[THEATRE REVIEW] FOLLIES @ Palais Theatre Review (2025)
A couple of fraught relationships and bygone days are at the heart of Stephen Sondheim’s pointed Tony Award-winning musical, Follies.
Each year, between the world wars, Dimitri Weismann (Grant Piro) used to stage Follies, which featured beautiful chorus girls, in a Broadway theatre.
It is now 1971. The theatre is in disrepair and facing demolition to make way for a parking lot.
So, Dimitri decides to throw one big party at the venue and invite along the showgirls and their partners.
Amongst them are the enthusiastic Sally Durant Plummer (Antoinette Halloran), aged 49, and her travelling salesman husband, Buddy (Alexander Lewis).
Then there is cynical couple Phyllis Rogers Stone (Marina Prior) and her statesman husband, Benjamin (Adam Murphy).
When in the Weismann Follies, Sally and Phyllis used to room together.
They were also interested in the same man, namely Benjamin, who was best mates with Buddy.
Sally was madly in love with Benjamin and, even though they haven’t set eyes upon each other for decades, she still is.
But Benjamin never felt the same way and still doesn’t.
Mind you, he and Phyllis are now forever at loggerheads, contemptuous of one another. Acerbic conversation is the order of the day.
For Sally, too, life and Buddy have been a disappointment. Nothing he did could ever satisfy her. The pair raised two children, with whom Sally constantly argues.
Benjamin and Buddy have both strayed, as has Phyllis.
Benjamin is beside himself, miserable and unfulfilled. Still, despite her obvious frustration, Phyllis isn’t ready to give up on him.
Sally’s folly is building up in her mind something that was never what she wanted it to be. Buddy’s angst centres on getting her to appreciate that he is enough.
Along the ghosts of what was, old wounds are opened and the present day is a gaping red sore.
Meanwhile, fellow chorus girls sing and dance as if time stood still.
Follies remains as potent as when it was first staged. With book by James Goldman and music and lyrics by Sondheim, it hits the mark.
In no small measure that is helped by the efforts of a stellar cast, fine direction, creative choreography, evocative staging and striking costuming.
Gifted soprano Antoinette Halloran is imposing as the flame haired dreamer.
Marina Prior’s renowned vocal proclivity is matched by her pitch perfect delivery of caustic one-liners.
As Benjamin, Adam Murphy’s existential meltdown is on full show throughout Follies.
Alexander Lewis excels as the tormented Buddy.
The nature of the musical ensures that many more of the “old timers” also get their chance to shine.
Rhonda Burchmore taps and tantalises as showgirl Stella Deems.
Anne Wood stands tall as the confident diva Carlotta Campion, which whom Benjamin once had a fling.
And on it goes, with Evelyn Krape bringing vibrancy to the ever-resourceful Solange La Fitte, as she and the others recall the glory days.
Also impressive are the shadows of the leads, namely their younger iterations.
Kitted out in towering headdresses and bejewelled costumes, the showgirls are an ever-present force.
The industrial set gives way to fantasy elements as the follies of the main players reach a crescendo in Act II. The set and costume designer is Roger Kirk.
Director Stuart Maunder has ensured the whole theatre is his canvas, utilising the aisles, the main stage and the elevated box at the Palais to grand effect.
Choreographer Yvette Lee employs frequent movement to help propel the narrative. Particularly noteworthy are the combined song and dance numbers.
Musical director Phoebe Briggs and Orchestra Victoria inject vigour into the score, which is strengthened by Sam Moxham’s sound design.
And it is the lighting by Gavan Swift that elevates the spectacle and focuses on the more intimate and derisory conversations, as the case may be.
Follies is a reckoning of sorts, a cause for reflection on our life’s choices, because as much as some may want it, I am afraid there isn’t a re-do available.
Victorian Opera has set a high bar for 2025 with its stellar production, which is playing at Palais Theatre until 6th February, 2025. It has a running time of 2 hours 15 minutes, plus interval.
Review by Alex First Photography by Jeff Busby