Maria Friedman to bring her acclaimed Merrily We Roll along to Boston- Is a Broadway transfer in its future?

http://www.playbill.com/article/maria-friedman-will-stage-merrily-we-roll-along-at-the-huntington



Given that the London production got some rave reviews, I wonder if this is testing the waters for. Broadway transfer?

What fabulous news! This is one of only two productions of "classic flop musical" I've ever seen that I thought not only worked but actually soared (the other was the revival of CARRIE last year in Los Angeles).

I think Ms. Friedman' production is perhaps the best we will ever see of MERRILY, and I sure hope the Roundabout or some other theater will consider bringing it in!

It was on YouTube for a while — maybe it's still there?

Have to say, tho, unlike everyone else here, I wasnt that impressed. It seemed to just miss the mark along the way.

The set was horrific. I liked Jenna Russel.

When is the last time this show was seen on Broadway? It feels like it deserves a revival.

Loved the Encores production and was there the night Sondheim and original cast members sang at curtain call.

I would love to see this production come to NYC.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I don't give a damn who disagrees: until they restore the book-ends and turn the middle back to front, this show will never work.

GOOD! That's a good thing! Who gives a flying f#ck about the esoteric structure if it has never worked in the history of the show ever? (And please don't patronize me by telling me it has; some productions have come closer than others to grasping how people think it should work, yes, but if it actually worked, it would be remembered as more than the show that almost was something but wasn't.)

Whatever point the show is trying to make is utterly lost because of its present structure. Herman J. Mankiewicz put it best about the original Kaufman-Hart play: "Here's this wealthy playwright who has had repeated successes and earned enormous sums of money, has mistresses as well as a family, an expensive townhouse, a luxurious beach house and a yacht. The problem is: How did the poor son of a bitch get into this jam?" Flip it back to front, and I promise you whatever B.S. point the show is trying to make about loss of innocence will finally come across.

Wasn't it Einstein who said insanity is endlessly repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results? Would that people could apply that logic to this show. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I don't get it, but even if that was true, and everything about the show was perfect except structure, the first rule of fixing a show that doesn't work is to solve its central problem. And there have been productions where they have done everything but have pages fly onto the calendar backwards, like the reverse of a poetic shot from an old-time movie, and people still don't get it. Like it or hate it, the structure is the central problem. And if hurt pride, or elitism, or whatever-the-f#ck, keeps that from changing, the show will never "work."

Updated On: 3/23/17 at 04:28 PM

I didn't say that nothing should ever be challenging, or require thought, or force the audience to do more than just sit there. I am addressing a specific problem with a specific show. And if you ask me, Merrily actually gains something from seeing a young, naive, idealistic guy grow old and bitter. Why? Because people can identify with that.

Without the book-ends, back to front, it's a douche-bag regressing into someone full of hope. I mean, yeah, it's tragic. Ish. To the extent that one can feel sorry for such a person. But, as you pointed out, it's not as though he or his two friends are learning anything during the course of the show, and in case you didn't notice with your head firmly planted in strawman territory, that's not a problem exclusive to the show being in chronological order.

At least with the book-ends, and front to back, it might be perceived as a cautionary parable about the choices we make in life and how important they are. There are no so-called "right" answers to life's questions, but there are plenty of "wrong" ones. As the original title of A Star is Born put it, "What price Hollywood?" What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? How many people are dealing with the same pain? How many people have questioned the choices they made in life that led them to where they are, for good or for ill as the case may be? How many people that could identify with the protagonist will identify with him even more now that they can understand what the hell he's going through because it's not hampered by a plot device that has never, ever worked in any version of the show, written by Sondheim or otherwise?

"Difficult" does not always mean "profound." Yes, it is really something that sucky people started off as people with dreams. But we all did. You're gonna need to impress me with more than rewinding the videotape of their Biography Channel special. Make me care about them. Because right now, either way you slice the show's order, his friends are damaged doormats, and he "Trumped" his way to the top. What does Franklin Shepard want, a medal for once having been a starry-eyed young person?

Updated On: 3/23/17 at 06:02 PM

QueenAlice said: "What fabulous news! This is one of only two productions of "classic flop musical" I've ever seen that I thought not only worked but actually soared (the other was the revival of CARRIE last year in Los Angeles).

I think Ms. Friedman' production is perhaps the best we will ever see of MERRILY, and I sure hope the Roundabout or some other theater will consider bringing it in!



Even better than the Encores version?

Why? I actually like him, but having seen Sunday, his acting in theatre is not so great. Very low energy. Very nothing. And his voice is strained. I just think you need 3 actors who can sing. That is it. Just 3 actors who can also cary a tune.

"Better received" does not necessarily equal "worked." At least for me.

The design was atrocious, and I still don't care for most of the post-Broadway replacements and additions, but it would be better than never getting a revival.



Also, there would be absolutely and obviously no point in doing this show chronologically.