Helmed by Artistic Director Bill English, San Francisco Playhouse's summer production of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's Follies opens July 20 following COVID-related delays from the originally planned July 6 opening. The run, which began June 30, will continue through September 10.
The musical is set in a dilapidated theatre about to be torn down, the host to a final reunion for performers of the fictional Weismann Follies. Three-time Helen Hayes Award winner Natascia Diaz, whose Broadway credits include Man of La Mancha, The Capeman, Carousel, and Seussical, stars as Sally Durant Plummer.
Diaz is joined by Samantha Rose Cárdenas as Young Sally, Maureen McVerry as Phyllis Rogers Stone, Danielle Cheiken as Young Phyllis, Ryan Drummond as Buddy Plummer, Chachi Delgado as Young Buddy, Chris Vettel as Benjamin Stone, Cameron La Brie as Young Benjamin, Cindy Goldfield as Carlotta Campion, Lucinda Hitchcock Cone as Hattie Walker, Jill Slyter as Solange LaFitte, Caroline Louise Altman as Stella Deems, Louis Parnell as Dimitri Weismann, Frederick Winthrop as Roscoe, Eiko Yamamoto as Emily Whitman, and Rene Collins as Theodore Whitman with Emily Corbo, Anthony Maglio, Catrina Manahan, and Anne Warque in the ensemble.
Originally slated for the Playhouse’s 2019-2020 season but postponed due to the pandemic, the production marks Follies' first fully staged professional production in San Francisco.
The production features choreography by Nicole Helfer, music direction by Dave Dobrusky, scenic design by Heather Kenyon, costume design by Abra German, lighting design by Kurt Landisman, sound and projections design by Teddy Hulsker, properties design by Mylo Cardona, wig design by Laundra Tyme, casting by Dori L. Jacob and Annina Baker, and additional casting by Janet Foster. Danielle Levin is the production dialect coach
The musical premiered at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre in April 1971 with a score that boasts such tunes as "Beautiful Girls," "Broadway Baby," "In Buddy's Eyes," "I'm Still Here," "Could I Leave You?," "Losing My Mind," and "Who's That Woman?." Among the original cast were Dick Latessa, Alexis Smith, Yvonne De Carlo, John McMartin, Gene Nelson, and Dorothy Collins. The musical won seven Tony Awards in 1972.
