Today Should Be Declared "Follies" Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         Fifty-four years ago, this evening, at the Winter Garden Theatre, currently represented by the dreck that is "Good Night, And Good Luck." the curtain went up on my all-time favorite of the Harold Prince-Stephen Sondheim collaborations, "Folles."  Until "A Chorus Line" came along, also choreographed by Michael Bennett, this was the most artistically successful concept musical of all time.

                                           And the cast!  Alexis Smith, Dorothy Collins, Gene Nelson, John McMartin, Yvonne De Carlo, Ethel Shutta, Mary McCarthy, Victoria Mallory....my God, a cast like this could never afford to be assembled like this again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             How about the songs?  "The Girls Upstairs," the haunting "In Buddy's Eyes," the devastating "The Road You Didn't Take," the chilling "Too Many Mornings," and the apocalyptic "Losing My Mind."  Every song in this score is a gem, which cannot be said of today's musicals.

                                               I have seen five productions of "Follies," unfortunately not the original, and while each may have varied in quality, the integrity of the score was preserved.

                                                Then there was the number that blew the roof off the Winter Garden on opening night and continued to do so throughout the show's original run.

                                  Here is the original "Follies" cast, performing "Who's That Woman?"

                            And here is how haunting and chilling "Too Many Mornings" was.

                           Happy "Follies" Day, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!