The Follies

I had a chance to catch this musical while it's at The Ahmanson, and I was surprised by how great it was! This show was a last minute fill in, after a previous engagement fell through. We were lucky to get almost the entire Broadway and Kennedy Center cast (only Bernadette Peters didn't make it across the country). This meant that we were able to see some of the top Broadway stars in our own backyard. Living in LA means often having TV and film stars show up in stage productions, and it's often thrilling, however there is a special talent to performing on Broadway and the leads in this show proved it. This production was originally written by Stephen Sondheim in 1971 and tells the story of some show girls who reunite with their spouses at their former theatre one last time before it's torn down. Their heyday was in the time between the wars and throughout the show, the ghosts of former show girls are seen in the dark on balconies and walking among the cast. The songs and story are surprisingly resonant for a 40 year old show. The second half has an elaborate Follies type production with the most incredible floral set and lighting (I involuntarily said, 'Woah' when the curtain went up to reveal this). Throughout the show, younger actors portray the former selves of the 4 leads and the lighting to distinguish the present from the past is really remarkable, and is something that theatre can do so well. And when these Broadway pros get out there and belt out a song while dancing, there's just nothing like it. I particularly enjoyed the actor Danny Burstein who plays Buddy. He's a short, stocky actor, and doesn't seem particularly graceful walking around, but in his dance numbers, he really lit up the stage.