Follies

by James Goldman, Stephen Sondheim (lyrics)

On the eve of its destruction, the once-glorious Weissman Theatre is filled with the ghosts of its past as showgirls from 40 years ago reunite to glamorize the old days and relive bygone memories of promise and splendor. For two jaded middle-aged couples, coming face-to-face with what might have been proves to be a shattering experience. The genius script by Sondheim and Goldman makes a cinematic, nightmarish hallucination of past and present blended together, employing lush era musical theatre pastiche and a deft eye for storytelling to tell not only the story of Ben, Phyllis, Sally and Buddy, but also the story of how the promise of America between the World Wars disintegrated into memory. Considered by many to be one of the best American musicals of all time, and still at the peak of form and craft. Those that saw the original Broadway production in 1971 and the all-star Lincoln Center concert in 1985 remember it as one of the most dazzling and poignant shows ever.
"A stunning musical…a pastiche so brilliant as to be breathtaking."— New York Daily News

" Follies is utterly magnificent."— Women’s Wear Daily

Stephen Sondheim is the preeminent composer and lyricist of the American musical theatre. His best known works include West Side Story, Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Company, among others. Mr. Sondheim celebrates his 70th birthday this year.

The late James Goldman is best known for his play and screenplay A Lion in Winter and also was the author of Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole and A Family Affair .

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Musicals, Music, Fiction, Collections

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

James Goldman was an American Academy Award-winning screenwriter and playwright, and the brother of screenwriter and novelist William Goldman.

He was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up primarily in Highland Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. He is most noted as the author of The Lion in Winter and author of the book for the stage musical Follies.

Goldman died from a heart attack in New York City, where he had lived for many years.

Reviews

[Eva B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spark. To pierce the dark.
Ah, Follies. One of my favorite Sondheim shows and yet one that is not performed too often due to the fact that it requires a large cast and an intricate set that mirrors many different follies acts. I especially love the second act, in when Ben, Buddy, Phyllis, and Sally all break down in rapid succession--breakdown songs were one of Sondheim's biggest strengths and Losing My Mind, The Story of Lucy and Jessie/Ah, But Underneath, The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues, and Live Laugh Love are all excellent examples of his expertise (as is Could I Leave You? and the overlapping lyrics in You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through).

[Nadja · Rating 2 out of 5]

As usual, I listened to the songs on Spotify as I read, which always enhances the experience of reading a musical script. Unfortunately, I didn't like it very much. I found the 'story' a bit dull and especially the ending disappointing. Everything stays the same, the unhappiness remains. There are a few memorable songs, but most songs are quite forgettable.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, the 1971 script is much better. I do like the new order of scenes and some songs in this script, I think they help the flow of the show better. There are, however, many charming elements missing from the monologues and cameo scenes by the other Follies actors. The text between the main couples is really watered down in a number of places, not least of which is the rather anti-climactic ending. I much prefer the original ending, especially Sally's lines "oh dear God, it is tomorrow," which is such an important moment for her character. Stick with the original, if you can get it. This is well worth the read, if only to fully appreciate the original.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up after reading Ted Chapin's Everything Was Possible; and there's just something about it that really appeals to me. The plot, that Gloria Swanson photo that inspired it, it's a spark to pierce the dark for me. Listened along with the Original Broadway cast as I read, and had a grand old time. One of Sondheim's best scores.

[Ronja (queer-is-the-universe) · Rating 5 out of 5]

First you're another
Sloe-eyed vamp,
Then someone's mother,
Then you're camp.
Then you career from career
To career.
I'm almost through my memoirs.
And I'm here.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most abstract scripts (book of a musical) that I've read- James Goldman's story and play on the word "folly"/"follies" is a clever and haunting one. With one of musical theater's greatest scores, lyrics and songs- it's one of Stephen Sondheim's masterpieces of heartbreak and the surreal.

Act I: In 1971, the Weissman Theater is about to be demolished, torn down as a parking lot. The former performers of the Weissman follies have all returned to perform one last time. Then we are introduced to two couples: the two women are Phyllis and Sally, former showgirls who married Ben and Buddy, who were their stage door johnnies. Except though Ben married Phyllis, he carried on with a secret affair with the mentally unstable Sally. Buddy loves Sally and wants to keep their now disintegrating marriage together.

Meanwhile, former performers sing their favorite musical numbers, such as frumpy Hattie Walker's "Broadway Baby" and TV star Carlotta Campion's "I'm Still Here"- probably Sondheim's most well known anthemic number made famous by Yvonne DeCarlo, Carol Burnett, Shirley Maclaine, and Elaine Paige.

Act II- the quartet of Sally/Buddy and Phyllis/Ben come to a boil- where their own human follies turn into follies numbers that begin in heartbreak (The Loveland Sequence; Buddy in "Buddy's Blues; Sally's iconic torch song "Losing my Mind"; Phyllis' demented showgirl performance in "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" and culminating into Ben's nightmare, "Live, Laugh, Love".

It's a piece that needs to be listened to or seen to be believed. As good as the script is, it is a visual work of art that requires anyone to see the themes Sondheim and Goldman have fleshed out: martial discord, PTSD from post WW2 anxieties, the failures of marriage, a cynical look on love- and yes, the literal end of a musical era giving way to the tumultuous 1970s. It's also a score that soars with some of theater's most iconic songs about love, and surviving.

I was so lucky to have seen the 2011 Broadway production starring Bernadette Peters (who sings the saddest versions of "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Losing my Mind") as Sally; Danny Burstein as Buddy (his hapless nature is captured in the disturbing and heartbreaking “Buddy’s Blues) the late great Jan Maxwell as Phyllis (her "Could I Leave You?" and "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" were both show stopping) Ron Raines as a sad, depressed Ben; and Jayne Houdyshell's hilarious "Broadway Baby" were some of the 2011 production’s highlights.

[Martin Denton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impresario Dimitri Weismann staged his renowned "Follies" every year between the two World Wars. Now, three decades later (it's 1971), the once-glamorous Weismann Theater is about to be demolished to make way for a parking lot. But tonight, just before the wrecking ball arrives, Weismann is having a party, a reunion of the stars and chorus girls who appeared in his shows all those years ago. Among those in attendance are Sally Durant Plummer and Phyllis Rogers Stone, who were roommates back in their "Follies" days. Phyllis went on to marry Ben, a rich and famous lawyer and diplomat who now heads a giant foundation in New York; Sally married Buddy, a traveling salesman, and now lives in Arizona. Sally was--perhaps still is--in love with Ben, and has come here in hopes of seeing him again and rekindling their long-ago romance. Phyllis, cynical and detached and entirely disconnected from everything in her life, has come for a less clear purpose: to rediscover--what?--something from the past, once there and now lost.

Against a backdrop of fragmented conversations and remembered and recreated songs and dances from the old Weismann shows, Sally, Phyllis, Ben, and Buddy play out their story, culminating in mini-epiphanies in the form of "Follies" numbers for each one. Meanwhile, ghosts of their younger selves (and the other party-goers) drift on and off-stage, reminding these unhappy middle-aged people of dreams forgotten and forsaken and of lives misspent.

It's large--massively so: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Death of a Salesman recast as Ziegfeld Follies pastiche. The book by James Goldman is probably irremediably flawed, because we never learn enough about the four main characters to fully understand what their problems are; or perhaps midlife crises of successful white people simply aren't as resonant as they were fifty years ago. Stephen Sondheim's score, on the other hand, is, if anything, too rich and plenteous to be contained in a single show. Incisive character songs like Ben's "The Road You Didn't Take" and Sally's "In Buddy's Eyes" share the stage with unabashed show stoppers like "Broadway Baby" and "Losing My Mind"; the colossal "I'm Still Here" functions as both. I'm not complaining--but Follies is a lot to take in in a single sitting....and a lot for a director and his collaborators to deal with.

[David Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was incredibly lucky to have seen the original cast in New York about two or three weeks after Follies opened. It was my intro to Stephen Sondheim and my little sixteen year-old mind was completely blown. Since that long ago time, I have come to love everything Sondheim laid his hands to and as for Follies, I had the original cast album, then the CD, then the Follies in Concert CD and then the DVD of that concert, but I have never seen one of the very rare revivals of the show. What I remember comes from the CDs, and although they provide some of the greatest most incredible music and those insanely wonderful lyrics, some of Sondheim's best work. But as for the whole show, time slowly stole that from memory. Now, sitting down and reading James Goldman's book and Sondheim's lyrics, I hear the music, hear the songs and with the book filling in the whole picture, my sixty-nine year-old mind is blown all over again, leaving me as devastated as I was that night back in 1971 when I witnessed sheer brilliance in person. Look, if you've only heard the albums or the concert, and if you love them as I do-- go that extra yard, find the play with lyrics and be as completely drained as I am, and still so very much in love and in awe with the man Stephen Sondheim, a true master the likes of whom will not be seen again -- at least until some other young genius is out there just dying to get to work and see his dreams come to life on the stage.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

While listening to Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies, I was hungry for anything and everything Follies. I listened to the OBC recording on Spotify and I scoured YouTube for videos (including, towards the end of Chapin's book, actual footage from the 1971 production, a magical experience). I found this, the original script. It took a day or so to read, and it was fascinating. Reading the script had so many layers. Chapin's book had brought all of these characters to life as the actors playing them, as well as detailing all the scenes from the musical. Then there was Listening to the audiobook itself with it's many details, watching the videos, and listening to the OBC recording. I'm certain I wouldn't have enjoyed the script at all without doing all of the above. The only thing I haven't done is see Follies live - it's the one show I want to see above all others, especially now. The book is complicated, and I think seeing it, and seeing it acted, provides some context that you miss just reading a script. But all of this put together was a kick ass experience.

[Rusty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have seen every major revival of this, and played Ben in 2004 and Buddy in 2024 in community theater. The brilliant music saves this show. The book, never all that great, is horribly dated and has some cringe-inducing lines. Apparently there is an updated version of the script that is vastly improved, but Goldman's widow refuses to let that script be used. One has to wonder why, as this script is the weakest part of a brilliant but flawed show.

[Ian McNair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This helped me to improve my understanding of the famous musical, which has a collection of the very best show-stopping songs of various styles - a true pastiche. If you admire the musical, you'll love the book.

[Jack Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the music from this show. I am not going to lie about that. The original cast album is filled with electric performances from Yvonne DeCarlo, Alexis Smith and Dorothy Collins. The London cast album boasts the charming Diana Rigg as Phyllis and the concert recording has Carol Burnett, Lee Remick and Elaine Stritch among its performers. Follies is a show that is well served by it's recordings - which is a good thing because the book itself is more than a little depressing.

The plot takes place at a reunion of the Weissman Follies as the theater they performed in from 1918 to 1941 is about to be torn down and replaced with a parking garage. A good deal of the action takes place in the minds of the two leading couples, Mr. Ben Stone and his wife Phyllis and Mr. Buddy Plummer and his wife Sally, as they travel back in time to their youth when the ladies were chorus girls in the Follies. Both couples are in unhappy marriages and through the course of events we learn that Buddy loves Sally, Sally loves Ben, Ben loves Phyllis and Phyllis used to love Ben but is completely disenchanted with him.

The book over all is unsatisfying. It does not have the sparkle that Sondheim's music seems to require. Sondheim's lyrics also occasionally clash with as characters spoken dialogue. That is probably the main reason this show is only rarely performed. It's one hell of a cast album but probably a misery to sit through live.

[Greg Lico · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst musical ever conceived for the Broadway stage. And I have seen Grease! Having had to suffer through the show twice, I have come to the conclusion that Follies is a terrible show. There is no plot to drive that forward momentum of the show, except the characters belief that they ruined their lives. I am sorry but I don't want to go see a show where people are complaining about how miserable they are.

Follies is proof that Sondheim cannot write a second act. For no reason, the four leads find themselves in Loveland. What the hell is this all about? Are they acting this out in their mind? Are they in an actual place called Loveland. Sondheim doesn't even know what he is doing here.

In scoring and writing this show, Sondheim betrayed his mentor Hammerstein. The best thing to be said about this show now is that it is very dated. Hopefully within a couple of generations, this odious piece will be forgotten, along with Sunday in the Park with George.

[Peyton · Rating 3 out of 5]

What do you call a musical with a sad story, beautiful music, and sympathetic but unlikeable characters? Follies.

[Chambers Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contains my favorite Sondheim song..."I'm Still Here"

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 -- The concept is excellent, but it didn't hold my attention like Sondheim normally does. I love reading scripts, but this is one that I believe would fare better on stage.

[JANIII · Rating 4 out of 5]

This revised production just isn't as good as the original text from 1971. The peripheral characters each got a moment in that version, which felt more in tune with an old Follies style show. The score sells this musical, but Goldman's script was stronger before he "improved it". And this update is still very strong, so keep that in mind.