STAGE REVIEW : A Stately ‘Follies’ That’s Too Young on Its Feet

Stephen Sondheim’s ironic “Follies” is meant to have a melancholy edge, a swatch of longing amid all the colorful toniness. The 1971 musical, focusing on a reunion of aging chorus girls and the people close to them, is not only about lost elegance but lost opportunities as well.

All this introspection gives “Follies” a firmness that takes it beyond mere entertainment and also presents a tough challenge to any director. How do you nimbly combine the spry and the soulful without diminishing one or the other?

At UC Irvine, Clayton Garrison and his mostly student cast have a wobbly time with this balancing act. From the outset, the production leans toward a stately sophistication that emphasizes “Follies’ ” faded glamour but leaves much of its spirit waiting in the wings.

The opening number takes on the air of a procession against Richard Triplett’s gleaming depiction of a Broadway stage. The cast moves about slowly, posing more than performing. Everything is drawn out and deliberate, almost as if everybody is holding their breath, hoping that something exciting will ensue.

Garrison’s pacing does pick up later--there’s juice in Lisa Radakovich’s “Ah, Paris!” and Linda Cameron’s “Who’s That Woman?”--but the feel generally remains stiff and less accessible than Sondheim intended.

Still, the audience may find the lives of Ben and Phyllis and Buddy and Sally intriguing enough to keep tuned in. The heart of “Follies” beats in time with these two couples, who married when the girls were in the Weissman Theater chorus line and who have since slipped, unfulfilled, past middle-age. Will Ben and Phyllis stay together? Will Sally dump Buddy and end up with Ben, whom she has loved for years? Will we care?

The Phyllis-Ben relationship is by far the more interesting, and it predictably draws the show’s best performances. As Phyllis, a woman well on her way to full-throttle bitchiness, Myrona DeLaney is the standout. She gives Phyllis the sharp, icy edges and a condescending tilt to her chin that tell much about the character. But by the same count, the hint of the young, hopeful Phyllis is also present in this mature, professional portrayal.

UC Irvine drama professor Stuart Duckworth gives Ben an almost overwhelming dryness that comes close to being glib. He’s annoying early on, but the characterization settles in as we find out more about what brought him to this state of frosty cynicism.

As the innocent, sweet contrast to all this self-absorption, Frances Young as Sally and Brad Witsger as Buddy are about as plucky and bright-eyed as they can be, which is too much. The portrayals are also played too young; you never believe for an instant that Buddy and Sally are contemporaries of the weary, worn-down Ben and Phyllis.

This touches on one of the problems with UC Irvine’s “Follies.” It is a little surreal having such youthful performers in the nascent stage of their careers play mature folks who have already said goodby to theirs. Maybe there is some charming symmetry in all this, but too often all one notices is how poorly many of the actors fit their roles.

‘FOLLIES’

A UC Irvine production. Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by James Goldman. Directed by Clayton Garrison. With Toby Williams, Kristi Peterson, Frances Young, Kariann Montez, Terrence M. Carey, Linda Cameron, Tom Humphreys, Kim Lee Zwissig, Christina L. Proft, Luck Hari, Karen Alana, Elie Goretsky, Lisa Radakovich, Michelle Elizabeth McHugh, Myrona DeLaney, Stuart Duckworth, Brad Witsger, Clayton Garrison, Kelly McDaniel, Kerry McDaniel, Jim Hormel, Nicholas Johnson, Martin Drobac, Anne Marie Etchepare, Megan Starr-Levitt and Robert Feeney. Choreography by Chet Walker. Sets and costumes by Richard Triplett. Lighting by Tom Ruzika. Plays at 8 p.m. today and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the campus’ Fine Arts Village Theatre, Irvine. Tickets: $7 to $11. (714) 856-6616.