Follies is based at a reunion of all the old Weismann Girls 30 years on from their heyday, before the theatre they used to perform in is demolished. The core plot revolves around two couples, an all glitz, all glam couple living in New York-Phyllis and Ben, and their friends from their Weismann days- Buddy and Sally from Phoenix. Tensions arise when we discover that Sally is still deeply in love with Ben. The musical twists and turns through the complicated relationships between the four characters, culminating in a "performance" of the follies of each of the four.
The story of the four is interlaced with snippets of their youth from which we discover much more about them and their relationships. Throughout the whole musical their young counterparts (played by Zizi Strallen, Adam Rhys-Charles, Alex Young and Fred Haig) watch their older selves. In fact the whole musical seems to be haunted by the past, with the old Weismannn Girls constantly being shadowed by their younger selves - glamourous young ladies in beautiful sparkly outfits adorned with magnificent ostrich feathers. |
The music is of course absolutely fantastic as Sondheim can only be. The lyrics are so clever and the orchestration with the band wonderful - it never ceases to impress.
The cast is just superb, with everybody delivering faultless performances. Imelda Staunton is perfection as Sally, giggly and nervous at the beginning and so visibly broken at the end. Janie Dee is hilarious as Phyllis whilst being deeply genuine . She is amazing -extraordinarily agile and breathes so much life into the songs. Philip Quast is super as Ben, and sings beautifully. He depicts the collapse of Ben so well, in one stomach-churning moment I thought it was the actor crumbling on stage rather than his character. |
Tracie Bennett delivers a stunning performance of 'I'm Still Here' and Di Botcher was hilarious as Hattie Walker, especially during her song 'Broadway Baby'. I adored the singing-dancing duet 'Rain On The Roof' performed by Billy Boyle and Norma Atallah, and Josephine Barstow together with Alison Langer delivered a spine-tingling rendition of 'One More Kiss'
There was absolutely nothing not to love about this production. The music was fabulous, the story interesting, the cast sheer perfection, the costumes and set magnificent.
If you can find a ticket, I insist that you go and see this. If you cant get seats to see it in the theatre, Follies is being broadcast by NT Live to cinemas in the UK and internationally on Thursday 16 November. This show is a must see!
If you can find a ticket, I insist that you go and see this. If you cant get seats to see it in the theatre, Follies is being broadcast by NT Live to cinemas in the UK and internationally on Thursday 16 November. This show is a must see!