Cabaret & Concert NewsMusical Theatre Guild Presents Staged Concert of Follies October 1
Jason Graae directs the West Coast performance of the Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman classic.
By
Andrew Gans
October 01, 2023
The Musical Theatre Guild's one-night-only staged concert presentation of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's 1971 classic Follies is presented October 1.
Directed by Jason Graae, the 7 PM performance is held on the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center in Santa Monica, California.
The cast is led by Anastasia Barzee as Sally, Roger Befeler as Buddy, Teri Bibb as Phyllis, and Brent Schindele as Ben.
The four are joined by Will Collyer as Young Ben, Ashley Fox Linton as Young Sally, Gabriel Navarro as Young Buddy, Chelsea Morgan Stock as Young Phyllis, Eydie Alyson as Emily, Bryce Charles as Young Heidi, Brad Ellis as Theodore, Helen Geller as Hattie, Barbara Carlton Heart as Stella, Susan Edwards Martin as Solange, Glenn Rosenblum as Weismann, Mary VanArsdel as Heidi, Jennifer Leigh Warren as Carlotta, and Paul Wong as Roscoe with Ricky Bulda, Jasmine Ejan, and Michael James Brown.
The production also has musical direction by Brad Ellis and choreography by Lee Martino. The production coordinator is Kelley Dorney, and the stage manager is Leesa Freed.
Follies, with a score by Sondheim and a book by Goldman, is set in a dilapidated theatre about to be torn down as a reunion is held for the showgirls that used to perform there decades ago. The musical
premiered at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre in April 1971 with a score
that boasts such tunes as "Beautiful Girls," "Broadway Baby," "In
Buddy's Eyes," "I'm Still Here," "Could I Leave You?," "Losing My Mind,"
and "Who's That Woman?" Among the original cast were Dick Latessa,
Alexis Smith, Yvonne De Carlo, John McMartin, Gene Nelson, and Dorothy
Collins. The musical won seven Tony Awards in 1972.
Next year, Carnegie Hall's house band will perform Bernstein’s “Kaddish” Symphony, unfinished works by Schubert, and the final concert of Conductor Bernard Labadie.