Follies, the 1971 musical by Steven Sondheim with a book by James Goldman, is a bittersweet rumination on faded celebrity, age, marriage and, as such, is an anomaly among Broadway's normal fare of fantastical, spectacular showcases.
The Argenta Community Theater debut performance to a sold-out crowd Friday night demonstrates Sondheim's knotty work can, if treated right, serve as a more-than-sturdy-enough platform for a terrific set of area performers. The chance to see local legend Judy Trice take command of "I'm Still Here" is a happy chance indeed.
The musical begins at the 1971 reunion of the Wiseman Girls -- Broadway sensations back in 1940 -- on the occasion of their old theater being torn down for a parking lot.
This allows Follies to be almost two different shows -- one focusing on older Wiseman girls singing songs from the old days ("Broadway Baby" done in an infectious turn by Kayren Baker) and the other part dwelling on the deteriorating marriages of Sally Durant Plummer (Karen Q. Clark) and Buddy Plummer (Daniel Collier) and Ben Stone (P. Jay Clark) and Phyllis Roger Stone (Kathryn Pryor). You could even say there is a third section with the younger selves of the married couples also spending time in the spotlight.
Director Vince Insalaco smartly doesn't try to hide the show's dated nature (Gallo wine jokes!) or turn it into something more fashionable. Follies does have a few dance numbers to show off the old razzmatazz, but it's the solo numbers (especially in the second half) that serve as the battered but tough heart of the musical. Karen Clark's "Losing My Mind" is solid, understated and powerful. Collier's "Buddy's Blues," underlined by terrific costuming, is bright and brittle. "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" is Sondheim the wordsmith being devilishly clever, and Pryor pulls it off with seeming ease and style to spare.
The Follies cast takes the stage again at 2 p.m. today, 7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday at Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock. Ticket information is available by calling (501) 353-1443 or online at tinyurl.com/actfollies.
Metro on 03/11/2018