Randolph music professor selected to direct first-ever musical production in historic theater

Randall Speer

Randolph music professor Randall Speer has been chosen as music director for the Academy Center of the Arts’ first-ever music theater production, Follies, on its newly renovated historic stage. Tickets are now on sale for the show, which opens May 10.

A true theatrical event, this legendary masterpiece is considered by many to be the greatest musical ever created. Surreal, sophisticated, compelling, heart wrenching and epic in scope, Follies by musical theatre legend, Stephen Sondheim, and author, James Goldman, uses the musical theatre as a metaphor for the collapse of American innocence and naiveté in the post-Kennedy years.

In Follies, the time is 1971, and theatrical impresario, Dimitri Weissmann, hosts a reunion of ex-Follies performers in his crumbling theatre, setting the stage for a parade of brilliant pastiche numbers, including “Losing My Mind,” “I’m Still Here” and “Broadway Baby.” Amid the reminiscing, two middle-aged couples confront some unpleasant truths about their past and present, coming face-to-face with the future.

Learn more about the production at https://academycenter.org/event/ctt-follies/.