Follies: further casting announced

Further castiung has been announced for the Broadway transfer of the Kennedy Center's all-new production of the musical Follies, directed by Eric Schaeffer, with choreography by Warren Carlyle and music direction by James Moore.

As previously announced, reprising their roles for the Broadway transfer of Follies are two-time Tony Award-winner Bernadette Peters as 'Sally Durant Plummer,' four-time Tony Award nominee Jan Maxwell as 'Phyllis Rogers Stone,' two-time Tony Award nominee Danny Burstein as 'Buddy Plummer,' three-time Emmy Award nominee Ron Raines as 'Benjamin Stone' and Olivier Award-winner Elaine Paige as 'Carlotta Campion.'

The production will also stars Christian Delcroix as 'Young Buddy,' Grammy & Emmy Award-winner Rosalind Elias as 'Heidi Schiller,' Colleen Fitzpatrick as 'Dee Dee West,' Lora Lee Gayer as 'Young Sally,' Michael Hayes as 'Roscoe,' Florence Lacey as 'Sandra Crane,' David Sabin as 'Dimitri Weismann,' Kirsten Scott as 'Young Phyllis,' Frederick Strother as 'Max Deems,' Nick Verina as 'Young Ben,' Tony Award nominee Susan Watson as 'Emily Whitman' and Terri White as 'Stella Deems' - all of whom are reprising their roles for Broadway.

New to the production are Tony Award nominee Jayne Houdyshell as 'Hattie Walker' and Tony Award nominee Mary Beth Peil as 'Solange LaFitte.'

Casting for the principal role of 'Theodore Whitman' is still to be announced.

Rounding out the ensemble is Lawrence Alexander, Brandon Bieber, John Carroll, Mathew deGuzman, Sara Edwards, Leslie Donna Flesner, Jenifer Foote, Leah Horowitz, Suzanne Hylenski, Danielle Jordan, Joseph Kolinski, Amanda Kloots-Larsen, Brittany Marcin, Erin N. Moore, Pamela Otterson, Clifton Samuels, Kiira Schmidt, Brian Shepard, Amos Wolff, Ashley Yeater. Additional members of the ensemble are to be announced.

The Broadway transfer of Follies will open at the Marquis Theatre on 12 Sep 2011, following previews from 8 Aug 2011, for an open run, that will initially book through to 30 Dec 2011. Tickets are now on sale to the general public.

The $7.3 million production, with book by James Goldman and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, recently played a six-week run in the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater from 7 May 2011 through to 19 Jun 2011.

Follies features scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Kai Harada and the original orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.

When former members of the "Weismann Follies" reunite on the eve of their theater's demolition, two couples remember their past and face the harsher realities of the present. Reminiscing of their younger selves and the years gone by, the crumbling theater brings back memories for both couples of good times and bad.

The score contains the songs as "Broadway Baby," "I'm Still Here," "Too Many Mornings," "Could I Leave You?" and "Losing My Mind."

Originally produced on Broadway by Harold Prince with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, Follies opened on 4 Apr 1971 starring Dorothy Collins, John McMartin, Gene Nelson, and Alexis Smith. It ran for 522 performances at the Winter Garden Theatre and received seven Tony Awards, including Best Original Score.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, David M. Rubenstein, chairman, Michael M. Kaiser, president, is America's living memorial to President Kennedy. It is the nation's busiest performing arts facility and annually hosts approximately 2,000 performances for audiences totaling nearly two million; Center-related touring productions, television, and radio broadcasts welcome 40 million more.

In 2009, the Kennedy Center production of 'Ragtime' featuring direction by Marcia Milgrom Dodge transferred to Broadway. Last year, the Kennedy Center mounted Terrence McNally's 'Master Class' starring Tyne Daly, who is currently reprising the role at Manhattan Theatre Club under the direction of Stephen Wadsworth, who also directed the Kennedy Center production.