The Off-Broadway musical revue THE GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES will go on a winter hiatus following the 7:00pm performance on Sunday, November 20 at Manhattan Theatre Source (177 MacDougal Street), performances will commence again in Spring 2012.
In a tight 80 minute revue, THE GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES tells - through vignettes, songs and scenes - the history of Greenwich Village, chronicling the Lenape tribe; initiAl Western settlers of the area like Peter Stuyvesant (portrayed by an audience volunteer), and a group of freed 17th century slaves whose descendants become known as "Little Africa"; the resistance in 1811 to the construction of a city-wide street grid; the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911; the Stonewall riots of 1969, and more. FOLLIES pays tribute to many of the famous artists who made the Village what it is today, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edgar Allen Poe, Eugene O'Neill, Jackson Pollock, Peter Paul & Mary, Gregory Corso, and others. It also doesn't leave out some of the more contemporary characters of the Village, like as a typical NYU student, pot dealers in Washington Square Park, and of course, a sex toy shop.
THE GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES opened officially at Manhattan Thetare Source on June 28th, 2011 to a score of rave reviews: "There are times when a trip to the theater is more than just an evening out - times when there's something in the air that transforms a merely great performance into the kind that makes all your hairs stand on end. June 26, for those of us squeezed into folding chairs in a tiny brick room at the Manhattan Theatre Source [for The Greenwich Village Follies], was one," The Jewish Forward. "With ‘The Greenwich Village Follies,' composer/lyricist Doug Silver and bookwriter/lyricist Andrew Frank not only capture the smart, freestyle irreverence that made downtown revues so popular, but they use the format to offer an eighty-minute lesson on the history of America's first haven for artists, free-thinkers and non-conformists," BroadwayWorld.com. "This refreshing breeze of a show is tuneful, literate, sassy, and sharp. It plastered an insuppressible 80-minute smile on this critic's usual professionally impassive face," Backstage. "The Greenwich Village Follies celebrates the city's most beloved neighborhood in song (music and lyrics by Doug Silver) and story (book and lyrics by Andrew Frank). And it does so with great enthusiasm and style," CurtainUp.com.
Directed by John-Andrew Morrison, the cast of THE GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES features a rotating cast, which includes: Jodi Beck, Meghann Dreyfuss, Patti Goettlicher, John-Andrew Morrison, Guy Olivieri, Kevin R. Free, Christopher French, Nikki Jenkins and Alyssa Malgeri. The band features Michael Harren (piano) and Spencer Cohen (percussion).
Doug Silver and Andrew Frank - are childhood friends and musical theatre collaborators. Mr. Frank is the Founding Artistic Director of Manhattan Theatre Source and Mr. Silver is an original founding member. The original concept for THE GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES came from Fran Kirmser, the founding Producing Director of Manhattan Theatre Source. In addition to FOLLIES, Doug and Andrew wrote SIDD, a musical based the novel Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, produced Off-Broadway at New World Stages and were members of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Andrew also has an extensive career directing - musicals, classics and new works; Doug has a successful career as a composer, musician and music teacher.
Performances of THE GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES on Sundays October 23 and 30 will be at The Duplex Cabaret Theatre (61 Christopher Street) at 6:30pm. Ticket price will be $15 plus a 2-drink minimum and reservations can be made at www.theduplex.com. Performances on Sundays November 6, 13 and 20 will be at Manhattan Theatre Source (177 MacDougal Street) at 7:00pm and will be $35 and can be purchased by calling 866-811-4111.
For more information on THE GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES, please visit http://thegreenwichvillagefollies.com.
