Follies. A musical by Stephen Sondheim at the City Center Encores!, City Center Theater. Starring Lucine Amara, Christine Baranski, Philip Bosco, Victoria Clark, Yvonne Constant, Victor Garber, Mimi Hines, Michael McGrath, Donna Murphy, Anne Rogers, JoAnne Worley. Conducted by Eric Stern, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw.
You rarely get second chances, especially in the theater, but I was granted this special gift at a Saturday Matinee performance of "Follies" at the New York City Center, courtesy of the great Encores! series. I saw the original "Follies" and being 20 at the time, I'm ashamed to admit, I didn't get it. Not any of it, not the sophisticated music, not the signfiicance of the older stars (I had no idea who Ethel Shutta was) and certainly not the theme of desperate nostalgia and regrets which Sondheim has so potently brewed up in this lookback to the legendary "Ziegfeld Follies." All that's been set straight for me with this brilliant incandescent performance of "Follies." What a great event it is - in my nearly 50 years of theater going, I've never seen so many stars onstage for one work (as opposed to galas), so many Tony winners in one cast! I'd especially single out Victoria Clark who is simply wonderful as Sally, singing magnificently (the music could have been written for her, so perfectly her voice and style suited it), and breaking our hearts. Right alongside is the great Donna Murphy as Phyllis. I've seen most everything this uniquely talented star has done and she has never been better, never looked better. Even her shapely legs have never looked longer! Murphy's deadpan dry delivery, which worked so well as Ruth in "Wonderful Town" is ideal for the character of Phyllis.
The staging by Casey Nicholaw is superb and holds its own even against the memory of the Michael Bennett chorography and the Harold Prince staging. In a question and answer session with Stephen Sondheim himself which took place after the show, someone blurted out the question, will this limited production (its last performance is tonight) find a theater? "Will it be recorded?", another asked. Let us hope so.
"Follies" passed the Bridge and Tunnel test with an A+
You rarely get second chances, especially in the theater, but I was granted this special gift at a Saturday Matinee performance of "Follies" at the New York City Center, courtesy of the great Encores! series. I saw the original "Follies" and being 20 at the time, I'm ashamed to admit, I didn't get it. Not any of it, not the sophisticated music, not the signfiicance of the older stars (I had no idea who Ethel Shutta was) and certainly not the theme of desperate nostalgia and regrets which Sondheim has so potently brewed up in this lookback to the legendary "Ziegfeld Follies." All that's been set straight for me with this brilliant incandescent performance of "Follies." What a great event it is - in my nearly 50 years of theater going, I've never seen so many stars onstage for one work (as opposed to galas), so many Tony winners in one cast! I'd especially single out Victoria Clark who is simply wonderful as Sally, singing magnificently (the music could have been written for her, so perfectly her voice and style suited it), and breaking our hearts. Right alongside is the great Donna Murphy as Phyllis. I've seen most everything this uniquely talented star has done and she has never been better, never looked better. Even her shapely legs have never looked longer! Murphy's deadpan dry delivery, which worked so well as Ruth in "Wonderful Town" is ideal for the character of Phyllis.
The staging by Casey Nicholaw is superb and holds its own even against the memory of the Michael Bennett chorography and the Harold Prince staging. In a question and answer session with Stephen Sondheim himself which took place after the show, someone blurted out the question, will this limited production (its last performance is tonight) find a theater? "Will it be recorded?", another asked. Let us hope so.
"Follies" passed the Bridge and Tunnel test with an A+
posted by James Camner | 10:39 AM
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