Follies in Concert  | 

Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021) wrote the music and lyrics for Saturday Night (1954), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), The Frogs (1974), Pacific Overtures (1976), Sweeney Todd (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday In The Park With George (1984), Into The Woods (1987), Assassins (1991), Passion (1994), Road Show (2008) and HERE WE ARE (2023), as well as the lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), Do I Hear A Waltz? (1965) and additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Side By Side By Sondheim (1976), Marry Me A Little (1981), You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983), Putting It Together (1993/99), Moving On (2001), Sondheim On Sondheim (2010) and Old Friends (2023) are anthologies of his work as composer and lyricist. For films, he composed the scores of Stavisky (1974), co-composed the score for Reds (1981), and wrote songs for Dick Tracy (1990). He wrote songs for the television production Evening Primrose (1966), co-authored the film The Last of Sheila (1973) and the play Getting Away With Murder (1996) and provided incidental music for the plays The Girls of Summer (1956), Invitation To A March (1961), Twigs (1971) and The Enclave (1973).

He won the Tony Award for Best Score for Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, and Passion, all of which won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, as did Pacific Overtures and Sunday In The Park With George, the latter also receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1985).

Stephen Sondheim was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from Williams College, winning the Hutchinson Prize for Music Composition, after which he studied theory and composition with Milton Babbitt. He served on the Council of the Dramatists Guild, the national association of playwrights, composers and lyricists, and served as its president from 1973 to 1981. In 1983 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 1990 was appointed the first Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University. He was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1993, the National Medal of Arts in 1996, the MacDowell Medal in 2013 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. His collected lyrics with attendant essays have been published in two volumes: “Finishing the Hat” (2010) and “Look, I Made a Hat” (2011).

In 2010 the Broadway theater formerly known as Henry Miller’s Theatre was renamed in his honor, and in 2019 he became the first living artist to have a theatre named in his honor on Shaftesbury Avenue when the refurbished Queen’s Theatre in London’s West End was renamed the Sondheim Theatre to commemorate his 90th birthday, by Sir Cameron Mackintosh.

James Goldman was born in Chicago and graduated from the University of Chicago; he did postgraduate work at Columbia University. He has written numerous plays, including Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (1961; co-written with his brother, William Goldman), They Might Be Giants (1961) and The Lion In Winter (1966). In addition to Follies (1971), he has been the bookwriter of A Family Affair (1962; co-author with William Goldman, music by John Kander), the television musical Evening Primrose (1967, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim) and Follies (1987, London – a re-conception of the original piece). His screenplays include The Lion in Winter (1968 – Academy Award; British Screenwriters Award), They Might Be Giants (1970), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Robin and Marian (1976) and White Nights (1985, co-writer). Goldman’s work for television has included an adaptation of Oliver Twist (1982), Anna Karenina (1985), Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna Anderson (1986). He is also the author of a novel, Waldorf.

Leigh Silverman is a two time Tony nominee and has directed over 60 world premiere new plays and musicals. Broadway: Yellow Face (Roundabout); Suffs (Tony nom); Grand Horizons (Williamstown, 2ST); The Lifespan of a Fact; Violet (Tony nom), Chinglish; Well. Recent Off-Broadway credits include: Harry Clarke (West End, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Vineyard/Audible); Merry Me (NYTW); Suffs (Public); The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Shed,Taper); Hurricane Diane (NYTW); Sweet Charity (New Group). Encores: Violet; The Wild Party; Really Rosie. Audible projects include Harry Clarke, Yellow Face and Dykes to Watch Out For which was named Best of the Year. She received a 2011 Obie Award and 2019 Obie for Sustained Excellence.

Some Like It Hot (Broadway – Shubert Theatre); Motown the Musical (Broadway – Nederlander Theatre); Jelly’s Last Jam (New York City Center – guest conductor); Yemandja the new Angelique Kidjo musical (world tour – music supervisor); Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ (Pre Broadway engagement – The Old Globe); Encore! On Disney+ (Ragtime episode); The Color Purple (Broadway tour and Paper Mill Playhouse); Wicked (Pantages Theater – substitute conductor ); Memphis (Broadway tour); La Cage aux Folles, Ragtime, Little Shop of Horrors with M.J. Rodriguez (Pasadena Playhouse); Fiddler on the Roof (The Muny); Dear World with Tyne Daly (VPAC); Two By Two with Jason Alexander (Reprise); Passion (Boston Court); Jonathan Dove’s Innocence (Banff Centre). Full bio at DARRYLARCHIBALD.COM

Tickets for Follies in Concert at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium can be purchased directly through ticketmaster.com.

Pasadena Playhouse Members can continue to book tickets through pasadenaplayhouse.org or by contacting Patron Services. Single tickets are only available through Ticketmaster and cannot be purchased through the Playhouse website or box office.

The Pasadena Civic Auditorium does not sell advance tickets through their Box Office. All tickets must be purchased through ticketmaster.com.

If you are a Pasadena Playhouse Member or Package Holder, please contact our Patron Services team. If you are not a Member or Package Holder, please direct all questions through Ticketmaster’s customer service portal. Please note, Pasadena Playhouse staff will not be able to assist with any issues or sales of single tickets – only Ticketmaster will be able to assist those patrons who purchased tickets through their site.

Due to the incredibly high demand for tickets, we will not be offering any rush or discounted tickets at this time.