 The story of Follies begins with Stephen Sondheim. He had worked with Richard Rodgers writing lyrics, but decided to only take on projects in which he composed the music and wrote the lyrics. That first project was The Girls Upstairs. The project went through development hell, changing producers and directors. Eventually Harold Prince became the producer and director and Sondheim's lyric and score had new life. The musical changed its name to Follies at Prince's behest. He found the psychology of a reunion of chorus girls to be interesting and decided to go with Follies instead. This fictional reunion is held at the Weismann Theatre, a stage soon to be demolished. Ghosts of young showgirls precede two couples: Ben and Phyllis and Buddy and Sally. The Follies play out the couples meeting decades earlier. The couples have gone on different paths, but old romances and conflicts linger. Follies debuted in 1971 at the Winter Garden on Broadway. Alexis Smith, John McMartin, Dorothy Collins, and Gene Nelson originated these roles. The show would go on to play 522 performances but was deemed a failure. Yet, the shows timeless songs include "Beautiful Girls", "Losing My Mind", and "In Buddy's Eyes". The show enjoyed revivals in 1987 at the Shaftesbury Theatre in West End, several regional productions, and a 2001 revival at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway. Follies has played elsewhere in the years past and now the play has a new set of play dates. OnlineSeats has the Follies tickets to enjoy the new production.
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