The Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along opened on November 16, 1981 and closed after 16 performances (and 52 extended previews). A notorious flop, I finally had a chance to see this show in a short one week 2012 Encores! production starring Colin Donnell, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Lin Manuel Miranda. Pleasantly surprised, I enjoyed the story and certainly the score. Why was the original such a disaster? Roundabout has once again paired up with the Fiasco Theater Company. Their last partnership four years ago was the very success reimagining of Sondheim’s Into the Woods.
Their interpretation impressed Mr. Sondheim enough that he met with the artistic team, providing access to his archives and earlier versions of the script and cut songs. This production collapses the cast down to six actors. The story is the focus, unencumbered by an ensemble. A dissection of earnest collaborative relationships turned fragile and ultimately broken over time takes center stage.
In the original Broadway outing, there were dozens of people on stage. In researching for this review, I went to see a video recording of the original production from November 1981, the month it opened. An illegal taping was confiscated and donated to the New York Public Library. From either the balcony or mezzanine, someone captured this entire show. The quality was obviously below average but I could see and hear clearly. Was the original that bad?
In a word, yes. Many productions after the first one corrected perhaps the fatal flaw of casting young actors in the show. Merrily is the story of three fresh faced friends who arrive in New York in 1955. By 1980, they are estranged and bitter, the joy of life long since buried. The musical’s book (George Furth) goes backward in time. When we first meet Mary she is an angry alcoholic. With a young lady in the role, it felt like watching high school playacting. That is not the case with Jessie Austrian’s take on the role.
In 1981, Mary’s hair band never changed through all 25 years. The cheap set design reinforced the youth angle. Bleachers (not kidding) moved around and were reconfigured. The large ensemble frequently entered and distractedly remained onstage even during quieter, more reflective moments. The costumes were bizarre. The characters often wore sweatshirts with their names or descriptive slogans printed on their chests. To make the story clearer? How do you read that from the balcony?
Director Hal Prince’s misfires notwithstanding, I probably would have enjoyed myself as a relatively new theatergoer back in the day. The score has so many terrific songs. In Fiasco’s version, the songs are certainly the star. Comparing the difference watching “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” then and now perfectly illustrates the improvements achieved here.
This particular song creates the major fissure between successful Broadway composers Frank (Ben Steinfeld) and Charley (Manu Narayan). The scene is a television interview in which Charley heaves abuse on his partner’s selling out to Hollywood. In the original, self-absorbed Frank is at the piano. A chorus member unsteadily holds a long microphone overhead shifting it between seated Charley and the host. When the song arrives, lights are dimmed while Charley gets a spotlight solo. In this new staging, the three characters are always visually present and the rage Frank is experiencing has time to percolate in full view. Instead of storming off the stage when the lights come back up, his discomfort escalates and the tension registers. None of the three main characters are truly likable throughout this story arc which provides critical depth and clarity to the dissolution of their friendships.
Fiasco’s co-founder Noah Brody directed this revival with some nice touches cleverly embracing and winking at the reverse chronology. Derek McLane’s set design hints at a backstage memory play which is really what the show is all about. The entire cast is solid but admittedly not all are virtuoso singers. (In the performance I saw, understudy Joe Joseph was excellent as Charley.) This is first and foremost a storytelling production. Since that was a major issue with the original, this revival has a real purpose to exist.
Notable adjustments made include altering the character who sings the heartbreaking “Not A Day Goes By.” The change is smart. Certain scenes were shortened and the bloat of the original, notably the transitions repeating the title song, has been effectively stripped away. In the end, the still imperfect Merrily We Roll Along remains one of musical theater’s “Old Friends” worth your time.
Over the last decade, some stripped down versions of Sondheim shows have been revelatory. The thoughtful Fiasco Theatre troupe has given us a reason to enjoy this score once again and reconsider this continually evolving piece. Of the three stagings I’ve now seen, this one is closest to a “Good Thing Going.”
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