Follies: Kennedy Center's revival coming to B'way

The Kennedy Center's all-new production of James Goldman and Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical Follies will transfer to Broadway this summer. The musical will play at limited engagement at the Marquis Theatre. Dates, Broadway casting and ticket information will be announced soon.

The $7.3 million production, with book by James Goldman and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, is currently in its final sold-out week in a six-week run in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater through to 19 Jun 2011. The musical features a cast of 41 and is directed by Eric Schaeffer with choreography by Warren Carlyle and music direction by James Moore.

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.

Principal casting in Washington, D.C. includes Bernadette Peters as 'Sally Durant Plummer,' Jan Maxwell as 'Phyllis Rogers Stone,' Danny Burstein as 'Buddy Plummer,' Ron Raines as 'Benjamin Stone' and Elaine Paige as 'Carlotta Campion.' The production at the Kennedy Center also stars Terrence Currier as 'Theodore Whitman,' Christian Delcroix as 'Young Buddy,' 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,' Linda Lavin as 'Hattie,' Walke Régine as 'Solange LaFitte,' David Sabin as 'Dimitri Weismann,' Kirsten Scott as 'Young Phyllis,' Frederick Strother as 'Max Deems,' Nick Verina as 'Young Ben,' Susan Watson as 'Emily Whitman' and Terri White as 'Stella Deems.'

The Kennedy Center production 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.

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.