Follies

I managed to get a ticket to the National Theatre's production of Follies and was a little nervous about what I would make of the show. I have always made it perfectly clear that while I like some of Sondheim's work, I am not a wholly devoted fan. I came to Follies pretty late in life and the first production I saw didn't impress. I wondered at the time if it was the show that I didn't like or simply that production?

The show does contain some of Sondheim's greatest stand-alone songs including I'm Still Here and Broadway Baby but having caught the National's production, I will stick my neck out and say that I am still not a fan. Also, I feel that the National have done a good job, rather than a great one. The decision to run straight through for 2 hours 30mins is questionable and it has nothing to do with being desperate for a pee, although I realise this must be an issue with some people.

I was so thankful for Who's That Woman?, a big production number in the first 'half', because by then, I was completely over the story of those two unlikeable business men and their ex-chorine wives. I found myself far more engrossed in watching their younger selves emote around the stage.

I rather like Tracie Bennett as Carlotta but the Loveland sequence at the end dragged the show out a good 20 minutes longer than it should and the anthem Loosing My Mind, appearing so detached from the story, ultimately fails to move me. I can't help but feel that this final sequence serves the writer much more than it serves the audience.

I've been fairly ambivalent toward Janie Dee in the past, but I think she steals this show as Phyllis from right under the nose of Imelda's mad Sal. The set is a triumph and the 1970s and Ghostly Girl costumes excellent but don't get me started on the poster. Originally Follies won seven Tony awards and lost money. It's changed shape a few times over the years including the insertion of an interval but from my point of view it's an over inflated work, padded out with some strong production numbers.