The Cavalier daily :: Thursday, April 15, 1971 :: University of Virginia Library

NEW YORK — After many
months of waiting, the first (and
probably only) outstanding
contribution to American theatre
this season has arrived on the
Broadway scene. Like "Company,"
which was the most significant.
American work last season, it is an
original musical. Entitled "Follies"
and put together by many of the
same talented people who were
responsible for "Company," it is
one of the most intricate and
ambitious musicals ever written,
and in order to deal with it fairly, I
will have to exceed my usual space
limitations.

Follies' Ghosts

The show is about a reunion of
former Follies girls and their
spouses, held in their old theatre
which is now scheduled to meet the
wrecker's ball. The past converges
with the present as ghostly images
of Follies girls filter through the
party, unnoticed by the guests.
Images can be invisible, but
memories rarely are, and before
long the two couples on whom
James Goldman's intelligent book
focuses are busy trying to relive the
past, fighting to undo their
romantic and marital mistakes,
struggling to find some of their lost
happiness.

Much of "Follies" can be
interpreted on two levels. Even
its title is ambiguous — the subject
of the evening is human follies just
as much as it is show business
Follies. We are treated to some
spectacular production numbers of
the sort that made Ziegfeld famous
— gaudily and beautifully costumed
by Florence Klotz and brilliantly
choreographed by Michael Bennett.
It is intended to be nostalgic, but
not in the sense that "No, No,
Nanette" is nostalgic. The tone of
the latter is sweet and gentle
whereas "Follies" at times tends to
be bittersweet and caustic, pointing
up the essential emptiness and
human insincerity of this form of
entertainment on which America
once thrived.

This is ultimately brought across
when, in the last third of the show,
the barren realism of Boris
Aronson's basic set design is
supplanted by the trappings of a
storybook fantasy: we are suddenly
the audience at a Follies'
extravaganza. Throughout the
show, the four principals have
presented and dealt with their
problems on an intensely serious
basis. Now, each is required to act
out his folly in the guise of a light
vaudeville act. To see these
characters reduced to where they
must sacrifice their own validity for
the sake of cheap entertainment is
the most painful sight I've seen on a
stage in a long time.

Musical Wizardry

All of this, of course, is in
keeping with the recurrent
underlying theme of moral and
social degradation present in Harold
Prince musicals since the
mid-sixties. It first appeared
peripherally in "Fiddler on the
Roof," was intrinsically blatant in
"Cabaret," was continually lurking
beneath the glossy surface of
"Company," and is now almost
celebrated in "Follies." Mr. Prince
is a unique combination of Busby
Berkley and Edward Albee — he
overpowers you with his stage
wizardry, yet his work is profound
instead of superficial.

This description can also be
applied to composer-lyricist
Stephen Sondheim by merely
changing "stage wizardry" to
"musical wizardry." Sondheim is a
first-rate composer — his music for
"Follies" isn't quite as good as his
for "Company," but it's still much
superior to any other this season.
As a lyricist, he is at the top of his
field, unchallenged, not simply
because he has a way with words
(Alan Jay Lerner is every bit as
accomplished as Sondheim in that
respect), but because of the insight
into human nature and, indeed, life
itself which his words often
represent. For example, he
capsulizes in one song — "The
Right Girl" — the universal need of
man to be wanted and admired by
some woman, be it his wife or a
pick-up in Dallas named Margie. In
every instance Mr. Sondheim's
songs give depth both to the
characters for whom they were
written and to the theme of the
show.

"Follies" gets off to an
unfortunately slow start, and you
have to plod through to the first
half hour or so while the
foundation is being laid. But, all
things considered, that is of little
consequence. The cast is uniformly
superb — with Alexis Smith,
Dorothy Collins, Gene Nelson,
John McMartin, Yvonne DeCarlo,
Ethel Shutta, and Mary McCarty
heading the list — and there is
enough creative ingenuity and great
showmanship on display here to
warrant not one, but at least two
visits to "Follies." As is the case
with most Hal Prince musicals, a
single viewing is hardly adequate
for full appreciation of its theatrical
artistry.