Melbourne Reviews

Period perfect and defiant in its resilience to dodge the wrecking ball since 1927, Melbourne's glorious Palais Theatre set the evening’s mood long before Orchestra Victoria had even played a note of Australia’s first ever fully staged production of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s 1971 classic musical Follies.

A love song to showbiz, to Broadway and to theatre itself; haunting, beautiful and melancholy in its examination of self-preserving edits, the selective nature of memory and the probability that we exist as unreliable witnesses in our own lives. A legendary show built around legendary songs and performed by legendary performers, Follies has always been a powerful showcase of the industry’s best wherever it's staged and everyone will have an opinion about who should be frocked up and made up to belt out some of Sondheim's and musical theatres greatest numbers.

Former chorus girls and stars of the ‘Weisman Follies’ reunite in their now derelict theatre for one last hurrah before its scheduled demolition. Reflecting on the glamour of their younger lives and selves, the show’s narrative is far from linear with dreamlike vignettes of stolen kisses, infidelity, marriage proposals and alternative perspectives. Set in 1971, time drifts between the ‘present’ and past with current and ghostly versions of characters often simultaneously performing and re-preforming their original numbers. The veneer of what's on stage versus the reality of who we are in the wings before our entrance. A reunion, a return, a last look at something before it comes crashing down – literally and symbolically – our ‘follies’.

Sondheim’s score opens time with its tribute to show music from the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s, while simultaneously turning away from recognised musical theatre traditions and storytelling. The musical first opened in New York in 1971 and was far from a financial success but additional iterations, reworks, cast recordings and productions cemented the musical’s legendary status.

Focusing in on two couples and played by four of our finest and most versatile performers, Marina Prior, Antoinette Halloran, Adam Murphy and Alexander Lewis are all truly exceptional in their respective and demanding roles, genuinely top of their game pride inducing not to be missed outstanding performances – but wait, there’s more. While Phyllis, Sally, Ben and Buddy are the character’s most recognised from the piece, Follies is equally famous for its fabulously camp and joyous cameos performed here by some of our most seasoned and wonderful people. Delivering anthems like “Broadway Baby” are Anne Wood, Rhonda Burchmore, Colette Mann, Geraldene Morrow, Evelyn Krape and Merlyn Quaife. Beautifully supported by an incredible ensemble, sensational thoughtful choreography from Yvette Lee, gorgeous Musical Direction from Phoebe Briggs, stunning costumes and sets from Tony Awarded Roger Kirk and sympathetic intelligent Direction from Stuart Maunder, this is dream casting, an incredible production and two and half hours of pure theatrical joy.

So much has already been written about the merits and intricacies of this work – another dissecting tome isn't serving the publicists agenda, so in brief, Victorian Opera have delivered us something wonderful, but the season is unbelievably short. Follies really is an iconic show and its timeless catchy standards will undoubtedly be sung forever more but, looking around the theatre foyers, never has "I'm still here" been more reflective of its audience, so to that end, it seems unlikely that a production of this calibre will be staged again any time soon, if ever. This is a wonderful, rewarding, overwhelming and extraordinary moment in Australian theatre – a showcase of the best we have and an incredibly exciting glimpse at the best yet to come – hurry up and go!