Editing Follies (section)

===1971 original Broadway===
''Follies'' had its pre-Broadway tryout at the [[Colonial Theatre (Boston)|Colonial Theatre]], [[Boston]], from February 20 through March 20, 1971.<ref>[http://www.sondheimguide.com/follies.html#Broadway {{"'}}Follies' listing, Broadway 1971"] sondheimguide.com, retrieved December 30. 2010</ref><ref>Kelly, Kevin. [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/1933059852.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic1&date=Feb+25%2C+1971&author=Kevin+Kelly&pub=Boston+Globe+(1960-1979)&edition=&startpage=41&desc=Theater+review "Abstract-'Follies' musical opens at Colonial"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104214810/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/1933059852.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS%3AAI&type=historic1&date=Feb%2025%2C%201971&author=Kevin%20Kelly&pub=Boston%20Globe%20%281960-1979%29&edition=&startpage=41&desc=Theater%20review |date=November 4, 2012 }}. ''Boston Globe'', February 25, 1971</ref>

[[File: Follies stage.jpg|thumb|right|Model of set design by [[Boris Aronson]]]]
''Follies'' premiered on Broadway on April 4, 1971, at the [[Winter Garden Theatre]]. It was directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett, with choreography by Bennett, scenic design by [[Boris Aronson]], costumes by [[Florence Klotz]], and lighting by [[Tharon Musser]]. It starred [[Alexis Smith]] (Phyllis), [[John McMartin]] (Ben), [[Dorothy Collins]] (Sally), [[Gene Nelson]] (Buddy), along with several veterans of the Broadway and vaudeville stage. The supporting role of Carlotta was created by [[Yvonne De Carlo]] and usually is given to a well-known veteran performer who can belt out a song. Other notable performers in the original productions were [[Fifi D'Orsay]] as Solange LaFitte, [[Justine Johnston]] as Heidi Schiller, [[Mary McCarty (actress)|Mary McCarty]] as Stella Deems, [[Arnold Moss]] as Dimitri Weismann, [[Ethel Shutta]] as Hattie Walker, and Marcie Stringer and Charles Welch as Emily and Theodore Whitman.

The show closed on July 1, 1972, after 522 performances and 12 previews. According to ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', the production was a "total financial failure, with a cumulative loss of $792,000."<ref>Chapin, p. 310</ref> Prince planned to present the musical on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] and then on a national tour. However, the show did not do well in its [[Los Angeles]] engagement and plans for a tour ended.<ref>Chapin, pp. 309-310</ref>

[[Frank Rich]], for many years the chief drama critic for ''[[The New York Times]]'', had first garnered attention, while an undergraduate at [[Harvard University]], with a lengthy essay for the ''[[Harvard Crimson]]'' about the show, which he had seen during its pre-Broadway run in Boston. He predicted that the show eventually would achieve recognition as a Broadway classic.<ref>Chapin, pp. 116, 193-95</ref> Rich later wrote that audiences at the original production were baffled and restless.<ref name="rich1">Rich, Frank. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E1DD133BF936A2575AC0A963948260 "Stage View; Sondheim's 'Follies' Evokes Old Broadway"]. ''The New York Times'', September 15, 1985</ref>

For commercial reasons, the cast album was cut from two LPs to one early in production. Most songs were therefore heavily abridged and several were left entirely unrecorded. According to [[Craig Zadan]], "It's generally felt that&nbsp;... Prince made a mistake by giving the recording rights of ''Follies'' to [[Capitol Records]], which in order to squeeze the unusually long score onto one disc, mutilated the songs by condensing some and omitting others."<ref>Zadan, p. 175</ref> Chapin confirms this: "Alas&nbsp;... final word came from Capitol that they would not go for two records&nbsp;... [Dick Jones] now had to propose cuts throughout the score in consultation with Steve."<ref>Chapin, p. 279</ref> "One More Kiss" was omitted from the final release but was restored for CD release. Chapin relates that "there was one song that Dick Jones [producer of the cast album] didn't want to include on the album but which Steve Sondheim most definitely did. The song was "One More Kiss", and the compromise was that if there was time, it would be recorded, even if Jones couldn't promise it would end up on the album. (It did get recorded but didn't make its way onto the album until the CD reissue years later.)"<ref>Chapin, p. 305</ref><ref>[http://www.sondheimguide.com/folliesrec.html#BWR {{"'}}Follies' 1971 Original Broadway Cast Recording"]. sondheimguide.com, retrieved December 14, 2010</ref>