"Presenting historic works in a meaningful context is essential to the mission of our school, and it's an honor to be able to present the Philadelphia premiere of this brilliant show," stated Brind School Director Charles Gilbert.

Brind School Musical Theater students will perform the younger roles, while faculty members are cast in the older roles. In the show, older characters are famously haunted by their younger selves.

Gilbert and sophomore Brendan Dalton play Benjamin Stone; assistant director Richard Stoppleworth and senior Greg Nix play Buddy Plummer; adjunct assistant professor Mary Ellen Grant Kennedy and junior Carrie Bauer are cast as Sally Durant Plummer; and senior lecturer D'Arcy Webb and junior Michelle Vezilj are in the role of Phyllis Stone.

Mary Jane Houdina, who played played Young Hattie in the original Broadway production of Follies in 1971 and was an assistant to choreographer Michael Bennett, will speak at intermission of the 8 PM performance Oct. 24. She will be interviewed by David Anthony Fox, a member of the Brind School faculty who writes theatre criticism for the Philadelphia City Paper. (Houdina is currently in Philadelphia choreographing Oliver! at the Walnut Street Theatre.)

According to production notes, "Set in a crumbling, soon-to-be demolished Broadway theatre, Follies is about a cast reunion of the musical revue Weismann's Follies. Amid the reminiscing, two troubled middle-aged couples, Buddy Plummer and Sally Durant Plummer, and Benjamin and Phyllis Stone (and their youthful counterparts) confront some unpleasant truths about their past and present and come face to face with the future."

Director Frank Anzalone, an adjunct assistant professor, and music director Owen Robbins, an assistant professor, will oversee a cast of more than 30 that will be joined by a 23-piece orchestra of faculty and students from the University's School of Music.

Adjunct assistant professor Karen Cleighton will handle the tap dance choreography, while senior lecturer Rex Henriques will manage the musical staging. The show is part of the Brind School's new "Platform" series of concert-style presentations of noteworthy classic and contemporary works.

Prince Music Theater is at 1412 Chestnut St.

Tickets are $30 for general admission and $10 for senior citizens (65+) and students. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit scholarship funds for Brind School students.

Tickets can be ordered online at uarts.ticketleap.com or by telephone at (215) 717-6499.

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The University of the Arts is the nation's first and only university dedicated to the visual, performing and communication arts. Its 2,400 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs on its campus in the heart of Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts. The institution's roots as a leader in educating creative individuals date back to 1868.