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: #31015 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-07-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, 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

Heartbreaking!!!!
I remember watching the initial airing of this concert on television and at one point stood up and screamed at the TV. I could not beleive that what should have been an historic, television event, was actually a schmaltzy, PBS documentary about the concert. I, like most every person I knew who were interested in musical theater at the time, were pissed! Why? Why? Why? Why couldn't they have taped and shown the entire concert instead of this 90 minute fluff? Yes, I am sure all the performers were excited to be performing in this "once in a lifetime" event, I got that, but why couldn't they have shown it in it's entirety as they would do with other things. I really didn't need to see Elaine Stritch, sans make-up, pulling on her leotard. I would have liked to have seen her perform Broadway Baby in it's entirety however. And with the most astonishing cast ever assembled it was truly heartbreaking.
Shame on PBS for robbing Sondheim and theater fans of the chance to see the whole concert. Get the CD, skip this rip-off!!

Sondheim and Peters!
FOLLIES was one of Stephen Sondheim's most glorious musicals with one of the most memorable scores he has ever written. A huge score and a cast of over 40 major characters, it is a huge undertaking in any form and this concert version was no exception. FOLLIES was the story of a reunion that takes place in a an old theater, about to be demolished, among several follies performers from the past, now in their 50's, 60's, and 70's, reuniting for a final goodbye to their theater, orchestrated by the fictional theatrical director, Dimitri Wiseman. The bulk of the show focuses on four central characters, Ben, Sally, Buddy, and Phyllis. Ben and Sally were in love many years ago, but now Sally is married to Buddy and Ben is married to Phyllis but old feelings eventually find their way to the surface in this landmark musical. Sondheim hand-picked an a amazing cast for this concert, headlined by George Hearn as Ben, Lee Remick as Phyllis, Mandy Patinkin as Buddy and the legendary Barbara Cook as Sally. Hearn and Cook flawlessly perform the haunting duet "Too Many Mornings" in which Ben and Sally explore old feelings. Hearn also scores on "The Road You Didn't Take" and Cook's rendition of "In Buddy's Eyes" is just breathtaking and has become part of her current cabaret act. Remick has a ball with "Could I Leave You?" and "The Story of Lucy and Jesse" and Patinkin stops the show with "Buddy's Blues." Other highlights include Carol Burnett as Carlotta, singing "I'm Still Here" and Broadway legend Elaine Stritch, who brings down the house with "Broadway Baby". Phyllis Newman effectively leads the female ensemble in "Who's that Woman?" and there is an amazing quartet called "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See us Through" which features BABY's Liz Calloway and Broadway's current Phantom, Howard McGillen. The version I saw on Showtime also includes backstage rehearsal footage, showing longtime Sondheim musical director Paul Gemigiani coaching Hearn and Cook on "Too Many Mornings" and Lee Remick and Patinkin sitting in a rehearsal hall, mesmerized as Barbara Cook rehearses "In Buddy's Eyes." There is even a moment with George Hearn moments before curtain where he confesses to writing lyrics he tends to forget on his hand. This concert is a must for all Sondheim fans and FOLLIES fans in particular, since this is probably the closest thing we will ever have to a film version of FOLLIES. Don't miss it...a joy from start to finish.

Sondheim's Follies - How to Make a Musical.
In spite of the fact that I am a Follies Fanatic, junkie, and completist, I missed this concert. Back in 1971, I was too young to fully appreciate Follies and although I bought the OBC and loved it, I didn't get to see FOLLIES on stage before it closed.

By the time 1985 rolled around, I was ecstatic at the thought of this revival and planned on buying tickets and attending. It "sold out" within an hour or so and I coudn't get tickets. I should have slept on the ground in front of Lincoln Center.

Anyway,the concert gave us a new cast recording with almost all the music restored. And then, there was the VHS of this presentation, half-concert and half documentary. I purchased the VHS and, years later DVD. The DVD is only the VHS material transferred to DVD. There were no new additions but I think I prefer the DVD because the sound and picture are ever so slightly better. The back stage comments and rehearsals are wonderful for any musical theater fan and anyone who has ever been involved in the production of a musical on any scale from Community Theater to Broadway. It's fun to see these big name producers and legendary stars have trouble with their lyrics, squirm and get the jitters just like they were novices. It's still hard work, and it never gets easy. But,as Elaine Stritch says waiting in the wings to go on "It's Fun, Gawdammit!". You get all the excitement of an opening night as seen through the eyes of these performers. I actually met Lee Remick not too long after this concert. She was as beautiful, charming and as gracious as one could imagine. I asked her if there would ever be a release of the entire concert and she said "No, owing to the fact that the concert was a benefit". She went on to say that she didn't believe the entire concert was even recorded on video, so, there's probably nothing "in the vaults" to re-construct. Still, watching Stritch backstage telling jokes and being Elaine Stritch is a howl and finally watching her NAIL "Broadway Baby" shows you why she is a legend. I fell in love with Barbara Cook in this concert. With all due respect to the late Dorothy Collins, Barbara's version of "Losing My Mind" is such perfection that she renders the song almost untouchable by anyone else. Carol Burnett blew this audience away as Carlotta singing "I'm Still Here". As I said, I loved Lee Remick personally but the truth be told, she fell a little behind on "Lucy and Jesse". I love George Hearn too, but I found him a little too "Operatic" for this musical. The only major disappointment came from Mandy Patinkin. I admire his talent but sometimes he goes too far. He was supposed to sing "Buddy's Blues" with Stritch as Comic sally and Burnett as Margie and then decided to do it solo singing all three parts himself. What a missed opportunity! What a Show-off! What a Ham! I had some friends that did see this concert in person. They told me that Mandy "went up" (Forgot his lyrics) and had to start all over again during this song. Good for him! Serves him right!

I finally saw this show in a revival at City Center not too long ago. It was great. It moved me all over again in all the same places. Broadway Baby, One More Kiss, Losing My Mind, You're gonna love tomorrow, I'm Still here. Even with an entirely different cast, the magic is there. There's more to this musical than meets the ear and it deserves to be seen complete in all its glory.

Still, this truncated DVD version is all we have until Rob Marshall or somebody like him manages to get the movie version off the ground.

Hollywood was supposed to film this in the 70's. It would have starred Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Shirley Maclaine. Star turns were to go to Bette Davis ("I'm Still here"), Joan Crawford ("Broadway Baby") and Joan Blondell ("Who's that Woman" I guess). Now, even my contemporaries like Barbra Streisand are too old to play the principals. I think I'd like to see Catherine Zeta-Jones as Phyllis and folks from my generation as the old bags. Can't you see Liza Minelli singing "Broadway Baby", Bette Midler singing "Whose That Woman" and Cher singing "I'm Still Here". How much longer will Hollywood wait to do it?

I hope Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd" is a huge hit; then we might hve a chance of seeing FOLLIES done as a movie. In the meantime: 5 STARS for this DVD: what it is, what it represents and the performers it showcases.