Follies

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SONDHEIM'S FOLLIES

Witham Amateur Operatic Society

21.04.08

My first taste of Follies was in Portobello, thirty years ago. Its UK première, I believe. An American student company on the Edinburgh Fringe, working in a vast, dusty auditorium.

That kind of atmosphere helps the mood of the piece, of course, as it did at Witham, where the stucco pros. arch and the seen-it-all back wall neatly framed Sondheim's bitter-sweet exploration of nostalgia and relationships grown old and cold.

I knew from the first number that it was going to be a rich experience. Roscoe's glorious voice welcoming those Beautiful Girls as they made their entrance down the grand staircase. Nikki Mundell-Poole's production stressed the contrast of past and present, naivety and cynicism, helped by the age difference of the principal characters and their youthful ghosts. Lighting and costume had an important role here, too, I felt.

Again and again there was a pang as we saw the chasm between now and then – Vincent and Vanessa's Strictly Ballroom moment, with very young shadows in white, Heidi's One More Kiss, a pure kitsch duet with her younger self, and even the curtain calls, where the simple turn for the four principals gave us one last remembrance of things past.

Those four central roles were all excellently cast and played. Buddy, amusing in frantic Groucho/Jolson mode for Buddy's Blues, but also very moving in the beautifully phrased Hey Margie sequence with the dummy. Sally, still and poignant for her exquisitely sung Losing My Mind, Ben, vocally very secure throughout, and nicely relaxed in his cynical character, notably in The Road You Didn't Take. And Phyllis, giving everything in Could I Leave You.

There are hit numbers for others of the Golden Girls, too, as they come together one last time to “stumble through a song or two”, and Hattie made the most of her Broadway Baby, Carlotta of I'm Still Here. How lucky of Witham to have all this showbiz experience to cast ...

The young showgirls looked great, the choral singing was impressive, though I was less sure about the off-stage chorus. There were one or two places where the pace dropped a little on the first night, and the band had the odd rough edge. But MD Jill Parkin worked wonders keeping everyone together: this is a very tricky score. And there were many marvellous musical moments, like the bass clarinet for Still Here, and the production number Mirror Mirror.

The emotional impact of the piece was helped by the intimacy of the the venue, and the relatively subtle amplification – the Royal Festival Hall revival did nothing for me, despite the presence of Henry Goodman.

But, like that Portobello premiere, this polished, passionate production will remain with me, as Witham left us with one last image, a lone phantom showgirl under the working lights in the deserted Weismann Theatre.

2008 - Follies

Braintree & Witham Times Review

The audience needs to be on its toes to work out what’s going on in Stephen Sond­heim’s Follies. Who belongs to whom, who did belong to whom, who’s who now and who was who? The plot revolves around two couples meeting up after some time and finding the flame still burns between the husband of one and the wife of the other who had been together 30 years before.

The couples’ alter egos from that time share the stage with them, with subtle lighting changes moving the spotlight from one to the other. They duet with each other and with their earlier selves, and at one point 1970s man dances with 1940s girl. The mix is deftly handled by director/choreographer Nikki Mundell-Poole and musical director Jill Parkin, with strong performances in the four lead roles from David Slater, Pauline Roast, Nicholas Clough and Liz Wat­son.

Will Ashbey, Shelly Fisher, Philip Mennell and Holly Wendes shine too as their younger versions, with Holly. in particularly leaping out of character in a delightful dance routine towards the end.

Sondheim clearly had in mind a large company when he wrote this as he cleverly gives over the stage for a number of solo performances, giving Judy Fishwick – a par­ticularly enchanting “Ah Paris” – Cynthia Stead, Anne Wil­son, Janet Wash, Pat Briggs and Lucy Taylor a chance to shine.

The show is not Sondheim’s most accessible and lacks familiar or rousing tunes for the audience to hum along to. The score itself is also a difficult one to master, so congratulations are due to all the singers for getting their voices round it. What it lacks in ready­made tunes, it makes up for in glamour. The costumes are dazzling and the changes quick and fast, making move­ment behind the scenes, one suspects, even more frenetic than on stage.

Review by Ron Fosker

 

FOLLIES

Director & Choreographer Nikki Mundell-Poole

Follies which was set in a crumbling Broadway Theatre during a reunion of the Weismann's Follies, between the World Wars with a story line which focused on two couples, Buddy and Sally Durant Plummer, and Ben and Phyllis Rogers Stone. With a large cast in an all singing, all
dancing production Nikki did so well with this production .
The costumes were fabulous; they all looked in pristine condition and really added to the glamour of the whole evening.
The mix of people in the show also worked so well. How good it was to hear wonderful songs sung by ladies and gentlemen who really knew how to deliver them. Liz Watson playing Sally, and Nicholas Clough playing Buddy, were excellent. Liz singing “Losing my Mind” was very moving, and Nick really shone in the character of Buddy with some excellent timing and interpretation of the dialogue.
Likewise David Slater as Ben and Pauline Roast as Phyllis were well matched. David had a really good voice and lovely tone in his sung numbers, and Pauline made the most of her numbers also.
I so enjoyed all the ladies songs. Cynthia Stead as Hattie Walker gave us a fabulous “Broadway Baby” and Janet Wash as Carlotta Campion's “I'm Still here” was great. There was not one weak link throughout
Jill Parkin as Musical Director was very energetic and kept a good pace throughout. At times with underscoring the Orchestra was rather loud which tended to overpower some of the soloists, but in the main the sound from the pit was excellent. Many congratulations to everyone in the show and another triumph for Nikki who should be delighted with a terrific production.