Anastasia Barzee and Teri Bibb (all photos by Stan Chandler)
Probably most of Stephen Sondheim’s musicals could be considered cult musicals, with 1971’s Follies first among them because of the enormous cast of singers/actors and the large cast of ghostly showgirls required. The original production, with a cast of 47, played 522 performances. After a week at St. Louis’s outdoor MUNY, the show opened LA’s Shubert Theatre where it played for two-and-a-half months. A 2001 Broadway revival with a cast of 39 played only 117 performances. The most recent revival in 2011 also featured a cast of 39 and logged 152 performances before being remounted at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre. It’s a daunting task to take on mounting a one-night only staged concert version, but that is what stalwart director Jason Graae and his stellar cast of 21 did on Sunday, October 1. It was the first time Musical Theatre Guild has staged a show at the Eli & Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center. The Sondheim cachet guaranteed them a sold-out house.
Roger Befeler and Brent Schindele
With the union-mandated maximum 25 hours of rehearsal, any show MTG produces falls into the miraculous category. This one was a few steps higher. The show only had one ghostly showgirl (Jasmine Ejan) and she only appeared in Jeffrey Schoenberg’s art deco costume during the overture. Instead of all the former showgirls having their younger selves shadowing them, only the two main couples and a few other singers got a ghost alter ego. This could prove to be confusing to first-timers to the show, like the three audience members to my right. But I figured 99% of the audience knew the show well enough to know what was going on. Most of them knew James Goldman’s dialogue and especially Sondheim’s lyrics by heart and could have easily fed the words when one of the singers went up on the lyrics to an iconic song. A program note could have eased the confusion for the newbies however.
Helen Geller
Not only was the cast cut down for the concert, but there were choruses dropped from a few of the songs. Goldman’s already bare book was trimmed resulting in no back history for most of the former Follies performers, except for the two leading couples. This led to more confusion among the newbies, likening the musical to either an opera or a cabaret performance.
Mary Van Arsdel and Bryce Charles
But as with every MTG concert this reviewer has seen over the past 25-plus years, the cast of Southern California musical theatre veterans delivered the best sung version I have ever encountered and I have seen over a dozen different productions, many of them twice, since that original one in 1972. Glenn Rosenblum was the party host Dimitri Weissmann and Paul Wong brought on the female guests with his delivery of “Beautiful Girls”. Ever since the original production featured Yvonne DeCarlo and Fifi D’orsay in the cast, producers cast minor roles with show-stopping numbers with names from the past. The 1991 Long Beach CLO production counted Dorothy Lamour, Denise Darcel and Yma Sumac in its cast. MTG had its own bench of powerhouse femmes to deliver the goods. Susan Edwards Martin channeled her inner French chanteuse for “Ah, Paris!” Jennifer Leigh Warren had the vocal chops and the dedicated subtext to make “I’m Still Here” the survival anthem of them all. Married in real life couple Eydie Alyson and Brad Ellis may have added an extra kiss or two to their delightful rendition of “Rain on the Roof”. But it was 91-year old Helen Geller who brought the house down with her take on “Broadway Baby”. A special treat was hearing the operatic “One More Kiss” sung to perfection by Mary Van Arsdel and Bryce Charles.
Jennifer Leigh Warren
The four principals all excelled in their singing and acting, making their all-out marital fireworks light up the night. Brent Schindele as Ben, the wealthy lawyer bored with his existence, showed his world weariness in body and spirit. He tried to fake optimism in “The Road You Didn’t Take” but his life fell apart around him as he cavorted in “Live, Laugh, Love”. In the nick of time, he realized the rock-solid center of his life was his trophy wife. Teri Bibb easily handled her bitchy putdowns as Phyllis and her moments of remembered tenderness were heartbreaking to witness. Her “Could I Leave You?” bitterly put what could have been the finishing touches to her rocky marriage.
Teri Bibb
Anastasia Barzee as Sally is the show’s central character, she is the first introduced and her name is the last word spoken. Sally’s folly in life was being married to one man while she was hopelessly in love with another who barely remembered their affair 30 years previously. She also faked optimism in her marriage with “In Buddy’s Eyes” and her gut-wrenching torch song delivery of “Losing My Mind” left you wanting to take her in your arms and comfort her. Roger Befeler was outstanding, by far the best sung Buddy I have ever seen. That’s mostly because the role is usually cast with a dancer but Befeler proved there was more power in Sondheim’s lyrics than in his dance breaks in “The Right Girl”. He had fun juggling his women in the comic “Buddy’s Blues”. Will Collyer and Chelsea Morgan Stock as Young Ben and Phyllis as well as Gabriel Navarro and Ashley Fox Linton as Young Buddy and Sally got to shine with the upbeat “You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow” and “Love Will See Us Through”.
Anastasia Barzee
Sondheim was never known for writing big dance numbers into his shows. Follies was one exception and even with a very small chorus of four, choreographer Lee Martino’s work was another highlight of the evening. Barbara Carlton Heart did a bang-up job leading the ladies through the lively “Who’s That Woman” number, tapping along with three younger versions of the dancers in Fox Linton, Jasmine Ejan and Chelsea Morgan Stock. The latter two had fun running around Buddy during his Blues and they also joined Michael James Brown and Ricky Bulda in the finale. The two men and Bibb put the sexy into “The Story of Lucy and Jessie”. Musical Director Brad Ellis on piano led three other musicians through this massive score, making it sound like it was played by a symphony. Bravo and Brava to all.
www.musicaltheatreguild.com Next up is The Wedding Singer on March 10.