The Creation of Follies by Dennis C. Dougherty
Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman were part of the same coterie of young show-biz types working to establish their careers in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Sondheim was in the midst of finding his place in the world of musical theatre, first as lyricist of West Side Story and Gypsy and then as composer and lyricist of, for starters, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Goldman was a young writer who had collaborated with his brother, William, on the comedy "Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole and the musical A Family Affair, before his own solo hit with the play They Might Be Giants. In early 1965, with both on the path to greater individual success, Sondheim and Goldman together were looking for a new idea when Goldman read about the Ziegfeld Girls Club, a gathering of former Ziegfeld showgirls. The evocative notion of reuniting long-ago friends and the emotional results of bringing them back together was the germ of an idea that inspired their work. By the end of the year, Goldman had a first draft of the libretto and Sondheim had written five songs for something called "The Girls Upstairs". While that project waited to take off, Sondheim and Goldman moved on to another collaboration by accepting an offer to create an original musical for the short-lived "Stage 67" TV series. Adapted from a story by John Collier, Evening Primrose featured four original Sondheim songs and Goldman's take on the tale of a failed poet who seeks refuge in a closed department store only to discover a secret society of people who come out at night. Though Evening Primrose was adventurous and entertaining, neither the musical nor the ABC series was well received. Both men moved on; Goldman would win acclaim (and an Academy Award) for the caustic comic play and the film adaption of "The Lion in Winter", while Sondheim would write Anyone Can Whistle and Do I Hear a Waltz? before the triumph that was Company. But "The Girls Upstairs" was always on a back burner. By the early 1970's, Sondheim and Goldman had gone through a number of producers before settling with Harold Prince, who had produced Sondheim's West Side Story ...Forum, and Company. At this point, the show's plot was something of a murder mystery centering on two couples attending the reunion of former showgirls. But as Prince started to work with the creators, the piece evolved. As Company had been a so-called 'plotless' musical constructed around the idea of marriage and relationships in contemporary society, so too "The Girls Upstairs" would eventually revolve around a theme more than a plot. Prince's memory of the famous photo of Hollywood glamour queen Gloria Swanson standing in the rubble of a demolished New York movie palace inspired the team to turn their show into Follies. That image of an aging star amidst the ruin of 'her' theater told the bittersweet story of meeting the ghosts of the past and offered the collaborators a more thematic vision. The story that is told of thse once-glamorous showgirls and their stagedoor Johnny beaus serves as a metaphor for the folly of life and love. As Sondheim himself noted, the show is about "how all your hopes can tarnish and how, if you live on regret and despair, you might as well pack up; for to live in the past is foolish." But maybe the most telling lyric of Sondheim's Follies score is the opening of "I'm Still Here," which declares: "Good times and bum times/I've seen them all, and my dear/I'm still here." main Follies page

The Creation of Follies
by Dennis C. Dougherty

Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman were part of the same coterie of young show-biz types working to establish their careers in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Sondheim was in the midst of finding his place in the world of musical theatre, first as lyricist of West Side Story and Gypsy and then as composer and lyricist of, for starters, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Goldman was a young writer who had collaborated with his brother, William, on the comedy "Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole and the musical A Family Affair, before his own solo hit with the play They Might Be Giants.

In early 1965, with both on the path to greater individual success, Sondheim and Goldman together were looking for a new idea when Goldman read about the Ziegfeld Girls Club, a gathering of former Ziegfeld showgirls. The evocative notion of reuniting long-ago friends and the emotional results of bringing them back together was the germ of an idea that inspired their work. By the end of the year, Goldman had a first draft of the libretto and Sondheim had written five songs for something called "The Girls Upstairs".

While that project waited to take off, Sondheim and Goldman moved on to another collaboration by accepting an offer to create an original musical for the short-lived "Stage 67" TV series. Adapted from a story by John Collier, Evening Primrose featured four original Sondheim songs and Goldman's take on the tale of a failed poet who seeks refuge in a closed department store only to discover a secret society of people who come out at night. Though Evening Primrose was adventurous and entertaining, neither the musical nor the ABC series was well received.

Both men moved on; Goldman would win acclaim (and an Academy Award) for the caustic comic play and the film adaption of "The Lion in Winter", while Sondheim would write Anyone Can Whistle and Do I Hear a Waltz? before the triumph that was Company. But "The Girls Upstairs" was always on a back burner. By the early 1970's, Sondheim and Goldman had gone through a number of producers before settling with Harold Prince, who had produced Sondheim's West Side Story ...Forum, and Company. At this point, the show's plot was something of a murder mystery centering on two couples attending the reunion of former showgirls. But as Prince started to work with the creators, the piece evolved. As Company had been a so-called 'plotless' musical constructed around the idea of marriage and relationships in contemporary society, so too "The Girls Upstairs" would eventually revolve around a theme more than a plot.

Prince's memory of the famous photo of Hollywood glamour queen Gloria Swanson standing in the rubble of a demolished New York movie palace inspired the team to turn their show into Follies. That image of an aging star amidst the ruin of 'her' theater told the bittersweet story of meeting the ghosts of the past and offered the collaborators a more thematic vision. The story that is told of thse once-glamorous showgirls and their stagedoor Johnny beaus serves as a metaphor for the folly of life and love. As Sondheim himself noted, the show is about "how all your hopes can tarnish and how, if you live on regret and despair, you might as well pack up; for to live in the past is foolish."

But maybe the most telling lyric of Sondheim's Follies score is the opening of "I'm Still Here," which declares: "Good times and bum times/I've seen them all, and my dear/I'm still here."

main Follies page