Follies

Carlotta gets one of the best songs and I'm sure Tracie sells it to the max. Is Tracie featured throughout or more in the background?

As other members have said, it hasn't been done in a full out London production for 30 years or so and so the lack of familiarity with the show, its subject matter and its innovative structure have gotten in its way in terms of this board's polling. We all know the major songs but because of the pastiche nature of the score the knowledge of those numbers doesn't really reflect the scope and brilliance of Mr Sondheim's score and Mr Goldman's libretto.

For me, if I had to choose one show that encapsulates Mr Sondheim's genius this is it. Hopefully audiences ( and our fellow Theatreboard members) will feel the same despite this production's various ( and ultimately minor) flaws.

I still remember that, fantastic night! But it is a point well made that aside from concert performances it is a rare work in the UK.

Ah, but the semi-staged version at the Palladium on 5 February 2007 I thought was one of the greatest evenings I have ever spent in the theatre. My diary entry says that a huge cast of top West End performers gave a truly magnificent performance of one of the iconic musical shows of the 20th century. I am still speechless with admiration for the skill and depth with which the whole cast delivered the show. It made one admire all over again the wonderful music and lyrics of Sondheim and the brilliant book by James Goldman.

I thought it was better than the production at the Shaftesbury Theatre because the characters of the four couples seemed to be more fully rounded and I felt quite involved in their mixed up emotions and psychological hang-ups, which I hardly did at the Shaftesbury. Of course, that Palladium performance was seen by just 2,298 people (assuming the house was full). If the NT production measures up to what was done at the Palladium then it will be truly memorable.

I remember both the Palladium and RFH performances but for some reason the Shaftsbury sticks in my mind. Probably as it was the first time I had seen Follies which makes it more memorable.

Dear Lord the RFH production was baaaaadddddddddd

www.theguardian.com/stage/2002/aug/08/theatre.artsfeatures

variety.com/2002/legit/reviews/follies-10-1200546772/

Wasn't Jenna Russell young Sally at the Shaftesbury or have I just made that up?

Was there also a Royal Albert Hall version most recently?
What was that like?

(As an aside I think it's a TERRIBLE venue for musicals, both acoustically and atmosphere-wise. Imagine RFH not much better...).

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Saw this last night. For me, this was about as far away from 'meh' as it's humanely possible to get. I'd see it every day if I could! Full disclosure: I am a Sondheim super-fan and I know the show relatively well (certainly not as well as some of his other works) so I knew what I was getting myself into, though I'd never seen a professional production of Follies before. And this, for me, was absolutely everything I could have ever wished from Follies, and then some. It was just wonderful (and a little emotional) to see it all played out in context in front of me and I feel very grateful to have seen this more original version and the 2 hr 20 run time (it definitely wasn't 2 hr 10) felt like it was nothing, even in those slightly more uncomfortable front Olivier seats, and the audience seemed pretty captivated where I was and they gave a truly fantastic reception during the whole show and at the curtain call, especially. And sitting on the front row, it felt like a completely personal performance for one. Very surreal! Before I go deeper, a special mention to the 20-piece orchestra and conductor Nigel Lilley who played this score to perfection, providing me with most of the goosebumps of the evening!

I thought the performances all round were phenomenal. The 4 leads are marvelous; I particularly loved Peter Forbes as Buddy who gave an astounding performance of The Right Girl, a song that could very easily be skipped on the cast recording. In Imelda's Sally, you could see from the beginning the fragility of this woman, what this reunion meant to her - or, at least, what she believed this reunion meant to her. You sometimes feel that this Sally was rather left out of many proceedings off-stage 'back in the day' (bar her relationships with Phyllis, Ben & Buddy) and this seems to have left her somewhat mentally scarred, not least because of what happened with Ben. She sings, as has been mentioned, with such a sweet soprano voice with her recognisable force when needed and, of course, her Losing My Mind is a real highlight. Peter Forbes' Buddy is so fantastic; your middle-aged husband, cracking jokes and using humour as a defense mechanism, which comes to a head in this very surreal Buddy's Blues that with a tad more tightening I can see really working. Janie Dee's Phyllis wouldn't look out of place on Wisteria Lane and every line is drenched in sarcasm, in bitterness and ultimately, in unhappiness. Her Could I Leave You was more understated and 'sung' than I was expecting, and whilst it can be awesome to see a Phyllis go hell-for-leather in many out out context performances I've seen of this song, Janie Dee's version suits her character and this production very well. And in Philip Quast's hands, how normal Ben seems. Perhaps too normal - and perfect, because it's all the more devastating as the show concludes. He's big, he seems strong, assured, in control. It's only when he begins spending more of the evening with Sally that she gradually turns him into some sort of male version of her, all of the insecurities bubbling to the top and with both of them crumpled on the floor at the end, it's no wonder why they believed they belonged together, even if Sally forced herself to believe it more than Ben. And how telling that it's Phyllis and Buddy there to pick up the respective pieces, because what's changed? Absolutely nothing. And that seems most devastating of all.

In supporting performances, Tracie Bennett gives Carlotta absolutely every she's got for a perfectly-pitched I'm Still Here and one of the biggest ovations of the night went to Di Botcher as Hattie for the climax of the Broadway Baby sequence. Dawn Hope as Stella leads the incredibly impressive large cast in a wonderful tap routine for Who's That Woman? (how could you not love watching Imelda Staunton tap dance?!) and Josephine Barstow and Alison Langer are absolutely haunting in their beautiful duet One More Kiss. The 4 'Young'ers are all in fine voice and boy it's wonderful to see both Janie Dee and Zizi Strallen let rip in The Story of Lucy and Jessie, another highlight. I really enjoyed the transition into Loveland, it's not over the top, it's not massive, it is, like much of the rest of the show, quite understated and very classy. And I particularly enjoyed the 4 'Loveland' numbers from the main 4 played out in some sort of blurred line of what's reality and what's the Follies.

In fact, the whole thing is completely blurred between reality and glamour. The Olivier continues onto the stage, albeit in decrepit form, but it frames the entire show as an ultimately theatrical experience, even in the most private of moments, there's always someone watching, there are seats to be filled, it's all an act. And having the 'ghosts' of the past as a constant watching eye really is a lovely touch. When the younger 4 do their scenes, they are filled with life and love, but once they 'exit', they become some sort of other-worldly beings, the skewed memories that never leave a place you knew well enough to call home. And this is the same for all the 'ghosts' of the Follies girls. Looking on in admiration, or sometimes horror, as they see for the first time what they become when they get older. And the way the older counterparts berate their younger selves in a wonderfully directed sequence just before it explodes into Loveland and the wonderful moment during the Too Many Mornings sequence where their memories override everything else and Ben talks to Young Sally and Sally talks to Young Ben as in that moment, that's how they remember each other, and whilst on the surface it looks gorgeous - that's also a pretty devastating idea isn't it? So much unhappiness in one's life that the only way they are truly happy is when they are living in memories.

Much like Company, this really is a series of sequences and vignettes that sometimes accidentally resembles a linear story but for me that works and plays into the whole "blurred reality" thing. This is a very weird comparison - but when Harry Potter looks into the pensieve and becomes an unnoticed onlooker, very much ghost-like, who is given only snapshots of information and has to fill in the gaps himself, well I feel like that's us, the audience, and I bloody love it when theatre makes me feel like this, and I bloody loved Follies.

I liked this, but I thought I'd love it. I wanted the mirror number to absolutely blow me away and instead it felt a little flat.

Philip Quast and Janie Dee are both on glorious form, as are all the other 'girls'.

I love Imelda Staunton, but wasn't convinced this is the part for her. She's simply too short to be a Follies Girl. She acted the cr*p out of Losing My Mind though, a number that in this production is second only to I'm Still Here - which last night received showstopping applause. Tracie Bennett is channelling all sorts of Judy Garland in this and she nails it. She walks away with this show.

The beautiful One More Kiss duet with Dame Josephine Barstow was stunning also

Set was impressive enough, but there's only so many times that revolve can spin. I thought it was beautifully I liked Alex Young and Zizi Strallen as Young Sally and Phyllis.

Maybe it's just the flaw with the show that left me feeling cold?

From yesterday, quotes above, I was sure that somebody would know the answer straight away. Another clue, reading theatremadness' great review might jog your memory.....