes to the book and score for the concert format.

The musical played in the West End at the Shaftesbury Theatre from July 21, 1987, to February 4, 1989, after 644 performances. Cameron Mackintosh produced the show, and Mike Ockrent directed it.

Casts and characters

The characters and original cast members:

• Sally Durant Plummer: Jan Clayton (s/b), Ethel Barrymore Colt (u/s)
• Benjamin Stone: Peter Walker (u/s)
• Phyllis Rogers Stone: Marion Marlowe (s/b)
• Buddy Plummer: Dick Latessa (u/s)
• Young Phyllis Rogers: Suzanne Rogers (u/s)
• Carlotta Campion: Marion Marlowe (s/b)
• Stella Deems: Helon Blount (u/s)
• Heidi Schiller: Ethel Barrymore Colt (u/s)
• Hattie Walker: Helon Blount (u/s)

• Buddy Plummer: Don Correia (s/b)
• Young Sally Durant: Kelli O'Hara (u/s)
• Young Phyllis Rogers: Kelli O'Hara
• Carlotta Campion: Joan Marshall (u/s)
• Stella Deems: Joan Marshall (u/s)
• Heidi Schiller: Marni Nixon, Joan Marshall (u/s)
• Hattie Walker: Joan Marshall (u/s)

• Buddy Plummer: Don Correia (u/s)

Critical response

In the foreword to Everything Was Possible, Frank Rich wrote: "From the start, critics have been divided about Follies, strongly liking or disliking it but rarely being neutral. Is it really a great musical, or just the best among cult musicals?" (Chapin, p. xi) Ted Chapin wrote, "Taken as a whole, the collection of reviews Follies received was very different from one another." (Chapin, p. 300) In his New York Times review of the original Broadway production, Clive Barnes wrote: "It is stylish, innovative, and has some of the best lyrics I have ever encountered. Above all, it is a serious effort to deal with the musical form." Barnes also called the story shallow and Sondheim's words a joy "even when his music sends shivers of indifference up your spine."

Walter Kerr wrote in The New York Times about the original production: "Follies is without a break and very tiring, an extravagant show that becomes so tedious because its grand displays have nothing to do with its simple story." On the other hand, Martin Gottfried wrote: "Follies is truly awesome and, if it is not consistently good, it is always great."

Time magazine wrote about the original Broadway production: "At its worst moments, Follies is overly formal and trying too hard to be important. At its best moments—and there are many—it is the most imaginative and original new musical that Broadway has seen in years."

Frank Rich, in reviewing the 1985 concert in The New York Times, wrote: "Friday's performance made the case that this Broadway musical… can be considered one of the best in musical theater history." Ben Brantley, reviewing the 1998 Paper Mill Playhouse production in The New York Times, concluded that it was a "well done and full of emotion production, which confirms Follies as a landmark musical and a work of art…"

The Time reviewer wrote of the 2001 Broadway revival: "Even in its smaller version, Follies has, no question, the best score on Broadway." He noted, though, that "I'm sorry the cast was reduced from 52 to 38, the orchestra from 26 players to 14… To appreciate the revival, you must accept James Goldman's book, which presents a very bleak view of marriage." Finally, he wrote: "But Follies never mocks the honorable musical tradition to which it belongs. The show and the score have a double vision: looking closely at the mistakes people make in their lives and being amazed by the beauty and power of the music they want to hear. Sondheim's songs are not jokes or breakdowns of musical styles; they are expressions that recognize the strength of a love song. In 1971 or 2001, Follies proves the idea that a Broadway show can be an event worth dressing up for."

Brantley, reviewing the 2007 Encores! concert for The New York Times, wrote: "I have never felt the beautiful sadness of Follies as clearly as I did watching the emotionally clear concert production… At almost any moment, to look at the faces of any of the main performers… is to see people both captivated and hurt by thinking about who they used to be. When they sing, in voices filled with mixed feelings of confusion, anger, and longing, it is clear that they are singing to their past selves."

Recordings

There have been six official recordings of Follies: the original 1971 Broadway cast album; Follies in Concert at Avery Fisher Hall (1985); the original London production (1987); the Paper Mill Playhouse production (1998); the 2011 Broadway revival; and the 2017 London revival. The original cast album caused debate because large parts of the music were removed to fit onto one LP. Bruce Kimmel, head of Kritzerland Records, wrote in his notes for a remixed version of the album, "What it did have made it something that, despite the frustrations, would never be bettered – the original cast." The cast recording of the 2011 Broadway revival, released by PS Classics on November 29, 2011, was available for pre-sale before its official release. Tommy Krasker, co-founder of PS Classics, said, "We've never had the kind of reaction that we've had for Follies. Not only has it already outsold every other album at our website, but the steady stream of emails from customers has been amazing." This recording includes longer parts of the show's dialogue. A reviewer from theatermania.com wrote, "The result is an album that, more so than any of the other existing recordings, allows listeners to re-experience the sad meeting of past and present that's at the core of the piece." The recording of the 2011 revival was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. The 2017 London revival cast was recorded after the production closed in January 2018 and was released in early 2019.

Film adaptation

In January 2015, it was reported that Rob Marshall agreed to direct the project, and Meryl Streep may have been in the movie. John Logan, who has won a Tony Award for writing plays and has been nominated for an Academy Award for writing screenplays, said he wanted to write the movie version.

In November 2019, it was announced that Dominic Cooke will write the movie script and direct the film. This decision followed the success of a 2017 revival of the play at London’s National Theatre, which returned in 2019 because audiences wanted to see it again.