Follies
Book by James Goldman
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
source: MTI
Performances at
Edmund M. Keefe Auditorium
May 5-7, 1995
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Acknowledgments
Ann Sorvari & Acton-Boxborough Regional High School
Paul Salsini & The Sondheim Review
Wayne Philip’s Floral Studio
Richard Rusol
D. Ryan & Sons, Inc.
Diane Brainerd
Ron Dion
Cheryl Duchayne & WERS-Standing Room Only
John Murtagh
Lacey Long
Beth Ann O’Hara & The New Thalian Players of Notre Dame College
George Piehl & Stage One Productions
John McAllister
Dennis Schneider, and our ticket outlets
A Note From the Director
The original concept of “Follies” was inspired by the famous photograph of an elegantly appointed Gloria Swanson standing in the rubble of the demolished Roxy Theatre in New York. The juxtaposition of a remembered youth full of glamour and passion with the disillusionment and disappointment of real life became the theme of “Follies” and presented a forum for Stephen Sondheim to write some of his most haunting and beautiful music.
By setting an elegant reunion of former showgirls in an about-to-be-demolished, decaying theatre, Sondheim and collaborator James Goldman contrast the beauty of faded memories of youth with harsh realities of a life of unfulfilled dreams. Throughout the show, the appearance of ‘ghosts’, the young spirits of the characters, re-emphasize the existence of memories of youth. Thus the central conflict of the show; each character fights to return to a time of idealism, to regain the hope that was lost as they grew older.
The show’s finale, entitled ‘Loveland’, presents the folly of love and how this ideal affects each character as the past and present collide. By realizing the folly of idealism and youth, the characters reconcile the issues of their past which enables them to face the present and the future.
Synopsis of Scenes and Musical Numbers
Setting: A reunion party on the stage of the Weissman Theatre – 1971
Act One
Beautiful Girls Roscoe and Company
Don’t Look at Me Sally and Ben
Waiting for the Girls Upstairs Buddy, Ben, Phyllis, Sally, Young Buddy, Young Ben, Young Phyllis, and Young Sally
Listen to the Rain on the Roof Emily and Theodore Whitman
Ah, Paree Solange LaFitte
Broadway Baby Hattie Walker
The Road You Didn’t Take Ben
Bolero D’Amour Vincent, Vanessa, Young Vincent and Young Vanessa
In Buddy’s Eyes Sally
Who’s That Woman? Stella Deems and the Ladies
I’m Still Here Carlotta Campion
Too Many Mornings Ben and Sally
One More Kiss Heidi Schiller and Young Heidi
Act Two
The Right Girl Buddy
Could I Leave You? Phyllis
SETTING: LOVELAND
The Folly of Love
Loveland Ensemble
The Folly of Youth Scene: Bower in Loveland
You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow Young Ben and Young Phyllis
Love Will See Us Through Young Buddy and Young Sally
Buddy’s Folly Scene: Thoroughfare in Loveland
The God-Why-Don’t-You-Love-Me Blues Buddy and Blues Duo
Sally’s Folly Scene: Boudoir in Loveland
Losing My Mind Sally
Phyllis’s Folly Scene: Honky-Tonk in Loveland
The Story of Lucy and Jessie Phyllis and Male Dance Ensemble
Ben’s Folly Supper Club in Loveland
Live, Laugh, Love Ben and Dance Ensemble
FOLLIES is presented in cooperation with Music Theatre International,
119 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10010
All copyrights reserved
