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Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
Encyclopedia
Merrily We Roll Along is a musical
with a book by George Furth
and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim
. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman
and Moss Hart
.
Furth and Sondheim retained the basic structure and overall theme of the play but updated it to encompass the period from 1957 to 1976. The story revolves around Franklin Shepard who, having once been a talented composer
of Broadway musicals, has now abandoned his friends and his songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood flicks. Like the play, the musical begins at the height of his Hollywood fame and moves backwards in time, showing snapshots of the most important moments in Frank's life that shaped the man that he is today. Like Sweeney Todd
, the show utilizes a chorus that sings reprises of the title song to transition the scenes.
The musical closed on Broadway
after 52 previews and only 16 performances in 1981 and marked the end of the Harold Prince-Sondheim collaborations until Bounce
in 2003.
, wanted to work with Prince. The decision was made to cast teenagers, and to have tryouts in New York rather than out-of-town. The tryouts, beginning on October 8, 1981, had a poor reception, with audiences walking out. On October 21, the New York Times reported that the leading man had been replaced by Jim Walton and the Broadway opening had been postponed. Field was replaced with choreographer Larry Fuller
. James Weissenbach was originally Franklin Shephard, but was replaced in previews.
After an unusual 52 previews, the Broadway production, directed by Prince and choreographed by Fuller, opened on November 16, 1981 at the Alvin Theatre
. The show opened to mostly negative reviews. While the score was widely praised, critics and audiences alike felt that the book was problematic and the themes left a sour taste in their mouths. Hampered by the several critical reviews published prior to its official opening, as well as more negative ones published afterwards, it ran for only 16 performances. In his New York Times review on November 17, 1981, Frank Rich
said of the production, "As we all should probably have learned by now, to be a Stephen Sondheim fan is to have one's heart broken at regular intervals." Clive Barnes
wrote, "Whatever you may have heard about it – go and see it for yourselves. It is far too good a musical to be judged by those twin kangaroo courts of word of mouth and critical consensus."
The cast included Jim Walton
(Franklin Shepard), Lonny Price
(Charley Kringus), Ann Morrison
(Mary), Terry Finn
(Gussie),
Jason Alexander
(Joe), Sally Klein (Beth), Geoffrey Horne
(Franklin Shephard age 43), David Loud
(Ted), Daisy Prince (Meg), Liz Callaway
(Nightclub Waitress), Tonya Pinkins
(Gwen), and Giancarlo Esposito
(Valedictorian). Rosie O'Donnell
auditioned; she was 18 years old.
A production directed by James Lapine
opened on June 16, 1985 at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse
, where it ran for 24 performances. The cast included John Rubinstein
as Franklin Shepard, Chip Zien
as Charley Kringas, Marin Mazzie
as Beth and Heather MacRae
as Mary Flynn. An Arena Stage
production, directed by Douglas C. Wager and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge
, opened on January 30, 1990 at Washington, D.C.
's Kreeger Theater, where it ran slightly more than two months. The cast included Victor Garber
, David Garrison
, and Becky Ann Baker
. In his review of the Arena Stage production, Rich noted that "Many of the major flaws of the 1981 Merrily, starting with its notorious gymnasium setting, have long since been jettisoned or rectified in intervening versions produced in La Jolla, Calif., and in Seattle." He called the score "exceptional."
A revised production, directed by Paul Kerryson, with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick and musical direction by Julian Kelly, opened on April 14, 1992 at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, where it ran for three weeks. The cast included Michael Cantwell (Franklin), Maria Friedman
(Mary), and Evan Pappas (Charlie), along with Jacqueline Dankworth, Louise Gold
, and, Gareth Snook. A cast recording was released on a single CD in the UK in 1994 and, with extended cuts and dialogue
, as a double-CD set in the US in 1997.
An off-Broadway
revival, directed by Susan H. Schulman
, opened on May 26, 1994 at the York Theatre in St. Peter's Church, where it ran for 54 performances. The cast included Malcolm Gets
and Michele Pawk
. A cast recording was released by Varèse Sarabande
.
During their 1997-1998 season, SpeakEasy Stage Company performed the show the Boston Center for the Arts.
After eight previews, the West End
premiere, directed by Michael Grandage
, opened on December 11, 2000 at the Donmar Warehouse
, where it ran for 71 performances. The cast included Mary Stockley
. The production won Laurence Olivier Awards
for Best Musical, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
In 2002, a reunion concert was staged at the Laguardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center as a benefit for Musical Theatre Works, of which Lonny Price was Artistic Director. All but two of the original cast members recreated their roles, with Jason Alexander acting additionally as Master of Ceremonies. Tony-winning choreographer Kathleen Marshall
directed. George Furth was not in attendance (and did not allow any of his dialogue to be spoken), but Prince and Sondheim were on hand. Shortly after, they began work together on Bounce, their first collaboration since Merrily.
As part of the Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center, a limited engagement of fourteen performances opened on July 12, 2002 at the Eisenhower Theater. The cast featured Michael Hayden
(Franklin), Miriam Shor
(Mary), Raúl Esparza
(Charley), and Emily Skinner
(Gussie).
Theatre Works, Mountain View, California
, production opened in April 2007.
The Derby Playhouse
production ran from 19 April to 19 May 2007, starring Glyn Kerslake, Glenn Carter and Eliza Lumley in the lead roles.
The Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia) production, directed by Eric Schaeffer, opened on September 4, 2007 and ran through October 14, 2007.
John Doyle
directed a production running at the Watermill Theatre
, Newbury, Berkshire
, from January 16, 2008 through March 8, 2008. It featured Sam Kenyon (Franklin), Rebecca Jackson (Gussie), Elizabeth Marsh (Mary) and Thomas Padden (Charlie). (This is Doyle's last production for the theatre.)
A concert production of the show was held in Southampton, New York
in March 2008 directed by Michael Disher, followed later by a fully staged production in September 2008.
Plans for a revival by the Roundabout Theatre Company
in New York, was announced in May 2008. The revival had been aiming for a Broadway production in 2009/10, but it has not occurred as of March 2011.
Available Light Theatre (AVLT), opened the revised version of Merrily We Roll Along at the Vern Riffe Center in Columbus, Ohio
, from August 19, 2010 through September 4, 2010. It was directed by John Dranschak, and featured Ian Short as Frank, Nick Lingnofski as Charley, and Heather Carvel as Mary. The musical director was Pam Welsh-Huggins.
In March 2011, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
announced plans for a revival directed by John Doyle
, using the actor-musician concept. The show is scheduled to open in March 2012.
A three-performance production of the play will be mounted July 22, 23 and 24, 2011 by Panglossian Productions in the Williamsburg Library Theatre in Williamsburg, Va.
In the present, Franklin Shepard is a rich, famous, and influential (albeit egotistical) songwriter and film producer ("Merrily We Roll Along"). The years roll back.
In Frank's swank Los Angeles pad in 1976, after the premiere of his latest film, a party is in full swing. Frank's false showbiz "friends" are there, and bestow lavish praise on him ("That Frank"). His long-term friend and a theatre critic, Mary Flynn, who is now an alcoholic, is also at the party. She is disgusted by the people Frank has chosen to associate with and by his abandonment of music - the one thing he was truly good at - for the world of commercial film producing. Frank admits that his new film is just a formula picture, but he promises: just wait for the next film! But Mary has given up waiting, and becomes progressively more inebriated. She is ordered to leave after insulting everyone.
Frank is stung by Mary's rants, because he knows they are true. He has concentrated so completely on being a "success" that everything (and everyone) he most valued at the beginning of his career has gone. The evening ends traumatically with the breakup of Frank's marriage to his wife Gussie, a former leading actress in one of his early musicals, when she viciously attacks Meg, whom he has been seeing on the side.
Back to 1973 ("Merrily We Roll Along- First Transition"). Frank and his long-time friend, Charley Kringas, are about to be interviewed in a New York TV studio. Charley greets Mary ("Old Friends"), and tells her that Frank never has time to write shows anymore with him. Mary wonders plaintively why can't their collective friendship be "Like it Was". When the TV interview begins, a nervous Charley launches into a rampage on the way his composer has transformed himself into "Franklin Shepard Inc." Frank disowns Charley and walks out - their friendship is over.
It's 1968, and Mary, Charley and Frank are in Frank's apartment on Central Park West ("Merrily We Roll Along- Second Transition"). The two men fight over Frank's decision to do a movie version of one of their shows, Musical Husbands. Frank wants to do it for the money, but Charley says that it will get in the way of writing any new musicals for some time. Mary reminds them that they are all still old friends ("Old Friends" (Reprise)). But nothing is that simple anymore. The Broadway producer Joe Josephson and his wife Gussie arrive. She and Frank have been having an affair. When everyone leaves, Gussie shocks Frank by announcing that she intends to live with him and divorce Joe in the process ("Growing Up").
On to 1966 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Third Transition"). Frank is being divorced by Beth, and they fight over the custody of their young son in a courthouse. Beth confesses to him that she can't live with him knowing he is cheating on her with Gussie ("Not a Day Goes By"). Frank is then consoled by Mary, Charley and his other remaining friends. His pals convince him to start anew, stating that this was the "best thing that ever could have happened" ("Now You Know").
Act II
At the opening night of Musical Husbands, Gussie, having just discovered that Frank fancies her, is pondering what could come between the two of them ("Act Two Opening"). The scene transforms, and we see that Gussie is performing the song onstage, as the star of Musical Husbands. Meanwhile, the curtain comes down on the show. As the audience applauds, Charley and Frank, who are backstage with Joe, Mary and Beth, realize they have a hit ("It's a Hit!").
In 1962 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Fourth Transition"): at a party in Gussie and Joe's elegant Sutton Place apartment. Gussie has thrown a soirée so that Frank and Charley, who are going to write a musical for Joe to produce, can meet most influential people in town ("The Blob"). Pulling Frank away from the party-goers, Gussie convinces him to make his new musical, Musical Husbands, into a "big show" ("Growing Up (Part II)"). Returning to her guests, Gussie invites the songwriters to perform their latest song, "Good Thing Going". The guests love it. Gussie implores them to do an encore. Charley urges Frank not to, but Frank has already transformed. They play the song again, but the guests quickly lose interest and resume their noisy cocktail chatter ("The Blob (Reprise)"). Charley storms out.
Time turns back to 1960 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Fifth Transition"). Charley, Frank and Beth are young and beginning their careers, playing a small nightclub in Greenwich Village. Trying to appear bright and sophisticated, they perform a song celebrating America's new First Family ("Bobby and Jackie and Jack"). Joe is in the tiny audience and he's quite impressed, as is his wife Gussie, who is strongly attracted to Frank at this first meeting. After the show, Frank explains to them that he's marrying Beth, and the happy couple exchanges vows ("Not a Day Goes By (Reprise)"). At an adjoining table, Mary is distraught; she'll always feel something for Frank.
In 1959 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Sixth Transition") Frank, Charley and Mary are busy in New York, working their way up the career ladder ("Opening Doors"). The men audition for Joe, but he wants more "hummable" tunes. So they decide to do their own show and in an ensuing musical montage, end up auditioning and hiring Beth and forming their small cabaret show together.
Finally, it is October 1957 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Seventh Transition"). Early in the morning, Frank, Charley and Mary are on the roof of an old apartment house on New York City's 110th Street, waiting for the first-ever earth-orbiting satellite. Suddenly, Sputnik is there in the sky, and now, for the young friends, anything is possible ("Our Time").
Act II
Act II
, Petula Clark
, Mandy Patinkin
, Bernadette Peters
, Betty Buckley
, Cleo Laine
, Liza Minnelli
, Barbara Cook
, Patti LuPone
, Barry Manilow
, Audra McDonald
, Michael Crawford
, and Lena Horne
, and are popular especially with singers who perform on the cabaret
circuit.
The original Broadway cast recording of this production was released by RCA
as an LP album
in April 1982, and on compact disc
in 1986. A digitally remastered CD was released by Sony/BMG Broadway Masterworks in 2007 with two bonus tracks: "It's A Hit" (performed by Stephen Sondheim) and "Not A Day Goes By" (sung by Bernadette Peters).
for Best Original Score and the Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Music, and won the Drama Desk prize for his lyrics. Ann Morrison
won the 1982 Theatre World Award
for her performance.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by George Furth
George Furth
George Furth was an American librettist, playwright, and actor.-Biography:Furth was born George Schweinfurth in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Evelyn and George Schweinfurth...
and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
and Moss Hart
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
.
Furth and Sondheim retained the basic structure and overall theme of the play but updated it to encompass the period from 1957 to 1976. The story revolves around Franklin Shepard who, having once been a talented composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of Broadway musicals, has now abandoned his friends and his songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood flicks. Like the play, the musical begins at the height of his Hollywood fame and moves backwards in time, showing snapshots of the most important moments in Frank's life that shaped the man that he is today. Like Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd (musical)
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond....
, the show utilizes a chorus that sings reprises of the title song to transition the scenes.
The musical closed on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
after 52 previews and only 16 performances in 1981 and marked the end of the Harold Prince-Sondheim collaborations until Bounce
Bounce (musical)
Road Show is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by John Weidman...
in 2003.
Background and original production
Prince's wife, Judy, had been "nagging" him to do a musical about teenagers, when he recalled the play Merrily We Roll Along. Sondheim said that since the play was about friendships, he wrote the songs to be interconnected. The original choreographer, Ron FieldRon Field
Ronald Field was an American choreographer, director, and dancer.-Biography:Field was born in New York City, New York where he made his Broadway debut as a child in Lady in the Dark with Gertrude Lawrence...
, wanted to work with Prince. The decision was made to cast teenagers, and to have tryouts in New York rather than out-of-town. The tryouts, beginning on October 8, 1981, had a poor reception, with audiences walking out. On October 21, the New York Times reported that the leading man had been replaced by Jim Walton and the Broadway opening had been postponed. Field was replaced with choreographer Larry Fuller
Larry Fuller
Larry Fuller is an American choreographer, theatre director, dancer, and actor.Fuller began his career as a dancer/actor, appearing on Broadway in Carousel, The Music Man, Kean, Bravo Giovanni, and Funny Girl...
. James Weissenbach was originally Franklin Shephard, but was replaced in previews.
After an unusual 52 previews, the Broadway production, directed by Prince and choreographed by Fuller, opened on November 16, 1981 at the Alvin Theatre
Neil Simon Theatre
The Neil Simon Theatre, formerly the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway venue built in 1927 and located at 250 West 52nd Street in midtown-Manhattan....
. The show opened to mostly negative reviews. While the score was widely praised, critics and audiences alike felt that the book was problematic and the themes left a sour taste in their mouths. Hampered by the several critical reviews published prior to its official opening, as well as more negative ones published afterwards, it ran for only 16 performances. In his New York Times review on November 17, 1981, Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
said of the production, "As we all should probably have learned by now, to be a Stephen Sondheim fan is to have one's heart broken at regular intervals." Clive Barnes
Clive Barnes (critic)
Clive Alexander Barnes, CBE was a British-born American writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977 he was the dance and theater critic for the New York Times, the most powerful position he had held, since its theater critics' reviews historically have had great influence on the success or failure of...
wrote, "Whatever you may have heard about it – go and see it for yourselves. It is far too good a musical to be judged by those twin kangaroo courts of word of mouth and critical consensus."
The cast included Jim Walton
Jim Walton (actor)
Jim Walton is an American actor, most notable for his leading performance in the original production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along as Franklin Shephard.-Career:...
(Franklin Shepard), Lonny Price
Lonny Price
Lonny Price is an American actor, writer, and director, primarily in theatre. He is known for making statements on current events in versions of his musicals. His acclaimed May 2008 New York Philharmonic production of Camelot was making a statement about the current war including having different...
(Charley Kringus), Ann Morrison
Ann Morrison
Ann Morrison is an American actress, best known for her Broadway debut as Mary Flynn in the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical, Merrily We Roll Along directed by Harold Prince for which she won the 1982 Theatre World Award...
(Mary), Terry Finn
Terry Finn
Teresa Jo Ann Bernadette 'Terry' Finn is an American actress best known for creating the role of Gussie Carnegie in the original Broadway cast of the Stephen Sondheim/Hal Prince/George Furth musical comedy Merrily We Roll Along and its Original Cast Album.-Early life:Terry Finn was born on August...
(Gussie),
Jason Alexander
Jason Alexander
Jay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...
(Joe), Sally Klein (Beth), Geoffrey Horne
Geoffrey Horne
Geoffrey Horne is an actor, director, and acting coach at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. His screen credits include The Bridge on the River Kwai, Bonjour Tristesse, The Strange One, Two People, The Twilight Zone episode 'The Gift' in 1962, and as Wade Norton in "The Guests" episode...
(Franklin Shephard age 43), David Loud
David Loud
David Loud is an American music supervisor, music director, conductor, vocal and dance arranger, pianist and actor...
(Ted), Daisy Prince (Meg), Liz Callaway
Liz Callaway
Liz Callaway is an American actress and singer, famous for providing the singing voices of many female characters in films, such as Anya in Anastasia, Odette in The Swan Princess, and Kiara in The Lion King II:Simba's Pride....
(Nightclub Waitress), Tonya Pinkins
Tonya Pinkins
Tonya Pinkins is an American actress and author known for her portrayal of Livia Frye on the soap opera All My Children and for her roles on Broadway, for which she won a Tony Award.-Biography:...
(Gwen), and Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
(Valedictorian). Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
auditioned; she was 18 years old.
Subsequent production history
Throughout the years, with Furth and Sondheim's blessing, the musical has been staged with numerous changes, most notable of which is presenting its scenes in chronological order rather than in reverse. Sondheim has contributed new songs to several of the show's incarnations.A production directed by James Lapine
James Lapine
James Lapine is an American stage director and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.-Biography:Lapine was born in Mansfield, Ohio and graduated...
opened on June 16, 1985 at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. -Background:...
, where it ran for 24 performances. The cast included John Rubinstein
John Rubinstein
John Arthur Rubinstein is an American film, Broadway, and television actor, a composer of film and theatre music, and a director in theatre and television.-Early life:...
as Franklin Shepard, Chip Zien
Chip Zien
Chip Zien is an American actor. He is best known for playing the lead role of the Baker in the original Broadway production of Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim...
as Charley Kringas, Marin Mazzie
Marin Mazzie
Marin Joy Mazzie is an American actress and singer known for her work in musical theater. She was nominated for the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Olivier Award for her role as Lilli/Katharine in Kiss Me, Kate, and won the Outer Critics Circle Award...
as Beth and Heather MacRae
Heather MacRae
Heather MacRae is an American stage, film and television actress, perhaps best known for her role in the Woody Allen 1972 comedy film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* ....
as Mary Flynn. An Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
production, directed by Douglas C. Wager and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge
Marcia Milgrom Dodge
Marcia Milgrom Dodge is an American director, choreographer and writer for the stage. After working in regional theatre, off-Broadway and elsewhere for thirty years, Dodge directed and choreographed her first Broadway production, a revival of Ragtime in 2009...
, opened on January 30, 1990 at Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
's Kreeger Theater, where it ran slightly more than two months. The cast included Victor Garber
Victor Garber
Victor Joseph Garber is a Canadian film, stage and television actor and singer. Garber is known for playing Jesus in Godspell, Jack Bristow in the television series Alias, Max in Lend Me a Tenor, and Thomas Andrews in James Cameron's Titanic.-Early life:Born in London, Ontario, Canada, Garber is...
, David Garrison
David Garrison
David Gene Garrison is an American actor. His primary venue is live theatre, but he may be more widely known for his numerous television roles, particularly that of Steve Rhoades on Married... with Children...
, and Becky Ann Baker
Becky Ann Baker
Becky Ann Baker is an American actress who is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Jean Weir on NBC's Emmy Award-winning Freaks and Geeks.-Early life:Baker was born Becky Gelke in Fort Knox, Kentucky...
. In his review of the Arena Stage production, Rich noted that "Many of the major flaws of the 1981 Merrily, starting with its notorious gymnasium setting, have long since been jettisoned or rectified in intervening versions produced in La Jolla, Calif., and in Seattle." He called the score "exceptional."
A revised production, directed by Paul Kerryson, with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick and musical direction by Julian Kelly, opened on April 14, 1992 at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, where it ran for three weeks. The cast included Michael Cantwell (Franklin), Maria Friedman
Maria Friedman
Maria Friedman is an English actress working in television, musical theatre, and concerts. She has won three Olivier Awards for her stage work.-Early years:...
(Mary), and Evan Pappas (Charlie), along with Jacqueline Dankworth, Louise Gold
Louise Gold
Louise Gold is an English singer, actress and puppeteer whose career has spanned almost four decades.From 1977, Gold was a puppeteer and voice actress for The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, and she has performed voice and puppet work on various other Muppet films and specials...
, and, Gareth Snook. A cast recording was released on a single CD in the UK in 1994 and, with extended cuts and dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
, as a double-CD set in the US in 1997.
An off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
revival, directed by Susan H. Schulman
Susan H. Schulman
Susan H. Schulman is an American theater director.Intent on a career as an actress, Schulman studied drama at Hofstra University in Hempstead, Long Island, New York in the 1960s. She attended Yale University on a playwrighting fellowship, graduating with a Master's Degree...
, opened on May 26, 1994 at the York Theatre in St. Peter's Church, where it ran for 54 performances. The cast included Malcolm Gets
Malcolm Gets
Hugh Malcolm Gerard Gets is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Richard in the American television sitcom Caroline in the City. Gets is also a dancer, singer, composer, classically trained pianist, vocal director, and choreographer. He has a small part in the film adaptation of...
and Michele Pawk
Michele Pawk
Michele Pawk is an American actress and singer.-Biography:Born in Butler, Pennsylvania, Pawk attended Allegheny College and the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, after which she spent a year working in a musical revue at Disney World...
. A cast recording was released by Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...
.
During their 1997-1998 season, SpeakEasy Stage Company performed the show the Boston Center for the Arts.
After eight previews, the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
premiere, directed by Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...
, opened on December 11, 2000 at the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
, where it ran for 71 performances. The cast included Mary Stockley
Mary Stockley
Mary Stockley is a British stage, television and film actress.A former member of the National Youth Music Theatre, Stockley studied drama at university. She made her first television appearance in 2001 in the TV movie Being Dom Jolly, in 2002 going on to play Kate Matherson in eight episodes of...
. The production won Laurence Olivier Awards
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
for Best Musical, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
In 2002, a reunion concert was staged at the Laguardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center as a benefit for Musical Theatre Works, of which Lonny Price was Artistic Director. All but two of the original cast members recreated their roles, with Jason Alexander acting additionally as Master of Ceremonies. Tony-winning choreographer Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall
Kathleen Marshall is an American choreographer, director, and creative consultant.-Life and career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marshall graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and Smith College. She worked in the Pittsburgh theatre scene when she was younger, performing with such...
directed. George Furth was not in attendance (and did not allow any of his dialogue to be spoken), but Prince and Sondheim were on hand. Shortly after, they began work together on Bounce, their first collaboration since Merrily.
As part of the Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center, a limited engagement of fourteen performances opened on July 12, 2002 at the Eisenhower Theater. The cast featured Michael Hayden
Michael Hayden
Michael Vincent Hayden, is a retired United States Air Force four-star general and former Director of the National Security Agency and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(Franklin), Miriam Shor
Miriam Shor
Miriam Shor is an American film, stage, and television actress.-Early life:Shor was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is Jewish on her father's side, and speaks fluent Yiddish as well as Italian. Her parents divorced when she was 7, and she alternated between living in Turin, Italy , and...
(Mary), Raúl Esparza
Raúl Esparza
Raúl Eduardo Esparza is an American stage actor, singer, and voice artist noted for his award winning performances in Broadway shows...
(Charley), and Emily Skinner
Emily Skinner
Emily Skinner is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has performed in such Broadway shows as Side Show, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight and, currently, in Billy Elliot...
(Gussie).
Theatre Works, Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, production opened in April 2007.
The Derby Playhouse
Derby Playhouse
Derby Theatre is a theatre situated in Derby, England. Formerly known as the Derby Playhouse, it was operated by Derby Playhouse Ltd from its opening in 1975 until 2008, when the company ceased operating after a period in administration...
production ran from 19 April to 19 May 2007, starring Glyn Kerslake, Glenn Carter and Eliza Lumley in the lead roles.
The Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia) production, directed by Eric Schaeffer, opened on September 4, 2007 and ran through October 14, 2007.
John Doyle
John Doyle (director)
John Doyle is a Tony Award winning Scottish stage director for musicals and plays, as well as operas. He has served as artistic director at several regional theatres in the United Kingdom, where he has staged more than 200 professional productions during his career spanning 30...
directed a production running at the Watermill Theatre
Watermill Theatre
The Watermill Theatre is an award -winning, professional repertory theatre with charitable status. It is a converted watermill with gardens beside the River Lambourn, in Bagnor, near Newbury, Berkshire, England...
, Newbury, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, from January 16, 2008 through March 8, 2008. It featured Sam Kenyon (Franklin), Rebecca Jackson (Gussie), Elizabeth Marsh (Mary) and Thomas Padden (Charlie). (This is Doyle's last production for the theatre.)
A concert production of the show was held in Southampton, New York
Southampton (village), New York
Southampton is a village in Suffolk County, New York, USA. The village is named after the Earl of Southampton. The Village of Southampton is in the southeast part of the county in the Town of Southampton...
in March 2008 directed by Michael Disher, followed later by a fully staged production in September 2008.
Plans for a revival by the Roundabout Theatre Company
Roundabout Theatre Company
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in New York City.-History:The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist and Elizabeth Owens and now operates five theatres, all in Manhattan: the American Airlines Theatre ; Studio 54 ; the Stephen Sondheim Theatre The...
in New York, was announced in May 2008. The revival had been aiming for a Broadway production in 2009/10, but it has not occurred as of March 2011.
Available Light Theatre (AVLT), opened the revised version of Merrily We Roll Along at the Vern Riffe Center in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, from August 19, 2010 through September 4, 2010. It was directed by John Dranschak, and featured Ian Short as Frank, Nick Lingnofski as Charley, and Heather Carvel as Mary. The musical director was Pam Welsh-Huggins.
In March 2011, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park
The was founded in 1959 by college student Gerald Covell and was one of the first regional theatres in the United States. Located in Eden Park, the first play that premiered at the Playhouse on October 10, 1960, was Meyer Levin's Compulsion...
announced plans for a revival directed by John Doyle
John Doyle
John Doyle may refer to:* Jack Doyle , Irish boxer and actor* Jack Doyle , American baseball player* John Andrew Doyle , English historian...
, using the actor-musician concept. The show is scheduled to open in March 2012.
A three-performance production of the play will be mounted July 22, 23 and 24, 2011 by Panglossian Productions in the Williamsburg Library Theatre in Williamsburg, Va.
Synopsis
Act IIn the present, Franklin Shepard is a rich, famous, and influential (albeit egotistical) songwriter and film producer ("Merrily We Roll Along"). The years roll back.
In Frank's swank Los Angeles pad in 1976, after the premiere of his latest film, a party is in full swing. Frank's false showbiz "friends" are there, and bestow lavish praise on him ("That Frank"). His long-term friend and a theatre critic, Mary Flynn, who is now an alcoholic, is also at the party. She is disgusted by the people Frank has chosen to associate with and by his abandonment of music - the one thing he was truly good at - for the world of commercial film producing. Frank admits that his new film is just a formula picture, but he promises: just wait for the next film! But Mary has given up waiting, and becomes progressively more inebriated. She is ordered to leave after insulting everyone.
Frank is stung by Mary's rants, because he knows they are true. He has concentrated so completely on being a "success" that everything (and everyone) he most valued at the beginning of his career has gone. The evening ends traumatically with the breakup of Frank's marriage to his wife Gussie, a former leading actress in one of his early musicals, when she viciously attacks Meg, whom he has been seeing on the side.
Back to 1973 ("Merrily We Roll Along- First Transition"). Frank and his long-time friend, Charley Kringas, are about to be interviewed in a New York TV studio. Charley greets Mary ("Old Friends"), and tells her that Frank never has time to write shows anymore with him. Mary wonders plaintively why can't their collective friendship be "Like it Was". When the TV interview begins, a nervous Charley launches into a rampage on the way his composer has transformed himself into "Franklin Shepard Inc." Frank disowns Charley and walks out - their friendship is over.
It's 1968, and Mary, Charley and Frank are in Frank's apartment on Central Park West ("Merrily We Roll Along- Second Transition"). The two men fight over Frank's decision to do a movie version of one of their shows, Musical Husbands. Frank wants to do it for the money, but Charley says that it will get in the way of writing any new musicals for some time. Mary reminds them that they are all still old friends ("Old Friends" (Reprise)). But nothing is that simple anymore. The Broadway producer Joe Josephson and his wife Gussie arrive. She and Frank have been having an affair. When everyone leaves, Gussie shocks Frank by announcing that she intends to live with him and divorce Joe in the process ("Growing Up").
On to 1966 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Third Transition"). Frank is being divorced by Beth, and they fight over the custody of their young son in a courthouse. Beth confesses to him that she can't live with him knowing he is cheating on her with Gussie ("Not a Day Goes By"). Frank is then consoled by Mary, Charley and his other remaining friends. His pals convince him to start anew, stating that this was the "best thing that ever could have happened" ("Now You Know").
Act II
At the opening night of Musical Husbands, Gussie, having just discovered that Frank fancies her, is pondering what could come between the two of them ("Act Two Opening"). The scene transforms, and we see that Gussie is performing the song onstage, as the star of Musical Husbands. Meanwhile, the curtain comes down on the show. As the audience applauds, Charley and Frank, who are backstage with Joe, Mary and Beth, realize they have a hit ("It's a Hit!").
In 1962 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Fourth Transition"): at a party in Gussie and Joe's elegant Sutton Place apartment. Gussie has thrown a soirée so that Frank and Charley, who are going to write a musical for Joe to produce, can meet most influential people in town ("The Blob"). Pulling Frank away from the party-goers, Gussie convinces him to make his new musical, Musical Husbands, into a "big show" ("Growing Up (Part II)"). Returning to her guests, Gussie invites the songwriters to perform their latest song, "Good Thing Going". The guests love it. Gussie implores them to do an encore. Charley urges Frank not to, but Frank has already transformed. They play the song again, but the guests quickly lose interest and resume their noisy cocktail chatter ("The Blob (Reprise)"). Charley storms out.
Time turns back to 1960 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Fifth Transition"). Charley, Frank and Beth are young and beginning their careers, playing a small nightclub in Greenwich Village. Trying to appear bright and sophisticated, they perform a song celebrating America's new First Family ("Bobby and Jackie and Jack"). Joe is in the tiny audience and he's quite impressed, as is his wife Gussie, who is strongly attracted to Frank at this first meeting. After the show, Frank explains to them that he's marrying Beth, and the happy couple exchanges vows ("Not a Day Goes By (Reprise)"). At an adjoining table, Mary is distraught; she'll always feel something for Frank.
In 1959 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Sixth Transition") Frank, Charley and Mary are busy in New York, working their way up the career ladder ("Opening Doors"). The men audition for Joe, but he wants more "hummable" tunes. So they decide to do their own show and in an ensuing musical montage, end up auditioning and hiring Beth and forming their small cabaret show together.
Finally, it is October 1957 ("Merrily We Roll Along- Seventh Transition"). Early in the morning, Frank, Charley and Mary are on the roof of an old apartment house on New York City's 110th Street, waiting for the first-ever earth-orbiting satellite. Suddenly, Sputnik is there in the sky, and now, for the young friends, anything is possible ("Our Time").
Original song list
Act I- The Hills of Tomorrow
- Merrily We Roll Along (1980)
- Rich and Happy
- Merrily We Roll Along (1979-1975)
- Old Friends
- Like It Was
- Merrily We Roll Along (1974 -1973)
- Franklin Shepard, Inc.
- Old Friends (Reprise)
- Not a Day Goes By
- Now You Know
Act II
- It's a Hit!
- Merrily We Roll Along (1964-1962)
- Good Thing Going
- Merrily We Roll Along (1961-1960)
- Bobby and Jackie and Jack
- Not a Day Goes By (Reprise)
- Opening Doors
- Our Time
- The Hills of Tomorrow (Reprise)
1993 Revival Song List (Current Version)
Act I- Overture - Orchestra
- Merrily We Roll Along - Company
- That Frank - Frank & Guests
- First Transition - Company
- Old Friends (Part I) - Mary & Charley
- Like It Was - Mary
- Franklin Shepard, Inc. - Charley
- Second Transition - Company
- Old Friends (Part II) - Mary, Frank & Charley
- Growing Up - Frank & Gussie
- Third Transition - Company
- Not a Day Goes By - Beth
- Now You Know - Mary & Company
Act II
- Entr'acte - Orchestra
- Act Two Opening - Gussie
- It's A Hit - Frank, Charley, Mary, Joe, Beth
- Fourth Transition - Company
- The Blob - Gussie & Company
- Growing Up (Part II) - Gussie
- Good Thing Going - Charley
- The Blob (Part II) - Company
- Fifth Transition - Company
- Bobby and Jackie and Jack - Charley, Beth, Frank, Pianist
- Not A Day Goes By - Beth, Frank, Mary
- Sixth Transition - Company
- Opening Doors - Frank, Charley, Mary, Joe, Beth
- Seventh Transition - Frank Jr, Beth, Mrs. Spencer
- Our Time - Frank, Charley, Mary, and Company
- Bows - Company
- Exit Music - Orchestra
Recordings
"Not a Day Goes By," "Good Thing Going," "Old Friends," and "Our Time" have been recorded by various artists, including Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
, Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
, Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
, Cleo Laine
Cleo Laine
Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...
, Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
, Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook is an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter...
, Patti LuPone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...
, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
, Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
, Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
, and Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, and are popular especially with singers who perform on the cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
circuit.
The original Broadway cast recording of this production was released by RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
as an LP album
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
in April 1982, and on compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
in 1986. A digitally remastered CD was released by Sony/BMG Broadway Masterworks in 2007 with two bonus tracks: "It's A Hit" (performed by Stephen Sondheim) and "Not A Day Goes By" (sung by Bernadette Peters).
Awards and nominations
The musical won the Olivier Award for Best Musical in 2001. Sondheim was nominated for the Tony AwardTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Original Score and the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Music, and won the Drama Desk prize for his lyrics. Ann Morrison
Ann Morrison
Ann Morrison is an American actress, best known for her Broadway debut as Mary Flynn in the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical, Merrily We Roll Along directed by Harold Prince for which she won the 1982 Theatre World Award...
won the 1982 Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for her performance.