Follies, 1971 "Loveland"

This is a single shot from the mezzanine. I have synched up the audio to the choreography, and it fits perfectly except for girl #4, who seems to be out of step.

[@terryhammond1253]

I was there. I saw Follies 4 times, including closing night. Orchestra seats were ten bucks in 1972! A masterpiece! Would be great as a film...with the right director.

[@flavio136]

This is dreamlike. A legend of a show barely captured in its dramatic magnificence. If I could travel back in time it would be to 1971 at the Wintergarden Theatre to see Follies as many times as possible.

[@DRGeoduck]

To see this legendary moment from this legendary musical in such surprisingly clear video is like seeing someone come back from the dead. Incredible work!

[@MichaelGildin]

This is absolutely stunning. If only there was a video recording of the whole show with quality like this! I already thought that the existing footage was great, but this is just utter bliss!

[@terryhammond1253]

Thank you so much for posting. I have watched this clip many times. I saw the original show several times on Broadway and it was so thrilling I can't even describe it. An original cast Never to be duplicated. Incredible production, sets, orchestration, and on it goes. This was the farewell to the Golden Age of Broadway.

[@psychokarloff]

Me too, on each point, except I only saw it 3 times. A production burned into my brain, never to be forgotten.

[@Organgrinder1010]

Oh, my! I didn't know this existed! I'll never forget this production of such a superb yet anguished musical drama. Thank you for taking the time to synch and upload!

[@phillippacheco5963]

That was terrific. In its way it resembles early two-strip technicolor. Is there more? Thank you.

[@allanfisch]

i was thinking the same thing.

[@songplugger8330]

It looks like the 1929 two-strip Technicolor clip of "There Must Be Someone Waiting For Me In Loveland" from GLORIFYING THE AMERICAN GIRL! stjn00 has it here.

[@terryhammond1253]

My all-time favorite musical. I saw the original on Broadway 5 times! Back then an Orch. Seat only cost $10!

[@variegatus]

You know, the Loveland number is not on the original cast album. I wore out the album before I was lucky enough to see this in person. So this sequence was a glorious surprise. I remember when the scenery stared coming down and unfolding and the trumpets blared I felt like I was having a heart attack. Complete sensory overload, in a good way.

[@williamgardiner2010]

Stephen Sondheim explained the reason for that during a talk in London a few years ago. He said the full score should have been recorded for a double album. The recording company refused so they had to make do and cut back considerably to fit as much as they could on a single record. I wonder though if the full recording is still in the archives?

[@stevepotfora7461]

In an interview with Adam Guettel on this site Sondheim says this is his favorite surprise moment he has helped create in the theater... He also gives credit to Boris Aronson.

[@unclealand]

THIS is “Follies.” Except for the Papermill production, no revival was able to come close to the original.

[@mitchellivers]

Excellent quality! Thank you!

[@johnfarrell9681]

Thanks so much for posting this! Follies was such a great show!! Saw it at least a dozen times when I was in high school (Thanks to Hal Prince for those $2 box seats!) Such happy memories! I wonder if a full version exists? Nonetheless, it plays over in my head! (Cue: The Girls Upstairs)

[@UltraCinemaScope70]

Fantastic job! Thank you for putting that together.

[@Marcatissimo]

Oh my god. This looks amazing. Thanks a million!

[@fledee]

When I said "girl #4," I meant the fourth showgirl who makes her appearance (there are 6 showgirls altogether).

[@bruceny9]

Nicely done!

[@michaelrandall4862]

Wow.

[@williamgardiner2010]

Was cinematography invented just the year before? What a pity the full show was not properly filmed at the time.

[@spn1007]

I have seen all the clips that ani7guy has posted on youtube, but these surpass them. Where did you get the video. Amazing! Thanks so much!!!

[@robertlobiondo7573]

By the by, at the Prince Exhibition in 2020, this video was shown and indicated that Ruth Mitchell made this video.

[@fledee]

Was it a better quality video? Did they have more of it?

[@robertlobiondo7573]

@@fledee I think quality was the same or I would have filmed it. Same length.

[@FolliesFan-yu8mf]

@@robertlobiondo7573 Ruth filmed it?

[@robertlobiondo7573]

@@FolliesFan-yu8mf That's what was indicated at the exhibit, yes.

[@FolliesFan-yu8mf]

@@robertlobiondo7573 Oh! So neither of Ms Klotz's assistants (Domingo Rodriguez or Joseph Miller) then?

[@mckernan603]

So is this supposed to be the Zeigfeld sound?

[@luc9388]

It’s Sondheim’s pastiche take on a Ziegfeld follies song

[@megan132]

i just want to know...why would they put men to say each of the different lines? was it just for comedic effect?

[@tomshea8382]

Perhaps Sondheim/Goldman/Bennett were operating on the chauvinistic early-20th-century principle that a woman wouldn't have been a credible "guide" through Loveland.

[@johndalton3180]

It was simply the style of the Zigfield Follies that they were trying to emulate.

[@GeoStrum3]

An orchestra seat for $9.50!

[@fledee]

At some matinees, you could get a balcony seat for $2.00.

[@williamgardiner2010]

and bearing in mind inflation, especially in the 1970s, that still amounts to only $25 in today's money.