Merrily We Roll Along Previews (2019) — Page 2

amaklo said: "Thanks for posting this info. We have tickets in April and I'm excited! What's the current running time?"

Their site says 1 hour 45 mins, but I think it may have run a little longer. They started 5-10 mins late as well.

Woah, woah, woah, wow, this is a lot. Are we finally to be rid of the revised version of the script? Was Frank and Beth's kid in this at all? Did they bring back the joke about naming the kid Alvin? The cafe is back but now it's in New York, I wonder what changes they made there - and what happens during the Spencer apartment scene? Because that's thoroughly new! Is the commencement used as a bookend, or does it just start the show? Shame they couldn't bring back Honey, though I suppose without an intermission it's long enough.

I've never been so curious in my entire life and I can't wait to hear more about what's happening here. I love the bric-a-brac set, it looks like a nice return to the original concept where the cast would be changing onstage.

Updated On: 1/13/19 at 10:54 AM

I was there last night. Merrily is one of my absolute favorite shows, and I saw the Encores production along with the Boston transfer from London. So imagine my surprise when I showed up to them telling me it was 1hr 45m without an intermission, and then my extended surprise when I open the Playbill to see that they replaced “That Frank” with “Rich and Happy.”



To quote the note from Todd Haimes in the Playbill, this production “boldly incorporat[ted] into the original script additional material from the 1934 George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart play on which Merrily is based.” I mean hey, I love Merrily as is, but I was down and excited!



Sadly, it’s...and I hate saying this...not there yet. Any production of Merrily that doesn’t end in me crying during Our Time isn’t there yet.



This is a different show from the Merrily I know and love which, don’t get me wrong, isn’t a bad thing! But they really did use a lot of the original book and it took some getting used to.



It begins with the Frank graduation speech where its pretty easy to empathize with the guy, and before you know it you’re into Franklin Shepard Inc. and then into The Blob and then to Our Time. The whole thing moved very quickly, and I feel like it never quite settled. When you get through the “really bad Frank” stage in 10 minutes, it makes the rest of the show slightly less effective.



The core of the show is still there, and Good Thing Going can always slow things down (in a good way), but it just...never clicked for me I guess. I really feel like it might get there with some work through previews, and this thing is FAR from bad. It was just lacking some much needed richness.



The production itself was really interesting too. I mean I was in such shock the whole time that it hardly mattered, but Fiasco DID put their spin on things! They did some fun things with the fact there were only six people in the cast (especially during The Blob), among some other clever ideas, but the most notable change was the new Alexander Gemignani orchestrations. Now You Know is an almost different song entirely, and something is done musically (which I don’t really want to spoil) at the end of Our Time which was absolutely brilliant and probably the best part of the entire production.



Finally, the cast did a great job as a whole. Special shout out to Ben Steinfeld’s Frank and Manu Norayan’s Charlie, who blew the roof off the theatre with his Franklin Shepard Inc.



The most ironic part of this whole experience is that for years I have been frustrated with Roundabout for not giving Merrily a shot. Turns out, they were almost giving it too much of a shot the whole time, which I almost prefer. Unfortunately, I also prefer the Maria Friedman production.

ljay889 said: "...Are they using the original Now You Know lyrics? Im guessing it may be a mixture of the original and revised, something the Donmar also did for the number."



I believe these are the original 'Now you know' lyrics, although the scene is now indoors and includes only Frank, Charley, Mary & Joe.

Updated On: 1/13/19 at 01:23 PM

Thanks to ATC, I found my answer regarding Sondhiem's unhappiness with the Donmar production. There are plenty of contradictions, and at one point Sondheim did say he and Furth were not fully aware of the production using much of the original version, and he would've stopped it if it wasn't too late.

The problem was that due to a misunderstanding, George Furth and I didn’t know that the version they were doing was the original version, not the revised one. I really liked what we spent years revising, and we would have stopped them if we had known. But we only found out when they were already in rehearsal.”

http://ovrtur.com/production/2892495

Later in "Finishing The Hat" Sondheim said he felt vindicated that the Donmar production won "Best Musical." Also, the actor who played Frank said that Sondheim was heavily involved.

What a confusing story!

Anyway, I would assume Sondheim was fully consulted and granted approval of Fiasco's version, because he's clearly been quite involved with this new production.

Updated On: 1/13/19 at 09:57 PM

Chelsea4044 said: "I agree with you. The whole time I was sitting there, thinking that the two men should switch roles! LOVED the WOMEN though."

I have only seen Merrily twice: at the then Alvin Theatre, where I experienced one of the absolute worst evenings in the theatre in my lifetime (admittedly exacerbated by my high expectations going in; and 3X years ago, when I saw it in Boston and absolutely loved it. It helped that I had become super-familiar with the score in the intervening years (I have always believed -- with one exception,Follies -- that I personally have enjoyed Sondheim shows much more when I was familiar with the score before seeing ihe show.

I was disappointed that I was not going to be able to see this due to schedule conflicts, until I read this thread. It sounds like they don't trust the material (or the audience's attention span) if they are really doing things like cutting Not a Day Goes By to under a minute. So, having already sat through a bad production of the show, I am no longer disappointed that I am going to be missing this.

I really don't understand what they were thinking when they elected not to bring in the Friedman version. It is clear that the material is as tricky as they get; the backward nature of the story requires audience concentration to really get the most from the show, and the Friedman version -- which has not been seen in NYC -- got great critical acclaim.

I did find it interesting that the Roundabout elected to do it Off-Broadway. I assumed they felt it was high risk, and didn't justify the larger expense associated with a Broadway run, even for a non-profit; however, that logic seems invalid, when you consider the fact that they presented Pacific Overtures (also a big flop in its original run)) and Assassins (which was never going to appeal to a wide audience). Maybe, they felt pressured to do it, but weren't actually that interested in a signifiant commitment.

@Jarethan:

Regarding Not a Day Goes By: the don't really cut it down, they just do it really fast. She kind of just spews it out without any pauses. But I agree with your overall point. They don't trust the material. In fact, I used that very same phrase when describing it to a friend just yesterday.

Regarding Broadway vs. Off-Broadway: I don't think it was about the risk. I think it has more to do with Fiasco just being an off-Broadway-esque company.

I would have much rather had the Friedman production transfer to NYC, but its not like Roundabout was picking between the two and chose Fiasco. Theyve apparently been developing the production with them for years, and theyve already have a relationship after Into the Woods.



(Edited for typos - stupid mobile!)

Updated On: 1/17/19 at 05:41 PM

I'm really surprised and disappointed by the negative comments here. Obviously tastes differ, but I find this to be the only production since the original that justifies the story going backward. It's always been the conceit, of course, but IMHO the Lapine version (and its subsequent iterations, some of which I have enjoyed very much) simply starts when it starts and goes back in time without ever explaining why. By eliminating the high school graduation scene, you never get the sense of why the story matters, what the moral is and why an audience should care. Noah Brody and Fiasco, in taking this show back to its roots -- and at the same time streamlining and distilling it down to its essence -- have honored the original intent and shown us why the story of the friendship of these three people (and how it fell apart) can ONLY be understood by going backward. Honestly, I think this production is a must-see for anyone who cares about the show and its place in the Sondheim canon.

And quibbling about how long it takes the smashing Brittany Bradford to sing "Not a Day Goes By" is missing the point. It's a heartfelt, beautifully moving rendition.

I saw it tonight (thank you for posting about the lottery! won $30 ticket, it was orchestra left row M. a couple seats in row behind me were empty so maybe also lottery tickets unclaimed? no idea)

i thought the show was okay! i know all the songs but have never seen it performed. it was cool to see because I didn't know about the characters of franklin's wife and gussie and joe.

i agree mary flynn's costume change was impressive.

i thought it was weird the cast was on stage before the show started?? when the house lights were on?? what was up with that?

also it bothered me they didn't do the OVERTURE! c'mon!

some of the transitions reminded me of the fight (for me) scene from HEATHERS the musical.

"rich and happy" and "the blob" were fun. also "joe" reminded me of paul f tompkins during the beginning.

Updated On: 1/18/19 at 12:14 AM