As reflected in James Goldman's original script, Follies is written to be performed without a break in the action. When the musical premiered on Broadway in 1971 under the direction of Tony Award winner Hal Prince, it was presented without an intermission.
All major revivals since, from London to New York, have placed the intermission after Ben and Sally's duet "Too Many Mornings." Some stagings have slightly altered the placement.
The current Broadway revival, which plays at the Marquis Theatre following a late-spring engagement at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, was first presented (in both DC and early Marquis previews) with a 15-minute intermission following "Too Many Mornings."
This was not the case Aug. 23 when the audience attending the 8 PM performance received an insert in their Playbills noting that Follies would be performed without an intermission. Eric Schaeffer (Putting It Together, Million Dollar Quartet) directs the production, which will officially open Sept. 12. Warren Carlyle (Finian's Rainbow) is choreographer.
Representatives for the production could not confirm to Playbill.com whether the intermission-free presentation (now at at running time of 2 hours and 15 minutes) will be kept. The principal foursome who reunite to hash out old affairs and stumble through a song or two includes two-time Tony Award winner Bernadette Peters as Sally Durant Plummer, four-time Tony nominee Jan Maxwell as Phyllis Rogers Stone, two-time Tony nominee Danny Burstein as Buddy Plummer and three-time Emmy Award nominee Ron Raines as Benjamin Stone.
Completing the Follies cast of showgirls and their stage door Johnnys are Olivier Award winner Elaine Paige as Carlotta Campion, Rosalind Elias as Heidi Schiller, Colleen Fitzpatrick as Dee Dee West, Michael Hayes as Roscoe, Tony nominee Jayne Houdyshell as Hattie Walker, Florence Lacey as Sandra Crane, Tony nominee Mary Beth Peil as Solange LaFitte, David Sabin as Dimitri Weismann, Don Correia as Theodore Whitman,Tony Award nominee Susan Watson as Emily Whitman, Frederick Strother as Max Deems, Terri White as Stella Deems, Christian Delcroix as Young Buddy, Nick Verina as Young Ben, Lora Lee Gayer as Young Sally, Kirsten Scott as Young Phyllis and Leah Horowitz as Young Heidi.
The ensemble includes Lawrence Alexander, Brandon Bieber, John Carroll, Mathew deGuzman, Sara Edwards, Leslie Donna Flesner, Jenifer Foote, Suzanne Hylenski, Danielle Jordan, Joseph Kolinski, Amanda Kloots-Larsen, Brittany Marcin, Erin N. Moore, Pamela Otterson, Clifton Samuels, Kiira Schmidt, Brian Shepard, Jessica Sheridan, Amos Wolff and Ashley Yeater.
The production has scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Kai Harada and features Jonathan Tunick's original orchestrations. The revival features a 28-piece orchestra.
Follies has music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by Goldman.
For tickets, phone (877) 250-2929 or visit Ticketmaster.com.
