Former Weismann performers at the reunion include Max and Stella Deems, who lost their radio jobs and became store owners in Miami; Solange La Fitte, a coquette, who is vibrant and flirtatious even at 66; Hattie Walker, who has outlived five younger husbands; Vincent and Vanessa, former dancers who now own an Arthur Murray franchise; Heidi Schiller, for whom Franz Lehár once wrote a waltz ("or was it Oscar Straus?"

Buddy and Phyllis join their spouses and the foursome reminisces about the old days of their courtship and the theater, their memories vividly coming to life in the apparitions of their young counterparts ("Waiting For The Girls Upstairs").

Suddenly, at the peak of madness and confusion, the couples are engulfed by their follies, which transform the rundown theater into a fantastical "Loveland", an extravaganza even more grand and opulent than the gaudiest Weismann confection: "the place where lovers are always young and beautiful, and everyone lives only for love".

In a jazzy dance number, accompanied by a squadron of chorus boys, Phyllis reflects on the two sides of her personality, one naive and passionate and the other jaded and sophisticated and her desire to combine them ("The Story of Lucy and Jessie").

Resplendent in top hat and tails, Ben begins to offer his devil-may-care philosophy ("Live, Laugh, Love"), but stumbles and anxiously calls to the conductor for the lyrics, as he frantically tries to keep going.

Other notable performers in the original productions were Fifi D'Orsay as Solange LaFitte, Justine Johnston as Heidi Schiller, Mary McCarty as Stella Deems, Arnold Moss as Dimitri Weismann, Ethel Shutta as Hattie Walker, and Marcie Stringer and Charles Welch as Emily and Theodore Whitman.

[32] However, director Herbert Ross took some liberties in adapting the book and score for the concert format—dance music was changed, songs were given false endings, the new dialogue was spoken, reprises were added, and Patinkin was allowed to sing "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" as a solo instead of a trio with two chorus girls.

The cast featured Diana Rigg (Phyllis), Daniel Massey (Ben), Julia McKenzie (Sally), David Healy (Buddy), Lynda Baron, Leonard Sachs, Maria Charles, Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson.

[42] During the run, Eartha Kitt replaced Gray, sparking somewhat of a comeback (she went on to perform her own one-woman show at The Shaftesbury Theatre to sell-out houses for three weeks from March 18, 1989, after Follies closed).

According to the Associated Press (AP) reviewer, "A revised version of the Broadway hit Follies received a standing ovation from its opening-night audience and raves from British critics, who stated the show was worth a 16-year wait."

'"[45] The Times critic Irving Wardle stated "It is not much of a story, and whatever possibilities it may have had in theory are scuppered by James Goldman's book ... a blend of lifeless small-talk, bitching and dreadful gags".

The MOT production starred Nancy Dussault (Sally), John-Charles Kelly (Buddy), Juliet Prowse (Phyllis) and Ron Raines (Ben), Edie Adams (Carlotta), Thelma Lee (Hattie), and Dennis Grimaldi (Vincent).

[54] Ben Brantley of The New York Times raved, stating, “In resurrecting the musical memory play that is Follies, Mr. Johanson and his first-rate production team are working from the template established by Mr.

The production, bolstered by Mr. Mitchell's elegant choreography, is especially strong in shifting much of the burden of the four principals' romantic history from Mr. Goldman's book to the imagistic use of the characters' younger selves.”[55] Brantley also lauded Roberts and McKechnie, writing, “Mr.

From the gloomy backstage climate of catwalks, call-boards and sandbags to a proscenium arch adorned with sculptural ornamentation, Michael Anania's set addresses the seedy grandeur of a faded theatrical temple doomed to the wrecking ball.

The ghostly statuesque beauties who haunt the old showplace float by in shadowy silver and gray gowns.”[57] However, despite rave reviews, the revival was nixed by book writer James Goldman's wife Barbara, who controlled her husband's interests in the musical.

The principal cast included Kim Crosby (Sally), Leslie Denniston (Phyllis), Jeff McCarthy (Ben), Lara Teeter (Buddy), Joy Franz (Solange), Marni Nixon (Heidi), and Donna McKechnie (Carlotta).

Directed by Michael Scott, the cast included Lorna Luft, Millicent Martin, Mary Millar, Dave Willetts, Trevor Jones, Bryan Smyth, Alex Sharpe, Christine Scarry, Aidan Conway and Enda Markey.

It starred Toni Lamond (Sally),[63] Jill Perryman(Carlotta), Judi Connelli (Phyllis), Terence Donovan (Ben), Nancye Hayes (Hattie), Glenn Butcher (Buddy), Ron Haddrick (Dimitri), Susan Johnston (Heidi),[64] and Leonie Page, Maree Johnson, Mitchell Butel, Maureen Howard.

Directed by Matthew Warchus with choreography by Kathleen Marshall, it starred Blythe Danner (Phyllis), Judith Ivey (Sally), Treat Williams (Buddy), Gregory Harrison (Ben), Marge Champion, Polly Bergen (Carlotta), Joan Roberts (Laurey from the original Broadway production of Oklahoma!

Since you don't get those moments from the production, the book or the leads, that leaves the featured ensemble, and in Follies that amounts to a small army ... Marge Champion and Donald Saddler are endearing as the old hoofers ...

Polly Bergen stops everything cold with "I'm Still Here", bringing a rare degree of introspection to a song that is too often a mere belt-fest ... [T]he emotional highpoint comes when Joan Roberts sings 'One More Kiss'.

Paul Kerryson - who had choreographed the UK premiere in 1984 - directed, and the cast starred David Durham as Ben, Kathryn Evans as Sally, Louise Gold as Phyllis, Julia Goss as Heidi and Henry Goodman as Buddy.

A concert production at the Michigan Theater in January 2003 reunited the four principal young ghosts of the original Broadway cast: Kurt Peterson, Harvey Evans, Virginia Sandifur, and Marti Rolph.

[84] The cast starred Bernadette Peters as Sally, Jan Maxwell as Phyllis, Elaine Paige as Carlotta, Linda Lavin as Hattie, Ron Raines as Ben and Danny Burstein as Buddy.

He praised a "broodingly luminous Jan Maxwell" and Burstein's "hapless onetime stage-door Johnny", as well as "the show's final 20 minutes, when we ascend with the main characters into an ironic vaudeville dreamscape of assorted neuroses - the most intoxicating articulation of the musical's 'Loveland' sequence that I've ever seen."

Variety gave a very favorable review to the "lavish and entirely satisfying production", saying that Schaeffer directs "in methodical fashion, building progressively to a crescendo exactly as Sondheim does with so many of his stirring melodies.

The production was directed by Dominic Cooke, choreographed by Bill Deamer and starred Peter Forbes as Buddy, Imelda Staunton as Sally, Janie Dee as Phyllis, Philip Quast as Ben[103][104] and Tracie Bennett as Carlotta.

The cast included Kate Baldwin, Julie Benko, Mikaela Bennett, Michael Berresse, Alexandra Billings, Klea Blackhurst, Lauren Blackman, Harolyn Blackwell, Stephen Bogardus, Julianna Brown, Hal Linden, Carolee Carmello, Jim Caruso, Jessica Chambers, Nikki Renée Daniels, Mamie Duncan-Gibbs, Christine Ebersole, Hannah Elless, Katie Finneran, Santino Fontana, Alexander Gemignani, Christian Mark Gibbs, Miguel Gil, Ruth Gottschall, Olivia Elease Hardy, Grey Henson, Fernell Hogan, Jennifer Holliday, JoAnn M. Hunter, Candice Katakeyama, Isabel Keating, Marc Kudisch, Beth Leavel, Adriane Lenox, Norm Lewis, Alicia Lundgren, Abby Matsusaka, Ryan McCartan, Dana Moore, Erin N. Moore, Michele Pawk, Margo Sappington, Thom Sesma, Barbara Walsh, Nina White, Jacob Keith Watson, and Karen Ziemba.

(Chapin, p. 300) In his The New York Times review of the original Broadway production, Clive Barnes wrote: "it is stylish, innovative, it has some of the best lyrics I have ever encountered, and above all it is a serious attempt to deal with the musical form."