Theater Harrisburg's Follies

Behind The Scenes
A Sneak Peek at Local Theater Productions

Theater Harrisburg’s Follies
www.Harrisburgstage.com

by Jenna Barnaby

Opening November 6, Theater Harrisburg will perform Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. This highly entertaining show presents a challenge to the veteran company, one that was already met in their 1981 version of the production. This time, the venture is enhanced merely by being the first musical production that Theater Harrisburg will have launched in their new home, the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts.

Rehersal Picture On the surface, Follies tells the story of a reunion held in a theater the night before its demolition. The Weisman Follies used to perform in the now dilapidated playhouse and some of the surviving showgirls and their stage-door johnnies gather for a night of reminiscing mingled with the ghostly apparitions of their younger selves. Like all good stories, more happens than just the obvious — and, in all actuality, obvious really doesn’t apply to this show at all.

With the depth of all good stories Follies tries to impart information about the human condition, or the ‘follies’ of living. By mixing the past with the present, showing the past through the eyes of the characters, and presenting everything in the outrageous manner of Ziegfield-like production numbers, Follies becomes an entertaining, if difficult, show to completely grasp. Still, the fun is in getting there, right?

Follies opened on Broadway, April 4, 1971, and closed after only 522 performances. The music and lyrics were written by Sondheim, the book was written by James Goldman, and it was directed and produced by Harold Prince. Regardless of its length on Broadway itself, many songs from Follies seem like they have been around forever simply because of Sondheim’s brilliance in recreating the feel and sound of the golden age of musicals. Familiar tunes from the show include, “Beautiful Girls,” “Broadway Baby,” “I’m Still Here,” and “One More Kiss.”

Tom Hostetter, artistic director of Theater Harrisburg, happens to love the show, so much so, that he saw the original Broadway production twice — including the last performance. In fact, Hostetter originally staged Follies in his second year with Theater Harrisburg. Since then, he has always said that if he were to present the show again, it would be with more fly space and a bigger stage so he could really give the piece its due in production value — and now he has his chance at the substantially larger Whitaker Center.

Hostetter informs us that, as usual, Curtis Smith, production designer, and Paul Foltz, costume designer, rose to the challenge. Theater Harrisburg promises a bigger, glitzier experience entirely in the tradition of the Ziegfield, or Weisman Follies.

Ray Myers, a returning cast member from the 1981 production, was always of the mind that Theater Harrisburg should have performed Follies as its last music in the old home at 6th and Hurlock streets as a farewell to the faithful theater. Unlike the theater in Follies, Theater Harrisburg’s former venue enjoys new life as a rehearsal space. The first installment of the revitalization involved removing the seats of the theater to make the rehearsal space comparable to the size of the Whitaker Center stage.

Lynn Malikan, another returning cast member, cited the larger rehearsal space as instrumental to the preparation for a spectacle as large as Follies. Like Broadway companies, the Follies cast won’t get into their performance space until a week before opening night. It is worth it though, to play to a house that is double the size of their old home with three tiers of seating.

As mentioned before, several cast members are returning to Follies from the first production back in 1981. Only one of them, George Paul, will be reprising the same role he played eighteen years ago. Ray Myers and Lynn Malikan, along with Alan and Marilyn England and Dave Minges return to perform different roles. Both the Englands and Minges travel from the distant cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore respectively, just for the chance to perform in another Hostetter-directed Follies.

Talking to these veteran thespians conjures thoughts of the show they are about to open. Myers played the Young Buddy part in the 1981 production, the ghostly remembrance of one of the main characters. In that role, he was called on to sing — as he is so capable of doing. Now, after learning a few things in the interim, he returns to play Vincent, one half of an aging dance team. Like the characters in Follies, these Theater Harrisburg players have taken the opportunity to spend some time reminiscing about their past production and what they have learned since then.

These days, Lynn Malikan talks mainly of her new understanding of the production of Follies itself. Her first time working under Hostetter was when she played Sally, one of the leads, in the 1981 show. According to Malikan, she was trying so hard to do a great job in the 1981 production that she did not really get to see what everyone else was doing. Since then, she has gotten to see the videotape — Follies was the first production that Theater Harrisburg captured on camera — and she’s learned a little more about its many complexities.

Everyone involved with the production mentions at one time or other the constant discovery that a relationship with the script entails. Jody Brinley and Connie Fisher, both Theater Harrisburg performers in the past, are new to Follies. Brinley, a fabulous singer, is delighted to perform some of Sondheim’s best music. Fisher, no stranger to complex roles, believes that the audience may be a bit confused as to what’s going on in the first fifteen minutes of the show. However, she remains convinced that they will be glad they stayed on when more of the character’s stories are revealed. So, come to the Whitaker Center and discover the complexities of the legendary characters for yourself. You won’t be disappointed!

Tickets for Follies have been on sale since the opening of the Whitaker Center. You can obtain tickets by calling the Box at 214-ARTS or by visiting the Box at Strawberry Square. For information about Theater Harrisburg you can visit their website at www.Harrisburgstage.com. Theater Harrisburg’s production of Follies opens November 6 and plays three weekends through November 21.