FOLLIES

FOLLIES

The National Theatre at the Olivier

05.09.2017

The eagerly awaited NT Follies – latest star-studded revival of Sondheim's 1971 masterwork.

It must be almost 40 years ago that I saw what I think was the UK première – a production by students of the University of Southern California, in the cavernous, faded splendour of the auditorium of Portobello Town Hall.

Dominic Cooke's production, with designs by Vicki Mortimer, uses the depth and height of the Olivier stage to recreate the derelict Weismann Follies, inspired perhaps by the iconic photograph of Gloria Swanson in the ruins of the Roxy Theatre, reproduced in the lavish souvenir programme.

The ravages of time are central to his interpretation – the older characters are contrasted with their younger selves, forever walking through conversations or shadowing the movements of half-forgotten numbers. So, as in Merrily We Roll Along, we are reminded of the fate of the glowingly optimistic young things. The young lovers watch from atop the rubble as their older selves reminisce and fight. The showgirls – beautifully dressed – appear like ghosts or angels on the rusty fire-escapes – the closest we get to a walk-down staircase. The 21-strong band [MD Nigel Lilley, in white tie] are glimpsed in the upstage shadows.

The 37 cast members include excellent chorus – Bill Deamer's choreography is wonderfully well served – and some of the best musical theatre performers in the land. Janie Dee is Phyllis, unhappily married to Ben, stylishly sung [not for the first time] by Philip Quast. She flirts passionately with a callow waiter [Jordan Shaw] and gives a near-definitive Could I Leave You, very simply staged. Peter Forbes is Buddy, whose dowdy wife – from Phoenix AZ – is the legendary Imelda Staunton, already Olivier-laurelled for three other Sondheim leading ladies. Her Losing My Mind is unbearably tragic, and she brings the same sad despair to much of her dialogue.

Her younger self is Alex Young; Phyllis's Zizi Strallen.

Superb characters from Di Botcher as the chain-smoking Hattie – Broadway Baby; Tracie Bennett, flaky, heavily mascara'd, gives a manically, despairingly defiant I'm Still Here.

The role of Roscoe is key to setting the tone [with Beautiful Girls] – good to see the excellent Bruce Graham given space to make an impression.

Any Follies production needs a legend or two to underline the nostalgia and the theme of showbiz survival. I fondly recall Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson in the 1987 Shaftesbury Theatre show. Their dancing double act is nicely done by Norma Atallah and Billy Boyle, whose résumé includes a long list of West End musicals as well as the Basil Brush show. But the real legend here is Dame Josephine Barstow as the operetta star Heidi Schiller. She duets beautifully with her younger self, soprano Alison Langer.

Loveland – and the follies which follow – is suggested by gauze and chandeliers, and a diaphanous front cloth for Buddy's superbly guyed vaudeville routine.

No interval, but the two and a quarter hours didn't seem a moment too long. At the end, we're left with the quartet of youngsters, and a last look back from Gary Raymond's wonderful Weismann as he stands in the doorway.

Di Botcher as Hattie - images by Johan Persson

FOLLIES

FOLLIES

Pied Pipers at the ADC Theatre, Cambridge

27.04.13

My first "Follies" was an amateur production – a student company from the States brought their version to the Edinburgh Fringe in the late 70s.

The chief problem is finding singing actors of the right ages for Sondheim's characters. A problem not resolved in Cambridge: the overlap of ages softened the impact of this story of neuroses and nostalgia.

But Jacob Allan's production did boast some very fine performances, especially in the second half. Steve Waring was an excellent Buddy. His aggressive/tender The Right Girl was spot on, his "two ladies" Blues a delight. Toni Grantham sang Losing My Mind impressively, in a lovely diva dress. Costumes, of which this show requires loads, were an issue elsewhere, the wrinkly body stockings and the shiny fabrics not enhanced by the haphazard lighting, which did no favours to the set, either, its stairs contriving to hide most of the entrances behind painted woodwork. Rachel Bye, though far too young to have lived Carlotta's life, handled her anthem very effectively – a highlight of the show, as it should be.

Trenetta Jones brought big-hearted honesty to Phyllis, well matched by her younger self, Camille Jones. Indeed, all of the youngsters made a fine job of their roles. I found Matthew Chancellor's Ben a major weakness, lacking the dramatic intensity needed for the dialogue, and for his numbers.

And it was a shame that the emotion and the impetus were allowed to flat-line occasionally.

In the smaller roles, enjoyable work from Richard Socket as Dimitri, Anna Murgatroyd as Heidi, Norman Grantham doubling as Max and Vincent, and Kirsty Smith as Solange, though the whole vaudeville Montage seemed underpowered.

Lucas Elkin was MD, the band, as often at the ADC, in a room down the corridor, with some loss of immediacy, though I did appreciate the cocktail piano live on stage. Follies was choreographed by Emma Olley – the Mirror number impressively tapped, though no room for proper dance-class looking-glasses, alas …

FOLLIES

All Star Productions at Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre, Walthamstow

22.10.10

for The Public Reviews

'Follies' unplugged upstairs at the Olde Rose and Crown, Walthamstow, from the enterprising All Star Productions, who have made a speciality of Sondheim shows.

Up the narrow, winding staircase, into a space smaller than the average foyer. A piano trio is playing, and the lovely young Weissman girls are dancing decorously in their scanties.

Through the window, the twinkling lights of distant Tottenham stand in for the New York skyline.

There are huge benefits in the chamber approach to this bitter-sweet musical. I loved the reduction for piano, cello, violin and, later, flute. And not a microphone in sight. It was incredible to see the characters disintegrate at close quarters, in the raw pain of “Too Many Mornings”; the ironic saccharine optimism of “Tomorrow” gained an extra impetus in this intimate setting.

Sometimes it was hard to see the whole picture; occasionally the vocal dynamic, even unamplified, was overpowering. But I'd much sooner see this show in a space with character than, say, the soul-less revival at the Royal Festival Hall.

For me, Julie Ross's Phyllis was near definitive: resigned, but resenting her 'bargain with life', her every expression, every inflection spoke volumes. And her “Could I Leave You” was impeccably crafted. April Nicholson's flirty Carlotta gave a superb “I'm Still Here”, the wind stirring the restless trees behind her, and a not inappropriate memory loss halfway through.

As Ben, the high-flier, German-born Frank Loman was charming, witty and urbane, and handled his numbers skilfully; Mark Hutchinson, a believable oil salesman but suggesting the rage within, did a brilliant “Buddie's Blues”, with the assistance of mistress Margie, and Mrs Sally Durant Plummer, whose descent into madness was depicted with real pathos by Maggie Robson, going to pieces behind her brittle, bright mask.

The specialities were enjoyable, especially perhaps Teresa Jennings' Solange and of course Ellen Vereniks' Broadway Baby.

No room for much scenery – just a couple of treads for the grand staircase – but Tim McArthur's ingenious staging did manage some impressive production numbers, including LoveLand and the mirror routine, with a great tap line [how did that sound in the Saloon Bar downstairs, I wonder ?]. The careful hair and make-up reminded us that the Follies disbanded in 1941. Shame we couldn't have managed a follow spot, but there were countless eloquent stage pictures - “Girls Upstairs”, with the older quartet watching their younger selves tripping gaily off to Tony's, and Heidi's song an ironic commentary on love. It was shared by Rachel Dobell and, as her younger shadow in a Waltz Dream of her own, Jenny-Marie Cooper.

MD Aaron Clingham led his Palm Court players effortlessly through the Sondheim numbers, pastiche, patter and power ballad.

Two dozen or so in the cast, twice that number in the house. A real shared experience – the final walk-down came all too soon.

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews

SONDHEIM'S FOLLIES

Witham Amateur Operatic Society

21.04.08

My first taste of Follies was in Portobello, thirty years ago. Its UK première, I believe. An American student company on the Edinburgh Fringe, working in a vast, dusty auditorium.

That kind of atmosphere helps the mood of the piece, of course, as it did at Witham, where the stucco pros. arch and the seen-it-all back wall neatly framed Sondheim's bitter-sweet exploration of nostalgia and relationships grown old and cold.

I knew from the first number that it was going to be a rich experience. Roscoe's glorious voice welcoming those Beautiful Girls as they made their entrance down the grand staircase. Nikki Mundell-Poole's production stressed the contrast of past and present, naivety and cynicism, helped by the age difference of the principal characters and their youthful ghosts. Lighting and costume had an important role here, too, I felt.

Again and again there was a pang as we saw the chasm between now and then – Vincent and Vanessa's Strictly Ballroom moment, with very young shadows in white, Heidi's One More Kiss, a pure kitsch duet with her younger self, and even the curtain calls, where the simple turn for the four principals gave us one last remembrance of things past.

Those four central roles were all excellently cast and played. Buddy, amusing in frantic Groucho/Jolson mode for Buddy's Blues, but also very moving in the beautifully phrased Hey Margie sequence with the dummy. Sally, still and poignant for her exquisitely sung Losing My Mind, Ben, vocally very secure throughout, and nicely relaxed in his cynical character, notably in The Road You Didn't Take. And Phyllis, giving everything in Could I Leave You.

There are hit numbers for others of the Golden Girls, too, as they come together one last time to “stumble through a song or two”, and Hattie made the most of her Broadway Baby, Carlotta of I'm Still Here. How lucky of Witham to have all this showbiz experience to cast ...

The young showgirls looked great, the choral singing was impressive, though I was less sure about the off-stage chorus. There were one or two places where the pace dropped a little on the first night, and the band had the odd rough edge. But MD Jill Parkin worked wonders keeping everyone together: this is a very tricky score. And there were many marvellous musical moments, like the bass clarinet for Still Here, and the production number Mirror Mirror.

The emotional impact of the piece was helped by the intimacy of the the venue, and the relatively subtle amplification – the Royal Festival Hall revival did nothing for me, despite the presence of Henry Goodman.

But, like that Portobello premiere, this polished, passionate production will remain with me, as Witham left us with one last image, a lone phantom showgirl under the working lights in the deserted Weismann Theatre.