Follies Review"Follies" by Jenn McKee | The Ann Arbor News Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" - now being staged by Ann Arbor Civic Theatre - is a tough show in so many ways. Staging-wise, it's a behemoth; you need a big cast, and you have to evoke the uber-opulent stage musicals of the early 20th century. In addition, the nearly three hour show primarily focuses on two unhappily married couples - not exactly uplifting stuff. And yet, thanks in large part to the Civic production's two leading ladies (Sue Booth as Sally, and Wendy Katz Hiller as Phyllis), the company's strong vocals, and Brian Hilligoss' thoughtful direction, A2CT pulls it off pretty darn well. "Follies" takes place in 1971, in an old Broadway theater that's about to be demolished. Women who'd worked as showgirls decades earlier gather for a bittersweet reunion, with spouses in tow, and old feelings and hurts re-surface. Booth plays Sally, a seemingly chipper housewife who's never gotten over Ben (Jeff Steinhauer), an ambitious writer who married Sally's old roommate, Phyllis (Hiller). Booth's vocals are terrific, but more than that, the emotion that drives her songs feels genuine and palpable, particularly during "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Losing My Mind." Hiller, meanwhile, who has a powerful stage presence, imbues Phyllis with an emotional hardness that strains to mask the character's pain, making the character sympathetic despite her bitterness. The male leads, Steinhauer and Mark Bernstein (as Sally's husband, Buddy), are well-cast and solid, and several ensemble members get the chance to shine during solo numbers. (Thalia Schramm, as young Sally, steals a few scenes and vocally soars in "Love Will See Us Through.") On opening night, the orchestra initially struggled with intonation but sounded good the rest of the evening. Collette Kenville's choreography fits the show like a glove, and Nancy Rydzewski's imaginative costume design - a huge undertaking on a show like this - provides the production with some visual flair. And when a show has a large cast, and the story deals heavily in memory, good lighting is crucial, and Thom "T.J." Johnson does the job admirably. My minor qualms about the show, then, have more to do with James Goldman's book than Civic's execution; for "Follies" main characters are all so profoundly self-absorbed and full of regret that they can get a bit tiresome over the course of the evening. Even so, Hilligoss has crafted this "Follies" with considerable care and skill, and the result is a pretty impressive night of theater. |