by Cari Lynn Pace *

Don’t hate me, but I have never been much of a fan of Stephen Sondheim musicals (except for West Side Story.) Sondheim’s Follies, now being presented by Sonoma Arts Live through September 27 on the Rotary Stage at the Sonoma Community Center, changed my sentimental mind.

James Goldman wrote the book about a group of former stage stars reuniting for one last hurrah at an old Broadway theatre. The building is due to be razed and turned into a parking lot, so invitations have been sent out to the former “Wesimann Girls” to tread the boards one last time. Many return to their one-time place of glory, several accompanied by their husbands, and the reminiscing begins.

Sonoma Arts Live’s powerhouse team of Rick and Jaime Love enthusiastically supported Director Patrick Nims casting age-appropriate actors in the roles of these older showgirls and their spouses. What a delight to see them onstage, confident and unperturbed by fan-bedecked young chorines. Nothing stops their superb voices, and look at them tap dance!

As the gals gather and greet each other, their past stories unfold. Follies revisits past loves of the characters by shadowing the present with young dancers and singers who took the same stage decades ago. Stage-door Johnnies wait on a 2-story set designed by Gary Gonser. Kisses are exchanged, promises made, and broken hearts clash with rivalries. Today is today; can it be changed? While others reminisce, Sally (Brandy Noveh) and Phyllis (Beth Ellen Ethridge) have age-old resentments to settle that soon bubble to the surface in a turbulent lake of memories.

The plaintive songs are here for Sondheim fans, notably “Am I Losing My Mind” and “I’m Still Here.”  Sondheim’s focus on the characters’ reality and regret comes forth from beneath their feathers and rhinestones.

The second act is a wild and wooly revue, not unlike what a vaudeville show must have been like way back when it truly was a “follies”. The showstopper is veteran Tim Setzer, singing and dancing and mugging at the top of his game. The large cast joins in with outsized voices and give a rousing end to this delightfully nostalgic show.

It’s a superbly fashioned show of reminiscing and real emotions, with a razzle-dazzle  topper.

Playing through September 27, 2026 on the Rotary Stage at Andrews Hall in the Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. Napa St., Sonoma.

Click HERE for more information and tickets.

Photos by Katie Kelley Photography

Cari Lynn Pace is a long-time Bay Area theatre critic whose reviews were regularly featured in the Marinscope Community Newspapers and a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.