Kristy Graves, stalwart director of the Gas Lamp Players, will perform in the community theater’s upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies.”
A veteran actress, Graves began her professional career at 10, touring nationally as Annie in the eponymous hit musical. Leaving the role at 13, she has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in films, TV, sang jingles and moved to Glen Ridge. She was born in Williams Bay, Wis.
She became involved with Gas Lamp in 2007, working as a children’s coach and musical director. In 2010, she directed her first main stage adult production.
“I’ve performed in two or three Gas Lamp shows, ‘A Little Night Music’ and ‘The Music Man,’” she said recently over coffee. “It’s been awhile. I also did “A Little Night Music” about 30 years ago at Lincoln Center. I think it was my last professional theater performance. But last year, a bunch of adults were saying, ‘Why don’t you perform with us again?’ It was after I put together a ‘Friends of the (Freeman) Garden’ that they approached me. They wanted me to perform in ‘The Sound of Music’ and I thought, maybe I will. But it’s tough to direct and act and I wanted to focus on directing.”
“Follies,” she said, was chosen for production because it is a show specifically for adults. There are teens in the show, but no children. Graves, who also serves as the Gas Lamp artistic director, had input in the decision making and was planning on directing the show. But her colleagues persisted, asking her to perform. With her three daughters older now, one is in high school and two in college, and with a little more time on her hands, she figured OK. Susan Knight will direct the show.
“That’s when I asked Susan to direct, to step up,” Graves said. “So now the question was, what role did I want to audition for? ‘Follies’ has a lot of female roles, which is good, and there are a lot of actresses in Glen Ridge. I had to audition and Susan cast it. And Susan said, ‘I want you to do this role.’ She was very opinionated. ‘You’d be perfect for it,’ she said.”
Knight chose Graves to play Sally Durant Plummer. The character sings “Losing My Mind,” “Buddy’d Eyes” and “Don’t Look at Me.”
“Sally definitely unravels,” Graves said. “She comes kind of looking for unrequited love.”
The story of “Follies” takes place in 1971. The setting is the rundown stage of the Weismann Theatre in a building to be demolished. The stage is gradually populated by middle-aged women with husbands and companions. The women are the one-time Weismann Follies — chorus girls who performed between the world wars. They have reunited to reminisce, reveal and regret. An anxious Sally is the first to arrive. The younger selves of the former showgirls, invisible to the reunited women, are present, too. In the Gas Lamp show, these younger performers are played by the teens.
Graves said she had never seen “Follies.”
“It’s a fun show with a lot of leads,” she said. “There are a lot of ‘princess tracks’ These are roles that are big and the performer gets their own song, but not a lot of stage time.”
For some people, being cast in a princess track is a good thing, she said, since some people do not have the time to rehearse so much.
“Sally is not a princess track,” Graves said. “She’s one of about eight that is not. The rest is ensemble. As for the teens, there are four leads and one princess track. The rest is ensemble.”
“Follies” director, Knight, is generally Graves’s assistant director. “Kristy usually has the big vision and I’m more of the acting person,” Knight said. “This is a perfect show for me to take the helm. It’s an amazing and difficult show to act.”
There are two main couples, Knight said: Sally and her husband, Buddy, played by Tait Ruppert, and Phyllis, played by Deshja Driggs, and her husband, Ben, played by Matt Walton.
“The couples are really struggling with each other when they show up for the reunion and leave in a new place.”
Knight also applauded the teens.
“We go back in time, when the Follies were 20 years old,” she said. “Gas Lamp is so lucky to have wonderful young actors. It adds richness to the story.”
Graves said she trusts Knight’s eye into the character and storytelling.
“It’s a collaborative process,” she said. “If I disagree with her strongly, she’d listen. But the story is ultimately her vision. It’s definitely a challenge not being out front and watching the show and not directing, but this has been exhilarating.”
“Follies” will be presented at the Women’s Club of Glen Ridge on Friday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23, 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 24, 8 p.m. Running time is about two hours with intermission. An admission fee will be charged.
Broadway veteran in Gas Lamp ‘Follies’ added by Daniel Jackovino on
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