WISH-LIST WEDNESDAY: Follies

PREMIERED: 1971 (Colonial Theatre, Boston, USA)

MUSIC & LYRICS: Stephen Sondheim

BOOK: James Goldman

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After a brief hiatus, we are back with another edition of "shows I haven't seen but I really want to", and this week I've dipped into my inexhaustible stock to pull out one of Stephen Sondheim's most beloved and successful, though often under-appreciated musicals. Written during the earliest part of his most productive and influential period, and the second of two collaborations with book writer James Goldman, "Follies" is a musical that is based loosely on the titular revues that performed on broadway during the early to mid 20th Century, named for the renowned broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr, one of the earliest and most defining pioneers of modern theatre.

In the musical, the Ziegfeld Follies are used as an elaborate, nostalgic backdrop, focussing on a group of former showgirls reuniting at an old theatre in which they used to perform, which is about to be demolished. They come together for one final night of unbridled revery, during which they drink, reminisce, and regale one another with old numbers they used to perform once upon a time. It is a tribute to that bygone era of lavish, spectacular showmanship that formed the earliest days of broadway as we know it, before the infancy of the silver screen led to the death of Vaudeville, and audiences as a result turned their backs on live theatre en masse, with many broadway theatres being converted into picture houses.

"Follies" at the National Theatre in London

The show premiered in February 1971 at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, before transferring to the Winter Garden Theatre on broadway later that year, and subsequently becoming the undisputed champion of the season, winning 7 Tony Awards from 11 nominations, including for best leading actress for Alexis Smith, for her portray of Phyllis. In spite of its huge success though, it took the musical over 15 years to finally make it over to the west end, in a production that featured Diana Rigg as Phyllis, and Julia McKenzie as Sally. More recently though, the show ran at the National Theatre in 2017, with Imelda Staunton and Janie Dee leading the charge, and both being nominated for Olivier Awards for their performances.

There is never going to be a shortage of audiences for the work of Sondheim, and this is a musical that, perhaps better than many others from the great man's collection, due to its complex themes and characters, and elevated sense of psychological drama, as well as its palpable sense of nostalgia and longing for a bygone era. The show may have performed in London within the last 10 years, however it has been almost two and a half decades since its last west end run, so perhaps its time we once again dug up the past to put on display in all of its glory...

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Have you seen "Follies" in the past? What did you think? Let me know in the comments, or via my Instagram page.