Academy Award® nominee Imelda Staunton in the National Theatre Live: Follies
“The unparalleled magic of Musical Theatre done well”- Vogue.
Eloquent desires, fantasy, nostalgia, regret and uncomfortable introspection are the intricate assembly of ingredients in Dominic Cooke’s highly anticipated revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s 1971 Tony Award winning musical.
Cooke’s stunning production will get to the heart of Jamaican fans on Sunday January 21, 2018, 11:30 a.m. at the Jamaica Stock Exchange listed Palace Amusement, Cineplex cinema.
NT Live is the world renowned National Theatre’s groundbreaking initiative to broadcast theatre live from the stage to cinemas around the world. Each performance is captured from select theatre’s in London’s West End and broadcast live (or ‘as live’, depending on location) via satellite to over 2000 venues in more than 40 countries including Jamaica. The success of NT Live has created more interest in going to the theatre.
The plot in Follies focuses on the reunion of a group of showgirls at the theatre where they used to perform. Thirty Years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves. As they stand at the center of the soon demolished grandeur theatre, they begin to reflect on their younger days, recall past glories and survey fragments of the dreams they once cherished.
The stunning generation of Follies Ladies in the National Theatre Live: Follies
All that glitter, is not gold as these shimmering show girls might be lovely, but their real, bruised, older selves are far from perfect. Each character is juxtaposed with the shadow of their former self – who acts as a constant, often regret-filled reminder throughout the show of their future that was once for the taking – as storylines of decades-old love triangles, affairs, and past dreams come back to haunt them.
The cast is led by Academy Award® nominee Imelda Staunton, who plays the blond, petite and sweet-faced Sally Durant Plummer. She is still remarkably like the girl she was thirty years ago and although she is married to Buddy (Peter Forbes) she finds herself still in love with her former lover Ben (Philip Quast) who is now married to her Follies sister Phyllis (Janie Dee).
The opulent production has a strong cast of 37 and a 21-piece orchestra and is directed by four-time Olivier Award winning director, Dominic Cooke, a long-standing professional in theatre and television spanning over two decades.
The dazzling aesthetic of the show is down to designer extraordinaire Vicki Mortimer, who is responsible for the extravagant array of 160 costumes, 62 headdresses, and 129 pairs of tap shoes – adorned with some 600,000 Swarovski crystals.
