RIALTO CHATTER: FOLLIES Hunting for Broadway Transfer?
By: Robert Diamond Oct. 19, 2011
|
Michael Riedel reports in today's New York Post that producers of FOLLIES on Broadway had been trying to convince the Nederlanders to allow the show to extend past its current January 22, 2012 closing date at the Marquis Theater. Doing this, Riedel reports would require forcing the upcoming revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's EVITA starring Ricky Martin, Elena Roger and Michael Cerveris to move theatres, which they were unwilling to do.
Now, the show is still on a hunt for a suitable theatre for a potential transfer, though finding a new home for the show's 28-piece orchestra, cast of 41 and high weekly running costs will be difficult.
With a 28-piece orchestra, FOLLIES features a cast of 41 and stars two-time Tony Award winnerBernadette Peters as Sally Durant Plummer, four-time Tony Award nominee Jan Maxwell as Phyllis Rogers Stone, two-time Tony Award nominee Danny Burstein as Buddy Plummer, three-time Emmy Award nominee Ron Raines as Benjamin Stone and Olivier Award winner Elaine Paige as Carlotta Campion.
The production also stars Don Correia as Theodore Whitman, Christian Delcroix as Young Buddy, Grammy & Emmy Award winner Rosalind Elias as Heidi Schiller, Colleen Fitzpatrick as Dee Dee West, Lora Lee Gayer as Young Sally, Michael Hayes as Roscoe, Leah Horowitzas Young Heidi, Tony Award nominee Jayne Houdyshell as Hattie Walker, Florence Lacey as Sandra Crane, Tony Award nominee Mary Beth Peil as Solange LaFitte, David Sabin as Dimitri Weismann, Kirsten Scott as Young Phyllis, Frederick Strother as Max Deems, Nick Verina as Young Ben, Tony Award nominee Susan Watson as Emily Whitman and Terri White as Stella Deems.
Rounding out the ensemble are Lawrence Alexander, Brandon Bieber, John Carroll, Mathew deGuzman, Sara Edwards, Leslie Donna Flesner, Jenifer Foote, Suzanne Hylenski, Danielle Jordan,Amanda Kloots-Larsen, Joseph Kolinski, Brittany Marcin, Erin N. Moore, Pamela Otterson, Clifton Samuels, Kiira Schmidt, Brian Shepard, Jessica Sheridan, Amos Wolff, Ashley Yeater.
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.
When 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. FOLLIES echoes the songs, exuberance and romance of the vaudeville days between the two World Wars. The score features some of Stephen Sondheim's best-known songs, including "Broadway Baby," "I'm Still Here," "Too Many Mornings," "Could I Leave You?," and "Losing My Mind."
FOLLIES - featuring a book by James Goldman and a score by Stephen Sondheim - was originally produced on Broadway by Harold Prince with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. It opened on April 4, 1971 at the Winter Garden Theatre where it ran for 522 performances and received seven Tony Awards, including Best Original Score. FOLLIES played a limited engagement at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater opening on May 7 and closing with sold-out houses on June 19, 2011.
FOLLIES is 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).
Videos