Arden Directing "Merrily" In LA — Page 3

If anyone else on here is planning on going, and might be able to grab a couple extra playbills, I'd be really grateful. My friend is a big Michael Arden fan, and I've loved Donna since I got to see her on tour in Wicked. Pm if you can help!

Any "talk" about an extension?

That IS lovely about the orchestrations. I'm sure like everything these days, the production will be 'considered' for a transfer, but I'm sure in order for that to open the reviews will need to be outstanding and Sondheim will need to want this production to be seen in NYC. I was a little surprised that Maria Friedman's London production that was the best reviewed production of the show to date didn't make an appearance in the states (at the Roundabout or MTC, etc).

For those of you wanting playbills I will be attending December 7, and will be happy to grab extra playbills and send. PM me your info...

I know Michael was in the tech room act 1, at intermission I spoke to him (really nice) and got an autograph, then act 2 he sat in the orchestra in front of me (there was an empty seat). Its also still previews..

I didn't think it was funny he was there. Of course he would be there during previews. I thought it was funny that no one even noticed him. And my daughter and I enjoyed seeing him. This is LA not NYC, so we'll take whatever theatre sighting we can get.

Amazing that I can't find more info on this... Well, I'm in Los Angeles, after all... Has anybody heard anything else re: rescheduled opening night, Brady's return, etc.? I searched for reviews this morning and that's how I stumbled on the post regarding Brady's injury.

"I had tickets to see the show this weekend but when I read the thread and saw Wayne Brady was out of the show, I immediately called the box office and Wallis and had my tickets changed to later in the run."



That was a mistake, Wayne Brady was terrible. Wooden, bland, unconvincing and dull. Almost as bad was Saycon Sengbloh with her all-attitudinal, non-acting... great pipes.. but it was like she went to the Tyler Perry school of stock reactions and grimaces.

Donna Viviano was the best thing in it.

Updated On: 12/2/16 at 01:22 AM

http://www.tmz.com/2016/12/02/wayne-brady-missed-play-thanksgiving-food/

Maybe it's just me but I saw this production last night and was left feeling uninspired. Merrily is one of my favorite shows and this one just missed the mark for me over and over again. I also agree that after seeing the Best Worst Thing doc I felt much more moved and keep finding myself asking what Lonny Price's Production would look like.

I definitely had high hopes here so maybe I was expecting too much but it felt overly directed to me. Every choice was over the top and the three shadow characters were total overkill to me. I think the beauty of the revised version of this show is that it's simple. A story told backwards. Trust the writing. There was so much going on in this production. I also wasn't particularly blown away by the casting - talented, sure, but many of these folks seemed miscast for the roles they were playing and one or two of them were still flubbing lines after how many performances in front of an audience?

Ultimately, would be much happier watching the Digital Theater West End production or the documentary. Both stellar.

Grabbed a pair of tickets for the Thursday performance. Wayne Brady was out, so we saw the understudy who had to perform with a script in his hand the whole show.

Overall, the cast was uneven. I agree that Whitney Bashor as quite good and her "Not a Day Goes By" was beautifully restrained but her portrayal nevertheless resilient. Saycon Sengbloh was rather one-note, but her voice wonderful. Eric B Anthony (iirc) who subbed for Wayne Brady made best of what he could do, and his rich voice and some acting choices were a pleasant surprise, but still miscast. His warm presence didn't really make sense for a character that seemed so cynical. (I can't imagine Wayne Brady filling in any better...)

Donna Vivino was cringe-inducing in the first party scene with the atrocious drunk acting, but eventually became the highlight of the evening for me as the scenes went on. Aaron Lazar was rather unmemorable, but could it be due to how the role was written? He sang well. His acting was perfunctory. But I simply did not care at all for his portrayal.

Michael Arden's direction is fine. The dressing room design was interesting for a minute, but as the scenes went on, it felt more and more like an underdeveloped idea for the sake of having a concept for the show that dressed up the stage. I was fine with the younger actors shadowing as it wasn't done in an intrusive way for me.

It was my first time seeing a production of Merrily, so I did enjoy it. I wasn't bothered at all when others criticized the show for being too simplistic in its message of success and money not leading to happiness. The score and the book felt earnest, and has become one of my favorite works by Sondheim.

Updated On: 12/4/16 at 05:31 PM

QueenAlice -

AlfieBryne put it perfectly:

Michael Arden's direction is fine. The dressing room design was interesting for a minute, but as the scenes went on, it felt more and more like an underdeveloped idea for the sake of having a concept for the show that dressed up the stage.

What the West End production proved is that you don't need showy directorial splashes to make the piece work. Strong actors, well guided, are enough to prompt the many emotional wallops potential in the show.

This production simply isn't cast well.

Donna Vivino is the only bulleyes. Ami Talai is good too, in spite of some the strange things Arden has him doing

It's after 4:00 a.m. and my night so far: Attended MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG at the Wallis, and then re-watched the Digital Theatre recording of the Sonia Friedman/West End production (which I actually saw live) in order to wash the taste of Michael Arden's trainwreck out of my mouth.

Now, I loved Arden's SPRING AWAKENING, finding it brilliantly conceived, powerfully emotional, and, in many ways, superior to the original. But he has missed the mark big time in this latest endeavor. In fact, it's hard to fathom how an experienced actor/director could so fundamentally misunderstand a piece. Practically every directorial decision on view is mindbogglingly wrong.

We can begin with casting. In no way, shape, or form are the leads believable as "Old Friends". There is absolutely NO chemistry between them AT ALL.

More specifically: Aaron Lazar is a complete blank as Franklin Shepard. "If you had no idea what charisma meant", you certainly wouldn't be any wiser after watching his performance. Having such a non-entity as the focal point of the show is fatal. [Compare Mark Umbers in the West End production. Sexy, charismatic, self-absorbed, believable.] But it gets worse. Wayne Brady is certainly entertaining, but, then, he is not playing a real character. He's playing "Wayne Brady mugging and doing stuff" (like slow motion blowing up an imaginary alligator). Nowhere in his performance is the angst, the neurosis, or the love he is supposed to feel for Frank and Mary. "Franklin Shepard Inc." is a chance for him to get applause for doing a show-stopper; NOT because he has tapped into its underlying drama. Donna Vivano and Whitney Bashor are actually able to create consistent and appropriate characters, but they are so much better than the production that surrounds them that it throws everyone else's failings into greater relief. Particularly weak, considering the importance of the part, is Saycon Sengbloh as Gussie. Her voice is fine but she has no chemistry with either Franklin or Joe and no presence as a supposed Broadway star. (Her Act Two opening is particularly inept.) [Compare Josefina Gabrielle's performance as Gussie in the West End production. Sexy, vibrant, manipulative, stellar.]

The set design is ugly -- and stupid! Why, precisely, are we looking at a blank stage surrounded by lighted make-up mirrors? Why do characters occasionally walk on wheeling work lights? And why, in Act Two, do mirrors seemingly left over from A CHORUS LINE suddenly make their appearance? (Your guess is as good as mine.)

Above all else, the direction truly sucks. I don't think there was a moment when I felt that Arden knew what the hell he was doing or what the show was about. His direction was constantly, consistently, and excessively misguided and busy.

Why have 3 people on stage when you can have 10? (Ensemble members are always moving around and watching from the make-up mirror sidelines.) Why not have completely distracting and unnecessary choreography? (Note to MA: The song is called "The Blob" for a reason. Staging it with the ensemble spread out on the stage sorta defeats its whole purpose.) Why have ridiculous "younger shadows" of the main characters frequently jumping around the stage, when they have no meaning beyond being a directorial conceit?

As dramageek1211 said above "Trust the writing." The production resoundingly doesn't. Arden apparently feels that we can't have a quiet, reflective moment -- in a piece that should be full of them. Even the ending, which should show the pure, optimistic, and naive beginning of this friendship has to be fussed with & mucked up -- by having the younger versions gradually replace the actors we have been following the entire show.

Transfer to Broadway? Please. Had this version opened back in 1981, it would've closed at intermission.

{Note: Re-watching the West End production, especially in light of this mess, makes me appreciate it all the more. It may well be the definitive production of the revised version.}