Kate Baldwin, Beth Leavel, and More Join FOLLIES Concert at Carnegie Hall

The complete cast has now been announced for Transport Group's concert production of Follies. The sold-out event will play one night only—Thursday, June 20, at 8:00 p.m. at Carnegie Hall.

Joining the cast are Kate Baldwin (two-time Tony nominee, Hello, Dolly!) Lauren Blackman (Anastasia), Julianna Brown, Jessica Chambers, Mamie Duncan-Gibbs (Jelly's Last Jam), Hannah Elless (Bright Star), Ruth Gottschall (Mary Poppins), Christian Mark Gibbs (Camelot), Candice Hatakeyama (Funny Girl), JoAnn M Hunter (Bad Cinderella), Marc Kudisch (three-time Tony nominee, The Wild Party), Beth Leavel (Tony winner, The Drowsy Chaperone),  Alicia Lundgren (Shuffle Along), Abby Matsusaka (Some Like It Hot), Dana Moore (Fosse), Erin N. Moore (After Midnight), Michele Pawk (Tony winner, Hollywood Arms), and Margo Sappington (Promises, Promises).

Previously announced cast members include Julie Benko (Funny Girl), Mikaela Bennett (Renascence, BBC Proms West Side Story), Michael Berresse (Tony nominee, Kiss Me Kate), Alexandra Billings (Wicked), Klea Blackhurst (Everything the Traffic Will Allow), Harolyn Blackwell (Candide, Porgy and Bess), Stephen Bogardus (Tony nominee, Love! Valour! Compassion!; Falsettos), Len Cariou (Tony winner, Sweeney Todd), Carolee Carmello (three-time Tony nominee, Parade; Falsettos), Jim Caruso (Liza’s At The Palace), Nikki Renée Daniels (Company, The Book of Mormon), Christine Ebersole (two-time Tony winner, Grey Gardens, 42nd Street), Katie Finneran (two-time Tony winner, Noises Off, Promises, Promises), Santino Fontana (Tony winner, Tootsie), Alexander Gemignani (Tony nominee, Carousel; Sweeney Todd), Miguel Gil (Kimberly Akimbo), Olivia Elease Hardy (Kimberly Akimbo), Grey Henson(Tony nominee, Mean Girls, Shucked), Fernell Hogan (Kimberly Akimbo), Jennifer Holliday (Tony winner, Dreamgirls), Isabel Keating (Tony nominee, The Boy from Oz), Adriane Lenox (Tony winner, Doubt), Norm Lewis (Tony nominee, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess), Ryan McCartan (Heathers), Thom Sesma (Pacific Overtures, Man of La Mancha), Barbara Walsh (Tony nominee, Falsettos; Company), Nina White (Kimberly Akimbo), and Karen Ziemba (Tony winner, Contact).  

Due to scheduling conflicts, previously announced cast members Norbert Leo Butz, Erika Henningsen, Rachel Bay Jones, and Donna Murphy will no longer be performing.

This unique concert series features a different lineup of performers for each song, rather than a role portrayed by one actor for the entire evening. Additionally, in lieu of the musical’s book scenes, backstage stories and anecdotes from the creation of the original production are woven between songs.

Follies will be directed by Transport Group Artistic Director and five-time Drama Desk nominee and two-time Obie Award winner Jack Cummings III with musical direction by Joey Chancey. Hannah Oren serves as creative producer and Merri Sugarman, CSA serves as casting director.  The evening will feature the original Jonathan Tunick orchestrations played by a thirty-piece orchestra and will also feature a selection of Michael Bennett’s original choreography restaged by original cast member Mary Jane Houdina.

The evening will be hosted by Kurt Peterson, who originated the role of Young Ben in the 1971 Broadway production, as well as licensing executive and theatre historian Ted Chapin, whose memoir Everything Was Possible is taken from his daily diaries during the pre-Broadway run of Follies, on which he served as intern during his senior year of college.

Follies, book by James Goldman, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, produced originally on Broadway by Harold Prince, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, premiered on Broadway on April 4, 1971, at the Winter Garden Theatre in a production directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett, with choreography by Bennett. The winner of seven Tony Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards, and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best musical, Follies developed almost immediate cult and legendary status following its closing on July 1, 1972, after playing 522 performances and 12 previews. Scores of revivals followed on Broadway, in the West End, in regional theaters, and throughout the world. This concert is presented by special arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh.

The show, which has been famously updated numerous times for its many productions over the years, features many songs that are now central to the American songbook, including “Losing My Mind,” “Could I Leave You?,” “Broadway Baby,” “Too Many Mornings,” and “I’m Still Here”

Previous presentations in Transport Group’s Anne L. Bernstein concert series include Nine, Rodgers & Hammerstein: A Broadway Celebration; Sweet Charity; Promises, Promises; Man of La Mancha; Baby; Once Upon a Mattress; The Music Man; Peter Pan; and A Man of No Importance.