The History of "Merrily We Roll Along"?- Page 2

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 7:16pm

I saw it four times.

There was so much gorgeous material in it ("Our Time," "Opening Doors," Ann Morrison's "Like It Was," Lonny Price's "Franklin Shepard Inc") that it hurt to see it be such a mess. The sets and the costumes were so wrongheaded that it was hard to believe Hal Prince had ever had a good idea before or would after. (And I worshiped him...still do.)

I kept going back, expecting it to get better. It didn't.

It still hurts.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 7:59pm

It really is sad to hear that a show with such a great score there were a lot of "wrong" choices made with the sets, costumes, etc.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 8:17pm

It contains some of my favorite Sondheim music. I just had it on earlier. "Our Time" is just one of the best show songs I have ever heard. I am hoping the revival hits New York. I am sorry it is not a full production but a "Doyle" production. But I will take it onstage any way I can get it.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 8:22pm

Roundabout will be reviving it. Doyle is not attached at all.

[jv92]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 9:43pm

That Lonny Price article is great! Thanks InfinateTheaterFrenzy!

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 10:50pm

lake, I didn't know that. I had just assumed that we would get the Doyle production from London. When was the Roundabout revival announced? Actually I seem to remember reading something here about that.

And yes, that article was very good. Just finished it. (While listening to the CD!) Thanks Infinate!

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 11:08pm

You're welcome, guys.

I LOOOOOVE that article.

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 11:11pm

Thanks Infinite! That was an AMAZING article!

[lakezurich]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 11:16pm

well, Roundabout did announce they will be reviving it. What I should have said was that Doyle has not been attached to it yet. And from what I have read on the West End Board is that he does not have any intentions of bringing it over here.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 11:30pm

The first preview attracted the usual "bitchy show queen" types who came prepared to hate it.

Isn't it funny to think that now they would worship anything with the Sondheim name stamped on it regardless of quality or production values?

Updated On: 3/10/08 at 11:30 PM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/9/08 at 5:51am

Yes, true. But it wasn't just them. Liz Smith wrote a bitchy column in the NY Post "Not so merrily they roll out of the theatre" that talked about mass audience walk outs. Soon people began coming back after intermission only to get up and walk out during "It's a hit." The first night I was there - a sold-out Saturday evening preview - about 75-100 walked out.

The critics didn't get it. They were like vultures tearing away at the weaknesses and completely ignoring the strengths. Many said the score was a huge dissappointment and only when the album came out did some of them reverse that opinion.

There were problems with the show..the book, the staging, the cating, the design...but the score was never a problem.

The revised version is much better, though I do miss the graduation scenes that nicely book-end the piece.

[over_dramatic]

Posted: 3/9/08 at 7:44pm

this is all sooo interesting! I'm actually writing a paper on Sondheim "flops" for my Theatre History class right now... I've been listening to Merrily practically nonstop and i'm excited to read up more on it! (I haven't quite gotten to it yet in my research...)
It's great to hear about other fans.

[jv92]

Posted: 3/9/08 at 8:14pm

Over dramatic- if you haven't already, read...
Sondheim and Co. by Craig Zadan
Stephen Sondheim, a life by Meryle Secrest
Opening Nights on Broadway by Steven Suskin (for Whistle)
More Opening Nights on Broadway by Steven Suskin (for Follies, Pacific Overtures, Merrily)
Everything Was Possible by Ted Chapin
Not Since Carrie by Ken Mandelbaum
A Chorus Line and The Musicals of Michael Bennett by Ken Mandelbaum

Those books have the most information of the Sondheim flops (Anyone Can Whistle, Follies, Pacific Overtures and Merrily We Roll Along). If you're not doing Follies, then there's no need to read Chapin's book or the latter Mandelbaum book for your research.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 3/9/08 at 8:50pm

I wish my director Randy West was on these boards. He worked with Furth and Sondheim on revising Merrily in Arizona after its flopped in the states. Sondheim kept saying to remember about the show is that its about FRIENDSHIP. He made them all tape that word to their mirror and their door so they would remember it every time they worked on it.

[over_dramatic]

Posted: 3/9/08 at 9:50pm

wow! thanks! yeah, i have Art isn't Easy, Secrest's book, Sondheim and Co. and Gottfried's book.
I've also found that the liner notes to the Cast recordings are loaded with info.
I'm not doing Follies because I wasn't aware that it was such a huge flop when i wrote my original proposal...
thanks again!

[jv92]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 7:12pm

Well, Follies is a paper in itself AND it isn't a Merrily or Whistle (or even Pacific Overtures) calibur flop.

[over_dramatic]

Posted: 3/11/08 at 9:26am

yeah i'm talking about Whistle, Pacific Overtures and Merrily and including some about Sweeney... since it was a financial flop, but not necessarily a flop in the other sense... i'm hoping to put something about Follies in an introductory paragraph...

[jv92]

Posted: 3/11/08 at 3:35pm

Don't bother doing Sweeney. Although it recouped ten years later, it still recouped.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/11/08 at 4:15pm

I was at opening night, and quite young, and not yet a bitchy New Yorker...and I adored it! I didnt find it confusing at all and thought the sweatshirts and leading man were the only problems. The sweatshirts looked cheap and were condescending, and Jim Walton brought nothing redeeming to Franklin, so ultimately it was hard to care about him. I'm not sure that is all Walton's fault, however.

And when the overture started, that was one of the best moments I've had in a theater.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 3/11/08 at 4:39pm

I saw the original production, and loved it. I have not liked the revised versions as much. I didnt' find anything confusing in the original, I thought it was very easy to follow the timeline in reverse. The tee-shirts that people are referring to said the relationship to Franklin Shepard ... i.e., "His Photographer", "His Wife", etc. I don't remember the tee-shirts having sporting the characters' names, but rather their relationship. Of couse, the ensemble members changed tee-shirts depending on what "relationship" they were representing at any given time.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/11/08 at 4:51pm

^^^
Correct

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 3/11/08 at 7:51pm

You see Ann Morrison wearing a "Best Pal" sweatshirt in her most recent interview with BWW.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 3/11/08 at 8:04pm

The score makes for a nice listen on CD but simply doesn't work in the theater or in the context of the show. Having seen several incarnations of it, there are only two moments that regularly land with audiences: OLD FRIENDS and NOT A DAY GOES BY. The rest makes little impression and the show, thanks to its retrograde structure, eventually self-destructs. We're expected to become involved in this cynical story of unsympathetic characters and follow them backwards into their salad days. And the book mistakes bitchy, camp attitudes for dialogue and characterization. There is simply no compelling reason for the audience to stick along for the ride. It's really time to put this show on the shelf for good and declare it as unworkable and unrevivable a flop as CARMELINA or LET IT RIDE or ILLYA, DARLING!


Lola Delaney
A Midwestern City

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 3/11/08 at 8:07pm

Here is a link to the aforementioned picture from the original production, along with a very neat article:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=21411

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/14/08 at 6:29pm

Hi all,

I have recently become acquainted with a director who is working on a documentary about Merrily We Roll Along.

We were discussing what footage/ images he is already in possession of, and he suggested somebody on one of the theatre message boards might have ADDITIONAL materials. We would love to find anyone who has OR knows someone who has:
the original Broadway B-roll
any press photos (he has plenty but there may be more)
any video you-know-whats of the show (other than the one of Jim Walton's first performance, and the one of the show without 'It's a Hit!')
footage of any of the TV reviews (especially Dennis Cunningham or Judy Licht)
the ABC documentary by Helen Whitney that was in progress in late 1980/ early 1981

If you have anything resembling any of the items on the list above, or if you know someone I might contact who would have these, please PM me. The director is completely willing to pay for shipping, copying, etc.

Thanks guys!

Updated On: 3/14/08 at 06:29 PM