Follies

Thursday, August 18
Marriott Marquis Theatre
8:00pm performance

Follies is the Holy Grail of musical theatre and anyone who’s seen the original Broadway production claim that it’s never been, and likely never will be, topped.  Ever.  For these people, stay home with your twenty cats and resign yourself to a sad, lonely life of hoarding original cast LP’s and endless online debate over the better Mama Rose, Merman or Lansbury (don’t even mention Tyne, Bernie or Patti in the same breath unless you want to get your cyber fingers chopped off).  For the rest of you, get off your lazy asses and buy I ticket to this limited run!

The current revival (transferred from a run at The Kennedy Center last spring) is probably one of the most viscerally moving, aurally sumptuous and visually gorgeous pieces of theatre I’ve encountered in 25 years of theatre-going.  At the risk of sounding like one of those crazy musical theatre queens on all that chat who claim nothing of import has been produced on the Broadway since 1960, let me just say right off the bat, it’s not perfect.  Though it’s probably as close as we’ll get in my lifetime.

First off, the production boasts a full 28-piece orchestra (I almost jizzed my pants hearing that live harp) and 41 member cast.  Granted, Bernadette Peters as frumpy, delusional housewife (or as a frumpy anything, for that matter), Sally, might not be ideal casting.  And yes, the voice is showing some wear and there is some unwieldiness in her passaggio.  But that cracked perfection only adds to the effectiveness of her performance. 

The stunning Jan Maxwell is gorgeous (and acrobatic) as Phyllis, Sally’s former friend and roommate, now a society grand dame married to the man Sally has held a torch for all her life.  Maxwell’s “Could I Leave You” nearly stopped the show, as did her chiseled biceps.  Which reminds me, I need to head back to the gym.

Ron Raines plays Phyllis’ philandering prick of a husband perfectly and has a luscious baritone voice.  Will someone please write a new show with a baritone leading role?  Enough with all these squealing nasal tenor ingénues already.  I want a real man. 

Danny Burstein rounds out the quartet as Sally’s husband, Buddy.  It's to Burstein's credit that he can make the audience feel such sympathy toward his character's infidelity.

In Broadway’s current trend of feel-good, splashy, appeal-to-every-demographic earnestness, Follies’ sober, even depressing dose of regret and honesty is refreshing.  Having the spectacular baritone of Ron Raines doesn’t hurt either.   Again, someone please write a show for baritone leading man!

I honestly can't wait to see this show a second and hopefully even third time before it ends it's limited run at the end of the year.