Review: Cygnet Theatre’s nostalgic ‘Follies’ celebrates the old and new

by Pam Kragen

In the 1971 musical “Follies,” a group of long-retired singers and dancers reunite for one night at a crumbling Broadway theater that has been shut down for more than 30 years.

The rarely performed Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman musical may have seemed a surprise choice to open Cygnet Theatre’s first season this past Saturday at The Joan, the $43.5 million theater complex at Arts District Liberty Station. But, in retrospect, it makes perfect sense.

The Joan was built over the past two years inside a decaying U.S. Navy building that had also been shuttered for more than 30 years. And just as The Joan emerged like a phoenix from the former Navy Building 178, the Weismann Theater in “Follies” is stunningly resurrected in a second-act dream sequence on The Joan’s 280-seat Joseph Clayes III Theater stage. And what is the central feature on the Weismann’s red curtains? Cygnet Theatre’s signature swan logo.

Saturday’s opening night was an official debut for “Follies,” as well as the theatrical capabilities of The Joan, which also includes a 150-seat flexible space named the Dottie Studio Theater, as well as an art gallery and lobby bar.

The Joan’s public spaces are sleek, stunning and modern, with an especially large women’s restroom (thank you!). Its intimate Clayes Theater has raked and very comfortable seating, so there’s great sightlines and not a bad seat in the house. It has excellent lighting and sound capabilities (the orchestra, conducted by music director Patrick Marion, performs in a separate room behind the stage) as well a large, deep and tall proscenium stage space. There’s also outdoor patio seating and covered walkways, hundreds of free parking spaces nearby and dozens of places to eat and drink within a five-minute walk.

Ralph Johnson, left, Leigh Scarritt, Kaia Bugler, Anise Ritchie and Melinda Gilb in Cygnet Theatre's "Follies" at The Joan in Arts District Liberty Station. (Karli Cadel) — Ralph Johnson, left, Leigh Scarritt, Kaia Bugler, Anise Ritchie and Melinda Gilb in Cygnet Theatre’s “Follies” at The Joan in Arts District Liberty Station. (Karli Cadel)

Cygnet Artistic Director Sean Murray directed “Follies” in a production that honors the show’s original concept and characters, but also dusts off some of its cobwebs.

Just as the script is about long-ago Broadway artists gathering for a reunion, Cygnet’s “Follies” cast features a wonderful gathering of veteran actors who have been performing on local stages as far back as the 1970s.

As a critic who has covered San Diego theater since the mid-1990s, I was thrilled to see long-established local actors — including Leigh Scarritt, Ralph Johnson, Melinda Gilb, Patti Goodwin and Anise Ritchie — in fun, meaty roles they could sink their teeth into.

All of the action in “Follies” takes place on the decrepit stage of the old Broadway house, which has been realistically rendered with a disintegrating proscenium arch, fallen chunks of concrete and gold-hued clamshell footlight shields by scenic designer Andrew Hull. Former showgirls, dancers and singers from the 1920s-’40s come together for a reunion party, where they reconnect, reminisce, share some laughs, cry, perform a few numbers and say their goodbyes before the theater is demolished.

The framing concept of the musical is that while these aging performers have moved on with their lives, their theatrical “ghosts” have stayed behind, locked in time. In most scenes, these younger versions (still in their original costumes) shadow their older selves looking on with wonder and curiosity. One of the production’s best features is how Murray found actors in their 20s who bear an uncanny resemblance to their older counterparts.

The musical’s central characters are two unhappily married couples: Arizonans Sally and Buddy Plummer and New Yorkers Ben and Phyllis Stone. Sally and Phyllis were fellow Follies performers who went their separate ways decades before, but Sally never gave up her secret passion for Phyllis’ never-satisfied husband, Ben.

The wonderful performances by the four actors in these roles — Karole Foreman as Phyllis, David Humphrey as Ben, Sandy Campbell as Sally and Russell Garrett as Buddy — ground the show, guide its story and give it heart.

Drew Bradford, left, and Nio Russell as Young Ben and Young Phyllis in Cygnet Theatre's "Follies" at The Joan in Arts District Liberty Station. (Karli Cadel) — Drew Bradford, left, and Nio Russell as Young Ben and Young Phyllis in Cygnet Theatre’s “Follies” at The Joan in Arts District Liberty Station. (Karli Cadel)

Some of the show’s best-performed numbers are Foreman’s showstopping solo “Could I Leave You?,” Humphrey’s “The Road You Didn’t Take,” Campbell’s “Losing My Mind” and Garrett’s “The Right Girl.” Also terrific are “I’m Still Here” sung by Scarritt as the seen-it-all faded star Carlotta, and the song-and-dance ensemble number “Who’s That Woman?” led with great humor by Gilb as the saucy ex-showgirl Stella.

The musical’s first act drags a bit as the characters reunite, mingle, drink, sing and dance, but with little plot development. It’s only in the second act where the drama begins, mostly in an extended dream sequence called “Loveland,” where 1920s-style “Follies”-style vignettes depict the failed romantic follies of the Plummers and Stones.

“Follies” is a show very much of its place and time in the 1970s, so its structure and some of its character resolutions feel dated. But this production is lovingly directed, performed and rendered, with wonderful choreography by Katie Banville, costumes by Elisa Benzoni, sound by Matt Lescault Wood and lighting by Amanda Zieve. So I recommend it’s definitely worth seeing, both “Follies” and The Joan itself.