Follies: Your views

The show uses the original Broadway soundtrack

Legendary Broadway musical Follies has been revived for the London stage at the Royal Festival Hall.

The Stephen Sondheim classic stars Henry Goodman, who was controversially sacked from Broadway show The Producers in April.

"Kathryn Evans and Henry Goodman impress as the Plummers, but Louise Gold and David Durham as loveless couple Phyllis and Ben Stone are the outstanding cast members," wrote BBC News Online's Julian Shea.

But what do you think?

Whose performance stood out? Is Goodman better than his Broadway treatment at the hands of The Producers warranted? Was the staging spectacular?

First thing to say is how great it is to have a Sondheim show in London once again. Every Sondheim performance I see confirms his rare genius and for me the show is always the star. As for the production well... the RFH is not the ideal venue - I think Sondheim works better on an intimate rather than a grand scale, as experienced with the productions at the Donmar Warehouse. This production is in a huge space, which gave rise to my perennial gripe in theatres - that of over-amplification. When will directors of musicals understand that very loud sound does NOT deliver correspondingly great performances? - and in this case - especially with Diana Langton's performance of I'm Still Here - the volume absolutely got in the way of the performance and diminished the song's impact, not enhanced it.

Ms Langton would have done much better had she been allowed to deliver her big number relying on her own more than adequate resources rather than on too many decibels. That apart, I had a thoroughly enjoyable Sondheim wallow - two peformances in particular stood out for me - Joan Savage as Hattie and above all Kathryn Evans as Sally - not forgetting of course the ghostly spectacular and sparkling Weissman girls floating about the stage!
Paul King, UK

I travelled to London from Lincoln to see this show and was not disappointed. Kathryn Evans was superb as usual, as were the rest of the cast. It will be a long time before I forget Broadway Baby!
Steve Turner, England

I did not feel that the RFH was the wrong venue for Follies. The set and the direction combined to draw you into the backstage world of an ageing theatre on Broadway. The cast was excellent, Kathryn Evans has been rightly praised for her role as Sally, but the other principals, and their younger selves were also excellent, in particular Louise Gold as Phyllis, she brought a tough yet vulnerable quality to the character which made her the most believable and sympathetic of the quartet. Her rendition of Lucy and Jessie was superb and almost stopped the show. Henry Goodman showed that Broadway is not always right in its judgemnt and David Durham had a great singing voice and did well in a difficult role, (who really has much sympathy for the uptight, distand Ben?) The ebst of the "older" Follies girls was probably Joan Savage who sang Broadway Baby as if it had been written for her.

If you haven't yet seen the show you have only one more week to enjoy a marvelleous, entertaining and intelligent night out!
Mandy Dixon, UK

Some say this production of Follies lacks an "All Star Cast", but as far as I am concerned it is star enough, a lot of the individual performances are outstanding. Kathryn Evans is nice as Sally. And it's fun to see Myra Sands's Emily. Joan Savage gives a truly wonderful performance of Broadway Baby. Henry Goodman is more than as reliable as ever. Broadway may not appreciate him, but their loss is definitely our gain.

However, for me the very best thing about this show is the actress (and rather notable British puppeteer), the extraordinary Louise Gold as Phyllis. She is simply one of the best actresses of her generation, who excells in warm-heated bitch roles, such as Phyllis. However, the real surprise of the evening is Louise Gold's absolutely STUNNING song and dance performance of Lucy And Jesse. This could well be comparable with watching say Merman or Garland. It's much more than just her singing. Gold looks terrific in that costume, and well, I never realised before just how well she can dance! She's sensational. And to my mind, she and the ever reliable Henry Goodman, are the true stars of this show.
Emma D Shane, England

Many critics were, er, critical of the choice of venue for this show, however the outstanding production levels were enough to convince me that the Festival Hall was in fact a delapidated theatre.

Although Kathryn Evans stole the show with the fabulous torch songs Losing My Mind and Too many Mornings, Henry Goodman's vaudeville turn as Buddy wasn't far behind. Of the supporting cast, Joan Savage's Broadway Baby and Diane Langton's I'm Still Here both brought the house down, making me wonder yet again why a composer of such wonderful songs can only boast one true "hit" record (something about clowns) on his CV.

This show beats all West End shows currently on offer hands down and cries out for an immediate transfer.
Gareth Smith, UK

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