[Cabaret] Sondheim at 80 - Follies - Too Many Mornings

Original Broadway poster

Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies", a musical revue (based on the Ziegfeld Follies), that played in that theatre between the world wars. It focuses on two couples, Buddy and Sally Durant Plummer and Benjamin and Phyllis Rogers Stone, who are attending the reunion. Sally and Phyllis were showgirls in the Follies. Both couples are deeply unhappy with their marriages. Buddy, a traveling salesman, is having an affair with a girl on the road; Sally is still as much in love with Ben as she was years ago; and Ben is so self-absorbed that Phyllis feels emotionally abandoned. Several of the former showgirls perform their old numbers, sometimes accompanied by the ghosts of their former selves.

The Broadway production opened on April 4, 1971, directed by Harold Prince and Michael Bennett, and with choreography by Bennett. The musical was nominated for eleven Tony Awards and won seven. The original production, which ultimately lost its entire investment, ran for 522 performances. The piece has enjoyed a number of major revivals, and several of its songs have become standards, including "Broadway Baby", "I'm Still Here", "Too Many Mornings", "Could I Leave You?", and "Losing My Mind".

 

 

Waking and pretending I reach for you,

Thousands of mornings

Dreaming of my girl.

All that time wasted,

Merely passing through,

Time I could have spent

So content

Wasting time with you.

Too many mornings

Wishing that the room might be filled with you.

Morning to morning,

Turning into days.

All the days that I thought would never end,

All the nights with another day to spend.

All those times I'd look up to see

Sally standing at the door

Sally moving to the bed,

Sally resting in my arms

With her head against my head.

SALLY:

If you don't kiss me, Ben, I think I'm going to die.

How I planned:

What I'd wear tonight and

When should I get here,

How should I find you,

Where I'd stand,

What I'd say in case you didn't remember.

How I'd remind you--

You remembered.

And my fears were wrong!

Was it ever real?

Did I ever love you this much?

Did we ever feel

So happy then?

BEN:

It was always real SALLY:

I should have worn green.

And I've always loved you

this much. I wore green the last time.

We can always feel

The time I

this happy... was happy...

BOTH:

Too many mornings

Wasted in pretending I reach for you.

How many mornings

Are there still to come!

How much time can we hope that there will be?

Not much time, but it's time enough for me.

If there's time to look up and be/see

Sally standing at the door,

Sally moving to the bed,

Sally resting in your/my arms,

With your head against my head.