Follies: In Concert

Director: Herbert Ross Herbert Ross

Overview

Many aficionados consider Stephen Sondheim's musical Follies to be among the very finest works by this giant of the American musical theater, and 14 years after the show first opened, a handful of Broadway's greatest artists -- including Carol Burnett, Mandy Patinkin, Elaine Stritch, Betty Comdon, and Adolph Green -- paid tribute to Sondheim with a concert performance of the songs from Follies. Fortunately, someone had the presence of mind to film the show, and this DVD reissues the results. The images have been transferred in full-frame ratio, while the audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo. The program is short on any additional bonus features, but even in no-frills form, this is a DVD no fan of the musical theater would want to be without.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/24/2001
UPC:	0014381104226
Original Release:	1985
Rating:	NR
Source:	RLJ ENTERTAINMENT INC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[stereo, Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:30:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Barbara Cook	Sally Durant Plummer
Mandy Patinkin	Buddy Plummer,Performer
George Hearn	Benjamin Stone
Lee Remick	Phyllis Rogers Stone,Performer
Andre Gregory	Dimitri Weismann,Performer
Arthur Rubin	Roscoe
Jim Walton	Young Buddy,Performer
Howard McGillin	Young Ben
Liz Callaway	Young Sally
Daisy Prince	Young Phyliss
Betty Comden	Emily Whitman,Performer
Adolph Green	Theodore Whitman,Performer
Liliane Montevecchi	Solange Lafitte
Elaine Stritch	Hattie Walker,Performer
Phyllis Newman	Stella Deems,Performer
Carol Burnett	Carlotta Campion,Performer
Licia Albanese	Heidi Schiller,Performer
Roy Scheider	Narrator
The New York Philharmonic	Performer
Paul Gemignani	Conductor
Stephen Sondheim	Composer

Technical Credits

Herbert Ross	Director
Thomas Z. Shepard	Producer

Scene Index

Side #1 --
0. Chapter Listings
1. Introduction by Stephen Sondheim [4:50]
2. The Rehearsals: Three Days Before the Concert [6:02]
3. Two Days Before the Concert [11:52]
4. The Day Before the Concert [5:17]
5. Stage Rehearsal With The New York Philharmonic [11:09]
6. It's Showtime! [2:31]
7. Beautiful Girls [3:24]
8. Listen to the Rain on the Roof [:46]
9. Ah, Paris! [:53]
10. Broadway Baby [2:32]
11. In Buddy's Eyes [1:47]
12. Who's That Woman [5:15]
13. I'm Still Here [2:55]
14. Too Many Mornings [1:46]
15. One More Kiss [2:31]
16. Could I Leave You [3:10]
17. You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/ Love Will See Us Through [1:16]
18. Buddy's Blues [3:51]
19. Losing My Mind [4:11]
20. Story Of Lucy And Jessie [2:44]
21. Live, Laugh And Love [4:32]
22. Finale [2:09]
23. End Credits [4:23]

Menu

Side #1 --

Editorial Reviews

Follies in Concert is a beautiful frustration. A documentary focusing around the 1985 Lincoln Center concert version of Stephen Sondheim's stunningly glorious show, it fails in one very big way: it does not dig deep enough to work as a documentary about the making of this legendary concert and the live album that resulted from it, and because it truncates the actual performance severely, it does not work as a record of what actually transpired onstage either. The latter point is especially distressing, as a note-for-note video of the concert would have been of enormous value and interest to the legion of Sondheim fanatics. Because it fails in both these areas, Follies has to be considered a disappointment. And yet it is a disappointment with many fascinating moments, one that captures some performers and performances that send chills up and down the spine. Even though these are not necessarily caught in their full glory, witnessing Barbara Cook singing "In Buddy's Eyes," Elaine Stritch stopping the show with "Broadway Baby," Carol Burnett doing "I'm Still Here" and the entrance of the ladies during "Beautiful Girls" make this a must-have for any true devotee of the musical theatre. Its highpoints are so good that one can even forgive Mandy Patinkin's execrable, self-indulgent performance -- and that's saying something. Follies should have been an incomparable video experience, but we can be thankful that at its best it preserves incomparable moments.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler