MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG Reviews — Page 22

dramamama611 said: "Question: I don't think I remember seeing anything mentioning it (which is likely my answer) but were there ANY actors that were replaced during its run....either from the off bway or within the bway run?"

During the Broadway run there were 3 replacements, 3 added swings post-opening, and some sort of switchup amongst the Frank Juniors.

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/merrily-we-roll-along-536675#Replacements

I would also like to shout out the very talented Morgan Kirner who was a swing and the dance captain. She’s a star, I remember watching her at the paper mill rising star awards back in the day.

MezzA101 said: "EXIT INTERVIEW | Katie Rose Clarke Says Goodbye To Beth in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG



https://www.theatrely.com/post/exit-interview-katie-rose-clarke-says-goodbye-to-beth-in-merrily-we-roll-along



Theater doors opened at 1:20. Auditorium doors just opened. No understudy posting for Lindsay. What's the final count?"

For every heavily pregnant performance Lindsey has done, deduct 5 absences from the count. I can’t imagine being 7 months pregnant and schlepping to the Hudson every day in this heat.

Thank you to Lindsay Mendez for giving your usual 1,000% today and helping me verbalize what she brought to the role of Mary Flynn that made the show work. The piece must be enjoyed by newbies and those familiar with the material. Mary starts off as a very disagreeable character and yet, if you don't root for her, the piece doesn't work. A very pregnant Mendez, with our knowledge of the camaraderie of the three leads, is someone we want to win in the end. You could say the same for what Radcliffe does for Charley.

I've seen it several times with Mary understudies. Fine actresses all, but I couldn't care less in that first scene what happens to them. That's the magic of the cast. I am sure whatever prevented her from attending every performance was necessary and deprived her of doing something that gave her great joy. But as a paying audience member, I hated finding out each time via the board when I walked in for the show. I hope the movie captures her greatness, for the benefit of those who didn't attend at all, or came on a night she wasn't on.

What a show today! Standing ovations for "Franklin Shepard Inc." and "Old Friends." Of course it couldn't work on Colbert and the Tonys. The choreography is so key to the number.

If memory serves, "It's a Hit!" didn't make it onto the OBC album, and I first heard it on a college radio station show that played showtunes Sunday mornings. Today it blew the roof off the Hudson Theatre. The "Tony" getting passed around among the cast. The crying.

What a memory play it has become. And today was full circle as these three and everyone involved, play "Our Time," which then ends not just the show but this run. At the top of the number Groff started to lose it, looked at Radcliffe who was having difficulty as well. Audience applause to give them time to recover. Charley goes offstage for a second during "Opening Doors, forget why, and Groff ran over and typed on Charley's typewriter. Made Radcliffe laugh when he returned as saw it. Don't recall that moment before.

And there was a third act today. About 15 minutes after the curtain call, with the Friedman sisters beautiful speeches and making everyone backstage take a bow. The three Frank Jr's were there. Maria said auditioning and approving Radcliffe was the last (professional) thing Sondheim did. Sonya made it clear the only iteration of "Merrily" currently on the horizon is the movie.

What a blessed day!

MezzA101 said: "EXIT INTERVIEW | Katie Rose Clarke Says Goodbye To Beth in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG



https://www.theatrely.com/post/exit-interview-katie-rose-clarke-says-goodbye-to-beth-in-merrily-we-roll-along



Theater doors opened at 1:20. Auditorium doors just opened. No understudy posting for Lindsay. What's the final count?"

75 shows missed in total. No unscheduled absences for Groff or Radcliffe. Krystal Joy Brown performed all 400 shows off-Broadway and Broadway (which she kept posting about).

Updated On: 7/8/24 at 08:51 PM

Waiting for them to do a Betrayal revival.

Is that surprising? ATG literally scalped their own tickets to prevent scalpers from profiting.

Updated On: 7/8/24 at 09:12 PM

They just mean they jacked up their own prices, keeping probable scalpers from buying them because their profit margin would be too low.

I still bought a ticket for over 200 bucks from a ticket reseller, tickpick. The entire row was nearly empty, in line with the tickets that were being sold from ticket resellers. After the opening number, people were still coming in. I’m guessing they held off on buying when the ticket prices dropped after curtain. I bought 10 minutes before curtain to get the best deal and the price kept dropping afterwards. The ticket originally cost 149 bucks.

https://x.com/coreymach/status/1810719035773853873

binau said: "I bet people don't suggest that actors should get paid less when business is bad (i.e. most shows) lol."


The minimum should stay the same of course but when a show like Hamilton or Merrily is charging obscene prices for tickets I’m sure the cast gets resentful. They’re working their asses off eight times a week for extremely greedy producers. The original cast of Hamilton rallying to make sure they got paid for their contributions was very wise. The directors and writers and producers will be making heaps of money for decades because of a show like that, while the actors hustling every week are making a very humble earning for the amount of time and energy they give the show. It’s grueling. I’m sure Groff is making 50K a week, Radcliffe, what? $100K? A week? That’s a tough pill to swallow for a hard working ensemble member of a mega hit.