As previously announced, The Kennedy Center's all-new, critically-acclaimed production of James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim's FOLLIES will transfer to Broadway this summer. FOLLIES will play a limited engagement at the Marquis Theatre, with performances beginning on August 7. It has just been announced that from the Kennedy Center all-star production, Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein and Ron Raines will be transferring with the production. Other members of the Broadway company will be announced shortly.
FOLLIES will begin previews on Sunday, August 7, 2011 and opens on Monday, September 12, 2011 at the Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway). Tickets go on sale through www.Ticketmaster.com online or at 877-250-2929, and in person at the Marquis Theatre box office on Tuesday, July 5.
The Kennedy Center production featured a cast of 41 and is directed by Eric Schaeffer with choreography by Warren Carlyle and musical direction by James Moore. FOLLIES will be produced on Broadway by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (David M. Rubenstein, Chairman; Michael M. Kaiser, President; Max Woodward, Vice President).
In FOLLIES, former members of the "Weismann Follies" reunite on the eve of their theater's demolition, two couples remember their past and face the harsher realities of the present. Reminiscing of their younger selves and the years gone by, the crumbling theater brings back memories for both couples of good times and bad. Containing such well-known songs as "Broadway Baby," "I'm Still Here," "Too Many Mornings," "Could I Leave You?" and "Losing My Mind," Follies echoes the songs, exuberance and romance of the vaudeville days between the two World Wars.
FOLLIES features scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Kai Harada and the original orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.
Originally produced on Broadway by Harold Prince with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, FOLLIES opened on April 4, 1971 starring Dorothy Collins, John McMartin, Gene Nelson, and Alexis Smith. It ran for 522 performances in the Winter Garden Theatre and received seven Tony Awards ® , including Best Original Score.
Principal casting in Washington, D.C. included Bernadette Peters as Sally Durant Plummer, Jan Maxwell as Phyllis Rogers Stone, Danny Burstein as Buddy Plummer, Ron Raines as Benjamin Stone, and Elaine Paige as Carlotta Campion. The production at the Kennedy Center also stars Terrence Currier as Theodore Whitman, Christian Delcroix as Young Buddy, Rosalind Elias as Heidi Schiller, Colleen Fitzpatrick as Dee Dee West, Lora Lee Gayer as Young Sally, Michael Hayes as Roscoe, Florence Lacey as Sandra Crane, Linda Lavin as Hattie Walker, Régine as Solange LaFitte, David Sabin as Dimitri Weismann, Kirsten Scott as Young Phyllis, Frederick Strother as Max Deems, Nick Verina as Young Ben, Susan Watson as Emily Whitman and Terri White as Stella Deems. Rounding out the ensemble is Lawrence Alexander, Brandon Bieber, John Carroll, Sara Edwards, Leslie Flesner, Jenifer Foote, Leah Horowitz, Suzanne Hylenski, Danielle Jordan, Joseph Kolinski, Amanda Larsen, Brittany Marcin, Edrie Means, Erin Moore, Pamela Otterson, Clifton Samuels, Kiira Schmidt, Brian Shepard, Sam Strasfeld, Amos Wolff and Ashley Yeater.
