In the final act of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, the leading characters' emotional troubles are reflected as a string of vaudeville-style numbers before returning to the theatre for the end of the reunion party. The plum supporting role of Carlotta Campion, the seen-it-all ex-Follies girl who sings the showstopping "I'm Still Here," was created by Yvonne De Carlo in 1971, and has subsequently often been given to a celebrated veteran performer. What follows are some of my favorites.Yvonne DeCarlo from the 1979 Follies television special:
Yvonne DeCarlo on David Frost:
Eartha Kitt at the Olivier Awards during her run in Follies in the late 1980s:
Eartha Kitt at a 1986 Canadian Concert, Redux and Even More Relevant:
Shirley MacLaine from Postcards From The Edge:
Carol Burnett at the 1985 Lincoln Center "Follies in Concert."
3 comments:
I abhor musical theater -- yes, I know, a humiliating admission -- but I was once talked into going to see Follies in London with friends. Eartha Kitt's singing "I'm Still Here" is the only thing I recall. Fortunately.
Mike Black
Have you and Michael Hawley already discussed this? He saw Kitt in the London production as well.
The London production I saw had Dolores Gray as Carlotta. I don't remember her as much as Dame Diana Rigg doing the striptease in the second act...! And Julia Mackenzie's incredible Dorothy!
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