Stephen Sondheim "FOLLIES" Alexis Smith / Yvonne De Carlo 1971 Tryout Playbill

Description

I'm currently listing a large number of playbills from out-of-town tryouts prior to the Broadway runs. Many are from early performances when revisions were common and include song titles that were cut before opening in New York. (See cut songs below.) ....... This is a rare March 1971 playbill from the Pre-Broadway tryout of the groundbreaking STEPHEN SONDHEIM and JAMES GOLDMAN musical "FOLLIES" at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. (The production would open April 4th, 1971 at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City and run for 522 performances.) ..... Winner of six Tony Awards, the musical starred ALEXIS SMITH (Tony Award for "Best Actress in a Musical"), GENE NELSON, DOROTHY COLLINS, JOHN McMARTIN and YVONNE DE CARLO and featured FIFI D'ORSAY, MARY McCARTY, ETHEL SHUTTA, ETHEL BARRYMORE COLT, MICHAEL BARTLETT, EDWIN STEFFE, JUSTINE JOHNSTON, JOHN J. MARTIN, DICK LATESSA, HARVEY EVANS, KURT PETERSON, MARTI ROLPH, VIRGINIA SANDIFUR, VICTORIA MALLORY, SHEILA SMITH, HELON BLOUNT, CHARLES WELCH and MARCIE STRINGER ..... Side note: When the curtain came down following the first tryout performance, a number of audience members rushed the stage, misinterpreting the scene description, "A party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre tonight" (last scanned image) as an invitation to the Opening Night Party. To prevent confusion, the description was quickly changed to, "SCENE: A party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre." ..... CREDITS: Music and Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM ("A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum", "West Side Story", "Gypsy", "Company", "Follies", "Merrily We Roll Along", "Do I Hear a Waltz?", "A Little Night Music", "Sweeney Todd", "Pacific Overtures", "Sunday in the Park With George", "Into the Woods", "Passion", "Assassins"); Book by JAMES GOLDMAN; Playbill Cover designed by DAVID EDWARD BYRD; Sets designed by BORIS ARONSON; Costumes designed by FLORENCE KLOTZ; Choreographed by MICHAEL BENNETT; Directed by HAROLD PRINCE and MICHAEL BENNETT; Produced by HAROLD PRINCE in association with RUTH MITCHELL ..... DETAILS: The 50 page playbill measures 6" X 9" inches and includes full production credits, cast list, synopsis of scenes, list of musical numbers and individual bios of each of the actors and members of the creative team, but no cast photos ..... CUT SONGS: The list of musical numbers includes "Can That Boy Fox Trot!" and "Uptown Downtown" which were cut out-of-town ..... CONDITION: This playbill is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.
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