This is a documentary of a 1985 concert performance from Lincoln Center of Stephen Sondheim's 1971 "Follies." A really great cast of Broadway greats was brought together for this concert that was basically put together is a few days. Although the backstage elements of the show are great (e.g., showing actors working through dance numbers, flubbing lyrics, Sondheim talking with the actors), the real interest of the show is in the performaces themselves that make up about half of the 90 minute documentary. The unfortunate thing about the documentary is that we only see about half the concert, mostly in the form of excerpts. It really would have been much better to see a COMPLETE version of the concert. One really wonders why this wasn't filmed and made available in some format. There is, however, a 2-CD album of the whole concert to fill in the gaps.
This concern aside, the concert is a great chance to see the likes of Barbara Cook, Lee Remick, George Hearn, Carol Burnett, Elaine Stritch, and Adolph Green and Betty Comden singing and within the frame of a concert performance) acting their way through one of the great musicals of our age.
This DVD is a definite buy!