Product Description

The incomparable Stephen Sondheim brought his sensational Follies to the stage in 1971 where it was hailed as "monumental theater" by The New York Times. Fourteen years later, the magic was recreated by an unparalleled gathering of stage and screen luminaries performing with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center for a wildly enthusiastic audience. This one-night-only performance became a legendary event in Broadway history--Follies in Concert! The evolution of this unique, historic event is exclusively captured in this film, from the first rehearsal--just four days before the show--to the last-second butterflies just before the curtain rose. This is a rare treasure for all fans of musical theater. Includes the memorable songs "Losing My Mind" and "I'm Still Here" and an all-star cast: Carol Burnett, Liz Callaway, Betty Comden, Barbara Cook, Adolph Green, George Hearn, Howard McGillin, Liliane Montevecchi, Phyllis Newman, Mandy Patinkin, Lee Remick, and Elaine Stritch. 90 minutes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21403 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2001-07-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Follies in Concert: Four Days in New York provides a backstage look at a genuine Broadway event, the 1985 concert performance of Stephen Sondheim's 1971 Broadway musical Follies. A star-studded roster is backed by the New York Philharmonic, featuring principals Barbara Cook, Mandy Patinkin, Lee Remick, and George Hearn, supported by the likes of Carol Burnett, Liliane Montevecchi, Elaine Stritch, and Liz Callaway. Unfortunately, this 90-minute documentary only includes about 47 minutes of actual concert footage--ironic because the purpose of the concert was to record the whole score after the original Broadway cast recording had omitted or shortened many songs.

Still, what's here is not to be missed. Sondheim's musical brilliantly captures the memories and heartache of a long-lost era and the performers who embodied it. At a reunion of the fictional musical revue The Weismann Follies, the long-retired players relive their careers through pastiches of past songwriters, sometimes accompanied in song or dance by the ghosts of their previous selves. At the same time, four of the people (two married couples) remember their pasts and wonder whether they chose their spouses--and the course of their lives--correctly. This film includes glimpses of the rehearsals and comments from the actors and Sondheim himself that lend depth and insight to the production. And even if only about half of the actual concert is represented, the closing "Loveland" sequence is almost complete, and "Who's That Woman (The Mirror Song)?", though heavily edited, does provide some sense of the choreography. --David Horiuchi

DVD features
The DVD release of Follies in Concert contains the original 90-minute documentary with no additional footage, which is a disappointment to fans longing to see the parts of the concert that were never released on video. Sound quality is fairly good, though the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo provides a somewhat narrow soundstage. The picture retains much of the graininess of the original film, most notably the portions shot in low lighting conditions. Most welcome will be the DVD's 23 chapters, which allow the viewer to skip the concert preparation and go straight to the songs, all of which are individually tracked (even the 45-second "Rain on the Roof"). --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Too Short a Showing of a Terrific Concert
This is a documentary of a 1985 concert performance from Lincoln Center of Stephen Sondheim's 1971 "Follies." A really great cast of Broadway greats was brought together for this concert that was basically put together is a few days. Although the backstage elements of the show are great (e.g., showing actors working through dance numbers, flubbing lyrics, Sondheim talking with the actors), the real interest of the show is in the performaces themselves that make up about half of the 90 minute documentary. The unfortunate thing about the documentary is that we only see about half the concert, mostly in the form of excerpts. It really would have been much better to see a COMPLETE version of the concert. One really wonders why this wasn't filmed and made available in some format. There is, however, a 2-CD album of the whole concert to fill in the gaps.

This concern aside, the concert is a great chance to see the likes of Barbara Cook, Lee Remick, George Hearn, Carol Burnett, Elaine Stritch, and Adolph Green and Betty Comden singing and within the frame of a concert performance) acting their way through one of the great musicals of our age.

This DVD is a definite buy!

This Should Get 5 Stars, But...!
Thank God that there is a full recording of this evening available on CD, because this video only shows about 45 minutes of the actual concert. Granted, they are 45 minutes that are not to be missed with this brilliant cast and this amazing show from Stephen Sondheim. This is truly a Broadway event. The documentary, which makes up most of the running time of the video is a lot of fun, but cutting the actual concert down to bare bones is a sin. We who adored Sondheim should appeal to the producers and beg that this magical night be released on video in its entirety.

Outrageous!
This is not "Follies in Concert," it is the reader's digest version. Many numbers have been truncated and many omitted, most notably "Waiting for the Boys Upstairs" and "The Road I Didn't Take." While the concert itself ran over 130 minutes, the DVD is made from a 90 minute video tape. Include the fact that they added about 30 minutes of rehearsal interviews, and the concert is basically cut in half. In addition, the DVD is video tape quality and the sound is unstable. All in all, a very disappointing recording for Sondheim lovers.