Follies
Book by James Goldman
The Notion
"The story takes place in 1971. The Weismann Theater, home to the Weismann Follies since 1918, is about to be torn down. Dimitri Weismann, the impresario who produced the shows, is giving a party on the stage of the theater and has invited all the living performers, along with their husbands and wives, to celebrate the nostalgia of the occasion. During the course of the party we meet them all, but the action chiefly involves two chorus girls from the 1941 Follies, Sally Durant and Phyllis Rogers, who were best friends then and haven't seen each other since. They are escorted by their husbands, Buddy Plummer and Benjamin Stone, who courted them when they were in the show."
- Stephen Sondheim in Finishing the Hat -Â
Songs
Songs
Prologue
Overture
Beautiful Girls
Don't Look at Me
Waiting for the Girls Upstairs
Rain on the Roof / Ah! Paris! / Broadway Baby
The Road You Didn't Take
In Buddy's Eyes
Who's That Woman?
I'm Still Here
Too Many Mornings
The Right Girl
One More Kiss
Could I Leave You?
Loveland
You're Gonna Love Tomorrow / Love Will See Us Through
The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues (Buddy's Blues)
Losing My Mind
The Story of Lucy and Jessie
Live, Laugh, Love
Chaos
Finale
Cut Songs
Bring On the Girls (replaced with "Beautiful Girls")
Cheri (replaced with "Ah! Paris!")
Can That Boy Foxtrot! (replaced with "I'm Still Here")
Pleasant Little Kingdom
Little White House / Who Could Be Blue? (replaced with "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow / Love Will See Us Through")
The World's Full of Girls / The World's Full of Boys (replaced with "Uptown/Downtown" and "Live, Laugh, Love")
Uptown/Downtown (replaced with "The Story of Lucy and Jessie")
All Things Bright and Beautiful (melody remains in the "Prologue")
That Old Piano Roll (melody remains in the "Overture")
It Wasn't Meant to Happen
Let's Run Away
Other Songs
Written for the 1987 original London production
Country House (replaced "The Road You Didn't Take")
Loveland [London version] (replaced the original version)
Ah, But Underneath (replaced "The Story of Lucy and Jessie")
Make the Most of Your Music (replaced "Live, Laugh, Love")
Albums
Books
Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies
Ted Chapin
2003, 2022
Video
1985 Lincoln Center Concert
PBS Great Performances
1986
Unavailable to stream
2017 London Revival
National Theatre Live
2017
Unavailable to stream
The following are unofficial video recordings, and as such, they are subject to being taken down at any time. Not all videos are the complete show.
Productions & Casts
Awards
1971 Original Broadway Production
Two Gentlemen of Verona won the following:
Tony Award for Best Musical
John Guare & Mel Shapiro: Tony Award for Book of a Musical
Other winners:
Larry Blyden: Tony Award for Featured Actor (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum)
Stephen Schwartz: Grammy Award for Score from an Original Cast Show Album (Godspell)
Tony Awards
11 Nominations
7 Wins
1985 Lincoln Center Concert
1987 Original London Production
Nichola McAuliffe won the Olivier Award for Leading Actress (Kiss Me, Kate)
Olivier Awards
2 Nominations
1 Win
2001 Broadway Revival
The Producers won the following:
Doug Besterman: Tony & Drama Desk Awards for Orchestration
Cady Huffman: Tony & Drama Desk Awards for Featured Actress
William Ivey Long: Tony Award for Costume Design
42nd Street won the following:
Tony & Drama Desk Awards for Best Revival of a Musical
Christine Ebersole: Tony Award for Leading Actress
Tony Awards
5 Nominations
0 Wins
2011 Broadway Revival
Porgy and Bess won the following:
Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical
Audra McDonald: Tony, Drama Desk, & Outer Critics Circle Awards for Leading Actress
Acme Sound Partners: Drama Desk Award for Sound Design
Once won the following:
John Tiffany: Drama Desk Award for Direction
Steve Kazee: Tony Award for Leading Actor
Natasha Katz: Tony Award for Lighting Design
Clive Goodwin: Tony Award for Sound Design
Steve Kazee, Cristin Milioti, Steven Epstein, Martin Lowe, & Richard King: Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album
Other winners:
Judy Kaye: Tony, Drama Desk, & Outer Critics Circle Awards for Featured Actress (Nice Work if You Can Get It)
Christopher Gattelli: Drama Desk Award for Choreography (Newsies)
Eiko Ishioka: Outer Critics Circle Award for Costume Design (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark)
Jon Driscoll, Rob Howell, & Paul Kieve: Drama Desk Award for Set Design (Ghost the Musical)
Tony Awards
8 Nominations
1 Wis
2017 London Revival
Hamilton won the following:
Andy Blankenbuehler: Olivier Award for Choreography
Howell Brinkley: Olivier Award for Lighting Design
Lin-Manuel Miranda & Alex Lacamoire: Olivier Award for Achievement in Music
Girl from the North Country won the following:
Shirley Henderson: Olivier Award for Leading Actress
Sheila Atim: Olivier Award for Featured Actress
Other winners:
Bat out of Hell: The Musical: Evening Standard Award for Best Musical
Sam Mendes: Olivier & Evening Standard Awards for Direction (The Ferryman)
Amber Riley: Evening Standard Award for Musical Performance (Dreamgirls)
Bob Crowley & 59 Productions: Olivier Award for Set Design (An American in Paris)
Olivier Awards
10 Nominations
2 Wins
Awards from All Productions
Tony Awards: 8 wins from 24 nominations
Laurence Olivier Awards: 3 wins from 12 nominations
Drama Desk Awards: 10 wins from 20 nominations
Drama League Awards: 1 win from 1 nomination
Evening Standard Awards: 1 win from 4 nominations
London Critics' Circle Theatre Award: 2 awards
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award: 1 award
Outer Critics Circle Awards: 3 wins from 6 nominations
Grammy Awards: 1 wins from 3 nominations