"Follies" has stood the test of time to place several of the musical's songs by Stephen Sondheim firmly in the firmament of the American Songbook: "Broadway Baby," "I'm Still Here," "Too Many Mornings," "Could I Leave You?" and "Losing My Mind."

As is often the case with great works of art, "Follies" was ahead of its time. While the musical was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and received seven Tonys, the original 1971 Broadway production, which ran for 522 performances, lost money for its investors.

Twenty years after it gave the show its Lehigh Valley debut, Civic Theatre of Allentown is presenting "Follies" in concert, 7:30 p.m. June 26 and 27, 19th Street Theatre, 527 N. 19th St., Allentown, as a fundraiser for the nonprofit regional theater.

"I think it's perfect to do," says Civic Theatre Artistic Director William Sanders, who's directing "Follies," with a 26-piece orchestra conducted by Steve Reisteter. "The score is lush. So that makes it perfect to do in concert," Sanders says.

"It wasn't financially successful. It was critically successful," Sanders says of the original Broadway "Follies" production. "They couldn't make it financially successful because it was such a big production."

The songs of "Follies," as with many of Sondheim's and those of great composers and lyricists, have grown in stature. "If they're good, and people keep doing them in revues and club acts, there starts to be a certain traction. They become familiar through people's recordings," Sanders says.

"It certainly is one of my favorite musicals," continues Sanders about "Follies." "The pastiche numbers are really fun to watch and yet there's an underbelly of a really delicious story."

"Follies" is about a reunion of ex-showgirls from Weismann's Follies, a fictional music revue loosely based on Broadway's Ziegfeld Follies (1907-1931 with revivals in 1934 and 1936).

"Follies" takes place in an about-to-close theater where the showgirls perform one last time. The storyline follows two couples and their entanglements past and present.

"The marriages are in many ways metaphor for broken dreams and disappointments, which everyone has," Sanders says of the couples' stories. "And nothing can remind us of that or make us relive that than a good Broadway show tune," he laughs.

"I think it's probably the first time that memories were portrayed that way in a musical. We're seeing what the characters are remembering, or, alternately, we're seeing aspects of the characters in an earlier age," Sanders observes.

Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for "Follies," with the book by James Goldman. The show is from a particularly prolific time in Sondheim's career: "Company" (1970), "Follies" (1971), "A Little Night Music" (1973) and "Sweeney Todd" (1979).

"And sandwiched in there was 'Side By Side By Sondheim' [1976]," Sanders notes. "Sunday In The Park With George" (1984), "Into The Woods" (1987)," "Assassins" (1990) and "Passion" (1994) followed. "I don't think anyone is that prolific working in the theater now," Sanders observes.

Among "Follies" seven Tonys were those for book and score, but not musical. "It was also one of those Tony anomalies," chuckles Sanders. "Well, how can that be?"

"Follies" had its Lehigh Valley premiere at Civic in 1995.

"The score is exactly the same. The book is there. It's the musical in concert," says Sanders, who explains the difference between a fully-staged "Follies" and "Follies" in concert:

"It's a lot less rehearsals. You have a musical rehearsal early on. You probably have seven staging rehearsals. And then the last week, you have the full orchestra. It's still involved. There are significant light cues."

Civic held auditions for "Follies." Says Sanders:

"When I began casting the concert this spring I decided that anyone who auditioned that wanted to play the same role would, in fact, most likely do so. Of the cast of 30, we have six returning members."

Returning from Civic's 1995 production are: Kathy Hontz (Meredith Lane), Don Swan (Dimitri Weissman), Susan M.Glover (Heidi Schiller), JoAnn Wilchek Basist (Solange Lafitte), Susan McDermott (Stella Deems) and Pat Birnbaum (Phyllis Stone).

The "Follies" in concert cast includes Allie Sacher, Andrea Cartagena, Aubree Williams, August Fegley, Christa Maxwell, Cindi Surovi, Daniel Youngelman, Deena Linn, Elizabeth Boehm, Elizabeth Marsh-Gilkeson, Erin McGowan, Gabrielle Rhoades, Jim Johnson, Kate Varley, Kelsea Hagstrom, Kevin J. Rizzo, Laura Sweeney Riker, Marie Ann Sutera, McKenzie Custin, Meagan Gombos, Nina Elias, Olivia Perry, Pamela Westphal, Robert Torres, Sarah Nekich, Thomas Riley, Tom Onushco and Tracy Ceschin.

"I think it's important to do these musicals and for the people who perform here, for the people to have these opportunities to perform them, and due to the generosity of our benefactor, it becomes a decent benefit for the theater," Sanders says. The benefactor, who is underwriting the salaries of the orchestra musicians, doesn't wish to be named.

"This is such an opportunity for these two nights to hear this score with full orchestration that I hope people embrace this because it's going to be very exciting," says Sanders.

Tickets: Civic Theatre Box Office, 527 N. 19th St., Allentown; CivicTheatre.com, 610-432-8943