Character guide
Buddy Plummer
from Follies
Buddy Plummer is Sally's husband in Follies, Stephen Sondheim's 1971 musical, a traveling salesman caught between his wife's old love and his own affair on the road.
- Show
- Follies
- Broadway premiere
- 1971
- Role
- Lead
- Music by
- Stephen Sondheim
Who is Buddy Plummer?
Buddy loves Sally sincerely, but he knows, and has always known, that she loves Ben instead, a knowledge that has quietly worn him down over decades of marriage. He has also carried on an affair of his own away from home, a fact that complicates any easy reading of him as simply the wronged husband.
Earnest and increasingly exasperated, Buddy's frustration at spending a lifetime as a consolation prize surfaces most vividly during the reunion, when the old dynamics between the two couples resurface in full force.
Buddy's role in Follies
Buddy is a lead role, performing the vaudeville style number Buddy's Blues, staged as an imagined performance in which his real heartbreak is filtered through manic comic showmanship. The part requires strong vaudeville energy and physical comedy alongside genuine emotional weight underneath.
The role was originated by Gene Nelson in the 1971 Broadway production, drawing on Nelson's own background as a dancer and film performer to give Buddy's comic number real showbiz polish.
Buddy Plummer: frequently asked questions
What show is Buddy Plummer from?
Buddy Plummer is a lead character in Follies, which opened on Broadway in 1971.
Is Buddy Plummer a lead or supporting role?
Buddy is a lead role and one of the show's two central men.
Who wrote the music for Follies?
Stephen Sondheim composed the music and lyrics for Follies.
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