Am I the only one excited about Merrily?????- Page 6

[PianoMann]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 5:48pm

So we all think the script he is holding at the end is "Take a Left" and he's back in present day rethinking where he's at?

Absolutely! That's the reason why he changes, while Charlie and Mary do not.

[SayitSomehow]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 5:54pm

That ending note, to me, is SO important to making this show work. We need to feel like there was a reason we just went on this depressing backwards spiral. For it to culminate in a lightbulb A-HA moment for the main character, where that ****from the first scene decides to stop and "take a left" per se, makes it all feel much more worthwhile. Like he had to retrace his roots to realize how much of a douche he'd become, and we got to witness that.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/26/13 at 6:31pm

GavestonPS - you wrote that you "despise Beth in all versions". Including this one? I was quite taken with her. I felt her pain. I wanted to hold her hand.

Yes, definitely including this one. To me, Beth is never sufficiently developed to hold stage with the other principals. She just a generic soprano and that's the least interesting creature in musical theater.

But any mother who drags away her screaming child to punish his father loses my sympathy. I don't care what her justification is.

***

Gaveston, I didn't think the masks were to clue the audience into who they all were. I thought it was just a staging choice. I laughed when they pulled the the second chart out.

Sorry, Phyll, I was being facetious. If the Brits don't recognize the Kennedys by name, they certainly aren't going to know them by sight.

And I agree about the family-tree chart. It was very funny and then stayed out of the way when it wasn't needed. It was the rolling tray (which looked like a modern synthesizer when they rolled it out) full of paper masks that got in the way. Updated On: 10/26/13 at 06:31 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/26/13 at 6:42pm

So we all think the script he is holding at the end is "Take a Left" and he's back in present day rethinking where he's at?

Honestly, when watching the show, I thought it was the original script (two one-acts?) that Franklin has just read when the rooftop scene begins. Those are the plays that so impress Frank that he wants to work with Charlie.

Whether one of those one-acts was later the source for TAKE A LEFT, I don't know.

What I did think was "NOBODY in NYC bound a script that way in the 50s, 60s, 70s or early 80s!"

***

But, yes, he is back in the present day. He appears with the same script at the end of the first (last) scene.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Posted: 10/27/13 at 11:22am

But any mother who drags away her screaming child to punish his father loses my sympathy. I don't care what her justification is.

I didn't see her actions as punishment. From her perspective, the wrong that had been done to her was so great that she no longer knew the man standing in front of her. This stranger may be good to her child or perhaps he would not be; she didn't trust her intuition at the moment to know one way or another. I think that what we saw was a mother's instinct to protect her child.

We're not given any indication of how long this lasted. If she fought his right to see his child for some significant period of time, she'd lose my support. We're shown that she eventually came around because of the son's visit in the first scene, but we don't know if it took a court order to pry him out of her hands. From the perspective of the show, I wish Franklin and Beth's relationship hadn't ended in the courtroom.

Thanks for the conversation. I've enjoyed reliving the show and appreciate your insight.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/27/13 at 12:55pm

I didn't see her actions as punishment. From her perspective, the wrong that had been done to her was so great that she no longer knew the man standing in front of her. This stranger may be good to her child or perhaps he would not be; she didn't trust her intuition at the moment to know one way or another. I think that what we saw was a mother's instinct to protect her child.

In the scene to which I refer they are in a public space and Beth has both of her parents there for support. We're not talking about whether Frankie is old enough to travel from Houston to NYC by himself; we're talking about snatching him out his father's grasp when they are surrounded by other adults, both friendly and not. Beth's action is vengeance, pure and simple, and she uses their child as her weapon.

Nothing Frank has done is an excuse.

[missthemountains]

Posted: 11/8/13 at 1:45am

So Im sure this has been asked, but since there are several different versions of the show, what version is currently licensed? In addition, if anyone could roughly reccount the changes to me that would be cool too.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/8/13 at 4:20am

We finally got the cinecast in Canada tonight. I took my mom, who was unfamiliar with the show (but pointed out she realized she knew most of the songs from how often I would play ti as a teenager) and she loved it. I largely... really loved it too, though it took me a little while to come around to it, for some reason. I'll have to catch up with this long thread before adding my thoughts.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/8/13 at 4:22am

Missthemountains, I believe the final revised version, which essentially is what Encores and this filmed production did (albeit there always seem to be some changes) is what's licensed. I know in the past there has been some upset when people have used elements of the original (like the, apparently, excellent Donmar production which I believe re-incorporated the high school graduation framework.)

As for changes--it's pretty easy to see the major changes (ie the songs) but I won't even try listing all of the changes, simply too much dialogue and lyrics have been re-written.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/8/13 at 11:41am

The Encores! and Leicester/filmed revival version actually have a lot of dialogue differences.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 2:53pm

The filmed production is now available on Digital Theatre!

http://www.digitaltheatre.com/production/details/merrily-we-roll-along-stephen-sondheim

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 4:39pm

(deleted; repeating myself) Updated On: 12/22/13 at 04:39 PM

[gleek4114]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 6:15pm

Will it become available on DVD. Is there a chance of a cast recording of this cast?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 4:49am

The only cast recording I could see at this point would be taken from the filmed version--so why bother...

As for DVD--I wish it was. I know there are ways to get around the Digital Theatre thing--and the plays I have bought (HD copies of Into the Woods, All my Sons, Beautiful Thing, etc) I can't work out how to burn onto DVD (I know some more tech savvy people have managed.) That said if I connect my computer to my HD TV they look and sound great....

In the past this has been part of the Digital Theatre's contract with the theatre companies--digital rights only. I had hoped maybe it would be different this time as it is, I believe, the first time they had movie theatre rights too, but it looks like it isn't.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 9:23am

Being re screened in US theatres on the 23rd Dec