"Follies" Turns 50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can You Believe It????????????????????????????

                                                 When I was sixteen years old, on April 4, 1971, the lights in the Winter Garden Theatre auditorium dimmed, and a drum roll arose into  the  air.  And thus began the musical that soon became, and still remains,  the dream of Theater Queens everywhere--"Follies."

                                                    With its perfect score, dramatic allegory, stunning costumes and sets,  and a cast few could match--Alexis Smith, Dorothy Collins, Gene Nelson,  John McMartin, Yvonne De Carlo, Mary McCarty, Fifi D'Orsay, Ethel Shutta, Harvey Evans, and Victoria Mallory--those who saw  this monumental original production I felt were chosen, and their descriptive handing down to younger and younger Theater Queens, fueled their dreams, and gave the show a still existent cult following.

                                                         I am proud to say I have seen six productions of "Follies" in my lifetime, and hope to see several more.  If any show cries out for a live  TV presentation, it is this one. But casting is  CRUCIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                           Even at sixteen, "Follies" hit me.  I remeber being overwhelmed by the lyrics of  John McMartin, singing  "The Road You Didn't Take--" "Dreams you didn't dare/ Are dead.  Were they ever there?/Who said?"--oh, my God,  it  hit me full in the face at this tender age.  And  I have loved it  ever since.

                                                             I am proud to be here to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of this  show.  Back in 1971,  it was hard to imagine this day coming.  Now, seemingly all too soon, here it  is.

                                                               The 2011 Broadway production--the 40th Anniversary--was as definitive for those of us who saw it, as the Original was for 1971 audiences.

                                                                  I  ask, what does the future holds for "Follies??????????"

                                                                   For it will endure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               And now, girls, a  treat!  For a glimpse of what the Original was like, here are Mary McCarty and Company, performing  "Who's That Woman," the number that  when and whereever "Follies" is performed,  blows the roof off  the theater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Watch the dancing carefully; choreographed by none other Michael  Bennett, you can see the coming of  "A Chorus Line" in some of the  steps.

                                                   Ready???????????????????????

                                                  "Hit it, baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"