Star-Studded 'Follies' Heads to Carnegie Hall in June

"Hats off, here they come, those beautiful girls..." (once more.)

Transport Group has announced that "Follies," featuring an all-star cast of Tony Award winners and nominees, will be the tenth presentation in the company's Anne L. Bernstein Concert Series – for one night only – on Thursday, June 20, at 8:00 p.m. at Carnegie Hall. "Follies" will be directed by Transport Group Artistic Director and five-time Drama Desk nominee and two-time Obie Award winner Jack Cummings III with musical direction by Joey Chancey. Hannah Oren serves as creative producer and Merri Sugarman, CSA serves as casting director.

The cast of "Follies" includes Broadway stars Julie Benko ("Funny Girl"), Mikaela Bennett ("Renascence," BBC Proms "West Side Story"), Michael Berresse (Tony nominee, "Kiss Me Kate"), Alexandra Billings ("Wicked"), Klea Blackhurst ("Everything the Traffic Will Allow"), Harolyn Blackwell ("Candide"," Porgy and Bess)", Stephen Bogardus (Tony nominee, "Love! Valour! Compassion!;" "Falsettos"), Norbert Leo Butz (two-time Tony winner, "Catch Me If You Can", "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"), Len Cariou (Tony winner, "Sweeney Todd)", Carolee Carmello (three-time Tony nominee, "Parade;" "Falsettos"), Jim Caruso ("Liza's At The Palace"), Nikki Renée Daniels ("Company,"" The Book of Mormon)", Christine Ebersole (two-time Tony winner, "Grey Gardens," "42nd Street"), Katie Finneran (two-time Tony winner, "Noises Off," "Promises, Promises"), Santino Fontana (Tony winner, "Tootsie"), Alexander Gemignani (Tony nominee, "Carousel," "Sweeney Todd"), Miguel Gil ("Kimberly Akimbo"), Olivia Elease Hardy ("Kimberly Akimbo"), Erika Henningsen ("Mean Girls"), Grey Henson (Tony nominee, "Mean Girls,' "Shucked'), Fernell Hogan ("Kimberly Akimbo"), Jennifer Holliday (Tony winner, "Dreamgirls"), Rachel Bay Jones (Tony winner, "Dear Evan Hansen;" "Here We Are"), Isabel Keating (Tony nominee, "The Boy from Oz"), Adriane Lenox (Tony winner," Doubt"), Norm Lewis (Tony nominee, "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess"), Ryan McCartan ("Heathers"), Donna Murphy (two-time Tony winner, "Passion," "The King and I"), Thom Sesma ("Pacific Overtures," "Man of La Mancha"), Barbara Walsh (Tony nominee, "Falsettos," "Company"), Nina White ("Kimberly Akimbo"), Jacob Keith Watson ("Merrily We Roll Along," "Carousel"), and Karen Ziemba (Tony winner, "Contact").

The evening will feature the original Jonathan Tunick orchestrations played by a thirty-piece orchestra, and will also feature a selection of Michael Bennett's original choreography restaged by original cast member Mary Jane Houdina.

This unique concert series features a different lineup of performers for each song, rather than a role portrayed by one actor for the entire evening. Additionally, in lieu of the musical's book scenes, backstage stories and anecdotes from the creation of the original production are woven between songs.

The evening will be hosted by Kurt Peterson, who originated the role of Young Ben in the 1971 Broadway production, as well as licensing executive and theatre historian Ted Chapin, whose memoir "Everything Was Possible" is taken from his daily diaries during the pre-Broadway run of "Follies," on which he served as intern during his senior year of college.

"Follies," book by James Goldman, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, produced originally on Broadway by Harold Prince, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, premiered on Broadway on April 4, 1971, at the Winter Garden Theatre in a production directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett, with choreography by Bennett. The winner of seven Tony Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for best musical, "Follies" developed almost immediate cult and legendary status following its closing on July 1, 1972, after playing 522 performances and 12 previews. Scores of revivals followed on Broadway, in the West End, in regional theaters, and throughout the world. This concert is presented by special arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh.

The show, which has been famously updated numerous times for its many productions over the years, features many songs that are now central to the American songbook, including "Losing My Mind," "Could I Leave You?," "Broadway Baby," "Too Many Mornings," and "I'm Still Here."

Previous presentations in Transport Group's Anne L. Bernstein concert series include "Nine," "Rodgers & Hammerstein: A Broadway Celebration," "Sweet Charity," "Promises, Promises," "Man of La Mancha," "Baby," "Once Upon a Mattress," "The Music Man," "Peter Pan," and "A Man of No Importance."

Transport Group, an Off-Broadway theatre company, co-founded in 2001 by Jack Cummings III and Robyn Hussa, is currently run by Cummings as Artistic Director and Executive Director Denise Dickens. Transport Group crafts risk-taking, thoughtful, acclaimed productions of plays and musicals that widen the lens on our American experience. Transport Group creates unexpected theatrical experiences that allow audiences and artists to collaboratively explore the "American identity."

Transport Group has produced 36 productions – 16 new works and 20 revivals – including 14 world premieres, three New York premieres, and six commissioned works. The company has received a special New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, three Drama Desk Awards (including a special one "for its breadth of vision and its presentation of challenging productions"), nine Obie Awards, and Outer Critics Circle Award, three Off-Broadway Alliance Awards, and a Dramatists Guild Award. In addition, Transport Group's productions have received 46 Drama Desk Award nominations, eight Drama League Award nominations, four Lucille Lortel Award nominations, six Outer Circle Award nominations, nine American Theatre Wing Design Award nominations, nine Off-Broadway Alliance Award nominations, four Audelco Award nominations, and a Tony Award nomination.

Transport Group's one-night-only concert of "Follies" takes place Thursday, June 20 at 8 p.m. at Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue. Tickets, which are on sale now, start at $49 and may be purchased by phoning CarnegieCharge (212) 247-7800, visiting carnegiehall.org, or at the Carnegie Hall box office on 57 Street and Seventh Avenue. "Follies" is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI (mtishows.com). For more information about "Follies" and Transport Group, visit transportgroup.org.