The Will Rogers Follies
The Will Rogers Follies is a musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Cy Coleman.
The Will Rogers Follies
It focuses on the life and career of humorist and performer Will Rogers, using as a backdrop the Ziegfeld Follies, which he often headlined, and describes episodes in his life in the form of production numbers. The Rogers character also performs rope tricks in between scenes. The revue contains snippets of Rogers' "homespun" style of wisdom.
Productions[edit]
After thirty-three previews, the Broadway production opened on May 1, 1991, at the Palace Theatre, and closed on September 5, 1993 after 981 performances. Directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune, the original cast included Keith Carradine as Rogers, Dee Hoty as Betty Blake, Dick Latessa as Will's father Clem, and Cady Huffman as Ziegfeld's favorite chorus girl. Replacements later in the run included Mac Davis[2] and Larry Gatlin as Rogers, Mickey Rooney as Clem, and Susan Anton and Marla Maples as Ziegfeld's favorite chorus girl. The recorded voice of Gregory Peck was heard as Ziegfeld.
The original choice of the authors to play Will Rogers was John Denver,[3] but, due to a perceived insult from librettist Peter Stone, Denver bowed out of consideration for casting.
The show also enjoyed a number of national tours, with Carradine, Davis, and Gatlin in the first National tour in 1993 and 1994.[4] Pat Boone starred in the musical in Branson, Missouri in 1994. The role of Betty (his wife) was played by Marylee Graffeo(Fairbanks). Variety noted that "Broadway Came To Branson with the bow of the 'Will Rogers Follies: A Life in Review' in the new Will Rogers Theater last Saturday...Pat Boone is a solid hit in Branson as Will Rogers in the 'Follies.'" The music was not live but digitalized.[5][6]