Follies Royal Theatre, Northampton
Choreographed by Nick Winston

Follies - Royal Theatre, Northampton
20th October to 18th November 2006

Director - Laurie Sansom
Choreographer - Nick Winston
Musical Director - Jonathan Gill
Designer - Jessica Curtis

Ben - Julian Forsyth
Buddy - Alex Giannini
Sally - Jan Hartley
Phyllis - Louise Plowright

Young Ben - Peter Caulfield
Young Buddy - Oliver Tydman
Young Sally - Savannah Stevenson
Young Phyllis - Haley Flaherty

Kevin - Alain Terzoli
Young Wiesman - Darren J Fawthrop
Young Stella - Pippa Raine
Young DeeDee/Heidi - Laura Pitt-Pulford
Young Sandra - Katie Lovell
Young Carlotta - Suzy Bastone

From the 20th October to 18th November 2006

A sensational musical combining professional actors alongside performers from the local community will be the first in-house production to take to the Royal stage. Laurie Sansom, Artistic Director of Royal and Derngate, will be directing Follies, a Stephen Sondheim musical in October. The announcement comes as Laurie opens the audition process up to local people.

Follies is set on the eve of an old theatre's demolition as the extraordinary women who once graced its stage return for one final party. As the night unfolds, ghosts from the past mingle with the reunited guests, and skeletons come tumbling out of some very glamorous closets.

Featuring one of Sondheim's most ravishing scores, including Losing My Mind, I'm Still Here and Broadway Baby, this will be a major production with a cast of over thirty as well as a ten-piece orchestra.

Contact the theatre on box.office@royalandderngate.co.uk or call 01604 624811

25 October 2006 The Guardian - Michael Billington ****

Laurie Sansom is clearly an ironist. He has decided to celebrate the £15m refurbishment of Northampton's Royal and Derngate complex with a revival of Stephen Sondheim's 1971 musical Follies, which is set in a theatre on the eve of demolition. But, however quirky his choice, it pays off richly in a production that mixes seasoned pros with community members.

Follies will always be something of a cult show. Although it has just been done at London's Landor, it is too expensive to be commercially profitable. For all its kaleidoscopic daring, James Goldman's book is also deeply flawed: having exposed the wasted lives of a pair of former showgirls, in the course of a grand Follies reunion, it cursorily restores their ailing marriages. Even Sondheim's score, which offers a panorama of American 20th-century popular song, doesn't have the spellbinding unity of Sweeney Todd or Pacific Overtures.

But I'd still rather see Follies than South Pacific any day. It is, as someone said, the first Proustian musical. And its obsession with memory is heightened by the casting in Sansom's superb production. The Follies veterans are played by local amateurs, whose wrinkles are clearly visible and whose moves are shadowed by their lissom younger selves. When the generations join forces in Nick Winston's expertly choreographed Who's That Woman?, the effect is enough to make even a critic clap.

In its evocation of lost time, Follies makes more sense the older you get. At the core of this production are four pitch-perfect performances by the central couples. Louise Plowright and Julian Forsyth as a Park Avenue pair who indulge in "passionless love-making once a year" are wreathed in gilt-edged sadness. Jan Hartley and Alex Giannini as a neglected wife and her travelling lech of a husband match them in melodic despair. But this is a musical where present pain is always counterpointed by past ecstasy. When Sansom's production, lavishly designed by Jessica Curtis, evokes the golden days of the Follies, it circumvents irony to catch at the heart.

27 October 2006 The Stage - Caroline Morris

Fantastic, fabulous Follies...

Fantastic, fabulous Follies, what a way to re-open Northampton’s Royal Theatre. Director Laurie Sansom’s dazzling and glamorous production involves a cast of over 30 performers, both professional and community actors, a live orchestra and a challenging set. Eat your heart out Dirty Dancing.

If this is the rebirth of the Royal Theatre, then Northampton’s audiences are in for something special in the future. It seems a very long time since audiences last sat in the Royal’s auditorium, in fact some 18 months, but the refurbishment has seen it beautifully restored. As for the concourse areas, I think it might take a while for these to become accepted.

The cast are stunning, the live orchestra is perfect and full marks to Jonathan Gill for the musical direction. Nick Winston’s choreography would not be out of place on a West End stage. The ambitious set from designer Jessica Curtis gives the Royal a whole new dimension, with wonderful costumes too.

All the performers have magnificent voices which can be clearly heard. Jan Hartley is brilliant as Sally, Alex Giannini delivers a tireless Buddy, Louise Plowright makes a patient Phyllis and Julian Forsyth is a dramatic Ben.

So high is the standard of community performers, frankly, it is difficult to tell them from the professionals. The ladies in particular are amazing - Rita Gee as Hattie Walker certainly knows how to steal a show. Whatever you do, don’t miss this.