Stuart Maunder began his tenure as Victorian Opera’s Artistic Director with a musically and visually delightful production of Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide.

To kick off his second season, Maunder aims even higher with Australia’s first professional fully staged production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies.

Rarely performed because of the expense of its large cast and significant costuming requirements, this musical has often lived up to its name for investors – including its Broadway debut in 1971. That’s despite seven Tony Awards and warm audience response, including to songs that have become much-loved standards.

So it’s surprising that the usually fiscally cautious Victorian Opera has not only tackled Follies, but delivered such an impressive production.

Victorian Opera’s Follies. Photo © Jeff Busby

The design, especially Tony winner Roger Kirk’s costumes, is sumptuous, and  the perfect cast includes several Australian stage legends such as Marina Prior, Rhonda Burchmore and 83-year-old Geraldene Morrow.

With music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by James Goldman, Follies is set in an old New York theatre due for demolition. Former showgirls of the interwar Ziegfield Follies-style revues gather for a party to reminisce about their glory days here long ago.

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