Theatre News

Christine Baranski leads all-star Follies at Royal Albert Hall

The concert on 28 April will also star Ruthie Henshall and Russell Watson

Christine Baranski
Christine Baranski

Follies in Concert is coming to the Royal Albert Hall on 28 April to mark Stephen Sondheim's 85th birthday.

Craig Revel Horwood will direct a cast including Christine Baranski (Into The Woods, The Good Wife, Mamma Mia), Ruthie Henshall (Chicago, Les Miserables), Anita Dobson (EastEnders, Chicago), Anita Harris (Carry On films, Cats), Roy Hudd (Oliver!, Coronation Street) and chart-topping tenor Russell Watson.

The show, which is choreographed by WhatsOnStage Award-winner Andrew Wright and supported by the City of London Philharmonic Orchestra, will play a matinee and evening performance.

According to press material: "With a wealth of well-known songs, including 'Losing My Mind', 'Broadway Baby' and 'I'm Still Here', this iconic and much-loved show is being performed in celebration of composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim's 85th birthday this year."

Set in a crumbling old Broadway theatre scheduled for demolition, Follies sees two couples, Buddy and Sally Durant Plummer and Ben and Phyllis Rogers Stone, look back over their relationships during a reunion.

Follies premiered on 4 April 1971 at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway, starring Alexis Smith, John McMartin, Dorothy Collins, Gene Nelson, and Yvonne De Carlo. It opened in London at the West End’s Shaftesbury Theatre on 21 July 1987, where it ran to 4 February 1988.

Tickets for Follies in Concert are on sale now through the Royal Albert Hall website.