The Complete Follies Collection, Featuring All 33 Sondheim Songs, Now Available

After five years of preparation, Carlin America, in partnership with Hal Leonard Corporation, will publish the first-ever complete and definitive "Author's Edition" of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical Follies in a song selection folio that includes all 33 Follies songs, a foreword and commentary by the author, and, for this collection, Sondheim's personal revisions of his original piano/vocal arrangements.

Since its 1971 Broadway World Premiere (which earned seven Tony Awards - including "Best Music and Lyrics" for Mr. Sondheim - and the New York Drama Critics' Award for Best Musical of that year), Follies continues to be recognized as among the most important and influential landmarks in musical theater history. The new publication will mark the first occasion all the Follies songs and cut-outs from the original, major revival and the 1987 London productions are combined in a single comprehensive volume.

Sondheim, in his foreword, recalls that when the publication was suggested, ""I was delighted, mostly because of the opportunity to share with musical theater enthusiasts the songs that never got on to the stage before they disappeared forever into the past (the enthusiasts as well as the songs, that is.)""

A crumbling theatre on the brink of demolishment--once the site of the glamorous Weismann Follies--is the setting of Follies. In the show, two couples--both comprised of former Weismann showgirls and their one-time stage door Johnnies--are confronted with the ghosts of the past. The show, which also features a book by James Goldman, originally starred Dorothy Collins, Alexis Smith, John McMcMartin and Gene Nelson. It opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on April 4th, 1971 to run for 522 performances.

In announcing the long-awaited publication of the Follies Author's Edition folio, Bob Golden, Editorial Supervisor and Carlin America's Vice President of Marketing stated, "This collection is the result of an extraordinary and dedicated collaboration between two music publishing giants and Stephen Sondheim, whose indelible contributions to the musical theater continue to be unparalleled and immeasurable. It is a proud privilege for all of us to make available, for the first time since this classic score was written, every Follies song in a complete, distinguished and authoritative volume that finally and faithfully represents both the author's original and subsequently current visions of the work."

The folio, titled The Complete Follies Collection, [HL00313306, ISBN 1-42340-192-1] retails for $22.95 and is available at music and bookstores nationwide or through Music Dispatch (www.musicdispatch.com, 1-800-637-2852). A complete song list follows:

1971 Original Broadway Production:

"Ah, Paris!"
"Beautiful Girls"
"Broadway Baby"
"Buddy's Blues"
"Could I Leave You?"
"Don't Look at Me"
"I'm Still Here"
"In Buddy'e Eyes"
"Live, Laugh, Love"
"Losing My Mind"
"Loveland"
"One More Kiss"
"Rain on the Roof"
"The Right Girl"
"The Road You Didn't Take"
"The Story of Lucy and Jessie"
"Too Many Mornings"
"Waiting for the Girls Upstairs"
"Who's That Woman?"
"You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through"

1987 London Production:

"Ah, But Underneath"
"Country House"
"Loveland"
"Make the Most of Your Music"

The Follies Notebook - Cut Songs:

"All Things Bright and Beautiful"
"Bring on the Girls"
"Can That Boy Foxtrot"
"It Wasn't Meant to Happen"
"Little White House/Who Could Be Blue?"
"Pleasant Little Kingdom"
"That Old Piano Roll"
"Uptown/Downtown"
"The World's Full of Girls"