[ WEEKEND ]
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Former Miss Hawaii singer and actress Cathy Foy.
Memories
get new hopeNew "Follies" has a happier ending
Romance, like beauty, is evidently in the eye of the beholder. Local actress Cathy Foy, who says her favorite shows are romantic musicals with happy endings, describes the ending of "Follies" as, well, happier now than it was when the original version of the Stephen Sondheim / James Goldman musical opened on Broadway in 1971.
Happier times
Diamond Head Theatre presents "Follies"Where: Diamond Head Theatre, 520 Makapuu Ave.
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays, through June 8
Tickets: $10 to $40
Call: 733-0274
"The ending (in the 2001 Broadway revival) is very hopeful. In the original, there's no hope for Sally (Durant Plummer)," Foy explained over a late luncheon Monday.
Foy, who portrays Sally in Diamond Head Theater's production that opens today, didn't want to spoil the experience for anyone who may be seeing the play for the first time, but warns that first-timers may be a bit confused by the way that, as it opens, librettist Goodman blurs the distinction between the present and the past.
"Someone seeing it for the first time might get a little confused at seeing two couples and then, suddenly, they're four couples, but it's about two couples who have one leg in the past and one leg in the present, and who still aren't able to let go of the past. Their memories are so strong that when they come to the theater, their memories of their younger selves come to life," Foy said.
The memories become so vivid that the aging performers can "see" younger versions of themselves, when the theater was a palace and each new version of the Weissman Follies were more dazzling than the one before.
Dimitri Weissman, a fictionalized version of theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld, invites the surviving members of his long-ago musical revues to a final reunion in the derelict theater where they performed in the distant past. The building is scheduled to be destroyed in the morning, and as the aging entertainers return to the crumbling theater, they begin to relive their glory days.
COURTESY OF DIAMOND HEAD THEATRE
Sally and Buddy Plummer, played by Cathy Foy and Peter Clark, front, and Benjamin and Phyllis Rogers Stone, played by Bob Frederick and Devon Guard, are the main characters in "Follies."
Old friendships and old rivalries are rekindled as well.
FOY SEES "Follies" as a window into a bygone era in American entertainment.
"I think for people who really love pure musical theater, they will really enjoy this show, because it talks about a time in America, and a way of life, that really doesn't exist anymore. This is a look back at a time when theater was really a place where people would go to forget their troubles."
The production is an enormous undertaking for DHT, and artistic director John Rampage is doing it as big as possible. Rampage is both doing stage direction and choreography, Donald Yap is the musical director, Wally White the set designer, Kathleen Kamakaiwi is doing hair and make-up, and Bill Doherty has been brought in to design the headpieces for the Weissman showgirls.
Cast members include Chuck Anctil, Rose Marie Barbee, Peter Clark, Wisa D'Orso, Bob Frederick, Devon Guard and Deanna Luster.
Frederick and Guard have the key roles of Benjamin Stone and Phyllis Rogers Stone. D'Orso, as Carlotta Campion, has a surefire show-stopping number.
"It's great to work with Wisa." Foy said. "She's going to stop the show with 'I'm Still Here,' that's all I can say. And Devon Guard is absolutely flawless and luminous on stage. When I think about it, I'm just so amazed at how beautiful the production is and how talented every one in the show is."
Foy admits to being especially impressed that Yap is working with a copy of the original score, complete with technical notes on how the original cast and musicians handled Sondheim's music.
"There's a lot of layers in this music, and I hope that I do justice to them," she said. "Sondheim wrote the music and the most beautiful lyrics you can imagine."
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