Chapin tells how the 1971 Hal Prince/ Stephen Sondheim/Michael Bennett musical about old theater performers created no strapping young stars, went through multiple revisions, lost money and yet established a place in theater memory for emotional and artistic complexity. The author, son of arts impresario Schuyler Chapin, was one of Follies's few youngsters, a Connecticut College student observing the production as independent study but becoming the crew's gofer. Chapin's chronology spans the practical to the exceptional, from how tap sounds are created to the last-minute writing of Yvonne De Carlo's now-standard I'm Still Here. He also charts Boris Aronson's multileveled sets, the dress that transformed Alexis Smith into the show's star, the inestimable uses of previews in Boston, the Broadway opening and the surrounding national interest in the play. Chapin doesn't dwell on the negative audience reaction to Follies's ambiguities, leaving the play's year-long run to tell the tale. Despite much praise and many Tony Awards, Follies closed after 522 performances. It lost almost $800,000 and was considered a "financial failure." Still, nearly all the players considered it a high point of their careers. Prince called it his "favorite show"; Bennett said, "So much of that show was better than anything I've ever seen or anything I've ever done." Maybe, as Frank Rich says, it needs time to gain its place in theater history. Whatever happens, Chapin memorably marks the creation of a difficult, honorable work. 8 pages of color photos and 63 b&w photos in text.
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Publisher: Applause Books
Released: 2005
by Chloe Rabinowitz – March 02, 2026
Center Stage Records will release If the Stars Were Mine, the debut album from Claybourne Elder – best known for starring in HBO's “The Gilded Age” and Broadway's Company – in digital and streaming formats.
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Tony Award-nominated composer has released The Symphonic Suites, an album comprised of new symphonic interpretations of four of his celebrated musical theatre scores, including Dracula, Jekyll & Hyde, Einstein: A Matter of Time, and Artus Excalibur (aka XCalibur).
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by Team BWW – February 23, 2026
This is the final chance to submi nominations for the 2025 BroadwayWorld Stage Recording Awards, celebrating outstanding achievements in theatrical and performance-based recordings released during the 2025 calendar year.
by Josh Sharpe – February 20, 2026
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by Chloe Rabinowitz – February 20, 2026
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by Nicole Rosky – February 25, 2026
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Broadway's Andrew Keenan-Bolger is making a showstopping YA debut with Limelight, a poignant coming-of-age novel about identity, first love, and the power of the arts to help young people feel seen.
by Chloe Rabinowitz – February 19, 2026
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by Chloe Rabinowitz – February 19, 2026
The Al Hirschfeld Foundation will present a new collection titled Hirschfeld's Icons: A Poster Book featuring iconic figures like Elvis and Madonna.
by Josh Sharpe – February 18, 2026
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Just in time for the streaming debut of Wicked: For Good on Peacock, Republic Records will release a brand-new pop-up vinyl edition of the soundtrack featuring an embossed cover and a pop-up gatefold jacket depicting Elphaba, Glinda, Grimmerie pages, and more.
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Ghostlight Records has announced the release of NEXT TO NORMAL – ORIGINAL LONDON CAST RECORDING as a special two-CD set on Friday, February 27.
by A.A. Cristi – February 06, 2026
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For Record Store Day 2026, Republic Records will release a special vinyl edition of Wicked: One Wonderful Night, the live soundtrack of the 2025 NBC special.
by Chloe Rabinowitz – February 04, 2026
Musical theatre composer and lyricist Will Larche is set to release a new album entitled Bumps in the Bathroom: and other lost shows.
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