Ron Raines, the dark sun of the Follies solar system

Photo: Joan Marcus

In this season’s hit revival of Follies, Ron Raines plays the sun in which all orbiting characters collide. As Ben Stone, one

fourth of two married couples crumbling under the reminiscence of a showgirl reunion at a Vaudevillian theater about to be demolished, he holds the fates of everyone in his hands. Will he stay with his wife, Phyllis (Jan Maxwell) or choose his old flame, Sally (Bernadette Peters)? Raines, previously of the long-running soap opera Guiding Light, sat down with Stage Rush to discuss what it’s like to hold all the cards as Ben, Maxwell’s recent traffic accident, and the upcoming cast recording.

How did the recording of the cast album go?
It was terrific. The thing is, we did it on our days off, so we were kind of exhausted. You just click in your head that you’ve got to do it. Of course, you do nothing else [prior to the recording]. That dinner that you usually have with someone Sunday night; you go home instead.

Can you give us a sneak peek at the recording? What can we expect?
I hear there’s a lot more dialogue and story connection. Some of the numbers are really set up. They come out of the scene; which is good, I hope. They tried to connect the numbers with more dialogue, more story.

How did you find out Jan Maxwell had been in a car accident between shows on October 29?
I was sitting right there, reclined. [Points to dressing room lounge chair] My dresser, Danny, said that she had been hit by a car. Immediately, you hear, ‘Hit by a car!’ But he said she was aright, that she was upstairs with the physical therapist. So I knew she wasn’t dead! I knew they didn’t haul her off in an ambulance. They said everything’s alright, whatever that is.

How did the cast react, as a whole?
When we all found out about it, we were genuinely concerned about Jan. Everyone really rallied around her understudy, who was literally being pushed onto the stage, without any rehearsal. In those kinds of moments, you really find out the integrity of the company you’re in.

Early in the show’s previews, Follies was performed without an intermission. Did you enjoy that style or was it exhausting?
I don’t think we were as exhausted as the audience was. We got out earlier. The show is paced, but by the time we got to the “Loveland” sequence, the audience members that were fanatics loved it without the intermission. But the general public, who didn’t know, they were like, ‘We need a break.’ The audience just needed that respite with an intermission. It was fine for me.

VIDEO: Ron Raines on the time Stephen Sondheim came knocking on his door.

Read more