Four-Time Olivier Winner Imelda Staunton to Lead Revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies

We're losing our minds! Before Gypsy on Broadway, Imelda Staunton will headline a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies at the U.K.’s National Theatre. Directed by Dominic Cooke and co-starring Janie Dee, the Daily Mail reports that the production is set to bow next year.

Staunton has been nominated for eleven Olivier Awards, winning four, including for her recent performance as Mama Rose in Gypsy. She will next be seen in the West End in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Other stage credits include Sweeney Todd, Circle, Mirror, Transformation and A Delicate Balance. Film credits include Vera Drake and Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films. Dee won the Olivier for Comic Potential and Carousel. Her numerous additional stage credits include Noises Off, Hello Dolly!, Blithe Spirit, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ah, Wilderness! and Hand to God.

On the soon-to-be demolished stage of the crumbling Weismann Theatre, a reunion is being held to honor the Weismann Follies and the beautiful showgirls who were once its stars. As two couples remember their pasts and face the harsh realities of the present, the shadows of their younger selves remind them of the complicated steps they've danced, both on the stage and throughout their lives.

Featuring a book by James Goldman and music and lyrics by Sondheim, Follies contains well-known songs including “Broadway Baby,” “I’m Still Here,” “Too Many Mornings,” “Could I Leave You?” and “Losing My Mind.” The original Broadway production of Follies was directed by Harold Prince and opened on April 4, 1971, running for 522 performances and garnering seven Tony Awards.