How did you get to be here? What was the moment?
The unique power of cinema, culture, and their mutual references became evident to me as I sat in my local theater and recognized a melody. Knowing nothing about “Merrily We Roll Along,” aside from its star-studded leads and composer, I did not expect to recall the main theme with such a visceral emotional connection. Greta Gerwig’s masterpiece Lady Bird (2017) rushed to my mind as the ensemble sang the titular song.
Lady Bird satirizes high school theater, with its teen protagonists hamming it up in their high school production of “Merrily We Roll Along” to an unimpressed audience, evoking another story to further express the new work’s message through the lens of its predecessors. If you know what “Merrily We Roll Along” is about, seeing this in Lady Bird can click the messages into place more. If you’re like me, the reverse occurred: hearing the show’s melodies first in a bittersweetly relatable coming-of-age film about the pitfalls of pushing your way to the top and leaving your friends behind, or the determination to break out of your humble beginnings and follow your dreams, only to miss home dearly. I understood this show more because of Lady Bird.
“Merrily We Roll Along,” based on a play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth. The show initially debuted on Broadway in 1981, closing within two months of its first preview due to negative reviews. The 2023-2024 revival starring Daniel Radcliffe as Charley, Jonathan Groff as Franklin, and Lindsay Mendez as Mary received the opposite, winning the Tonys for Best Musical Revival, Best Performance by an Actor In A Leading Role In A Musical (Groff), Best Performance By An Actor In A Featured Role In A Musical (Radcliffe), and Best Orchestrations (Jonathan Tunick). It’s a hit, it’s a hit! The acting chops are evident, with the exception of some slightly muppet-like overacting from Gussie (Krystal Joy Brown). The proshot of this surefire, genuine walk-away blockbuster is released in cinemas for a limited engagement starting December 5th.
There is something I can only describe as magical that happens in Groff’s facial microexpressions. As the show begins, we watch him in quite an extreme close-up, given the live theater format of the performance—a habit of this proshot, for better or worse. We see mysterious things in his face. We don’t understand his story or his background. We don’t know how he’s feeling or why he feels it. But there is a sense of loss and regret.
On my recent millionth listen to “West End Girl” by Lily Allen, the queen of writing devastating lyrics to upbeat, jolly music, I have so much admiration for compositions like “Merrily.” The cheerful theme throughout the whole show is accompanied by lyrics like: “How can you get so far off thе track? Why don’t you turn around and go back?” The ensemble members slowly walk across the stage, smirking at the audience as though they are the fates, aware of the secrets to come, aware of the pain, and doing nothing to stop it.
As you can imagine, all of the above had me imagining the worst. I thought, surely death is a part of this story. Look at that man’s face. Something horribly traumatic must have happened to him. That thought made the actual story hit me like a ton of bricks. He did experience loss: a divorce, a loss of custody of his child, and, seemingly worst of all, he no longer speaks to his best friends.
That’s it? Just a friendship breakup? Yes. Exactly. This show is a love letter to friendship. A eulogy for the friendships we have that we do not tend to, that we lose. Very sneaky how it happens. Much more sneaky than you’d think. The lyrics express this, as the show itself travels solely backward in its timeline.
The effect is astounding: I was blubbering during the most joyful moments of these characters’ lives, and dry-eyed during their devastation. I sat with curiosity as Groff wept in scene one. I shook with sobs as he looked upward with a hopeful smile to close the show.
The struggle towards dreams is the best part of these characters’ lives. The days when they are broke, creating, and reaching out to one another—these are their happiest days. The lives they have when they’ve made the movies and written the novels are empty. It’s not a simple cautionary tale on the effects of fame and money; it’s worse. It’s about becoming someone your best friend doesn’t recognize. Or becoming disgusted by the person your best friend has turned into. Losing your history. Losing your joy.
As Glinda sings amidst her ascension to fame and glory at the cost of her friendship with Elphaba, “There are bridges you cross you didn’t know you crossed until you crossed.” Several lyrics in “Thank Goodness” from “Wicked” align with Frank’s plight: “Happy is what happens when all your dreams come true… Well, isn’t it?” “And if that joy, that thrill, doesn’t thrill like you think it will…”
Frank’s desire for money, success, and self-indulgence makes him heedless of his friends and his art form. “That Frank” features his Hollywood fan club praising him and judging Mary, much like the “Poor Galinda, forced to reside with someone so disgusticified” verse in “What Is This Feeling?” from “Wicked.” Fitting, considering Mendez’s stint as Elphaba on Broadway.
Sondheim is in the business of exploring the grim reality of what happens after happily ever after. He famously does so more literally in “Into the Woods” through clichéd fairy tales like Cinderella andLittle Red Riding Hood. As someone who played the Baker’s Wife in my middle school production of the show, I’m well-versed in Sondheim’s musicianship. In “Merrily,” I laughed when the producer character Joe (Reg Rogers) told Charley and Frank that they needed to write something with a more hummable melody, because I’m certain Sondheim wrote that out of his own experience with producers telling him the same thing. His scores are unpredictable, sporadic, wordy, repetitive, and fascinating.
Just as Singin’ in the Rain(1952) is a movie about movies, “Merrily” is a musical about musicals. There is so much love for the art form baked into each script. “Old Friends” feels rather similar to “Good Morning” from Singin’, with its retro trio choreography and upbeat refrain. Frank’s passion for making music and Charley’s passion for getting him back to the piano feel like Sondheim’s lived experience bleeding into the storyline.
Let’s talk proshots: there is no denying that they are all the rage. There is a demand for ease of access. I myself can be found begging in TikTok comments for a recording of the recent Hollywood Bowl production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” starring Cynthia Erivo and Adam Lambert to be released. Some folks wonder what this means for the future of live theater. “Hamilton” is a great example of why releasing a proshot not only doesn’t hurt attendance of the live show, but likely increases it. The Wicked movie adaptations haven’t affected the Broadway show’s attendance. The people yearn for the musicals; all media welcome.
However, it doesn’t stop at a proshot with this one. A film adaptation directed by Richard Linklater, starring Paul Mescal, Ben Platt, and Beanie Feldstein, is in production and will be filmed over 20 years, mirroring the characters’ real ages. It’s a risky, eye-catching project. The trio certainly has big shoes to fill after this live revival.
If you are like me and leave Merrily We Roll Along feeling devastated, I must remind us both: there are plenty of roads to try. You are not Frank, stuck in his sunk cost fallacy. This show has given you the gift of time travel by showing you a murky future and planting you right back in your present, which will someday be a past you miss. Tend your dream. Dreams take time. Enjoy the pursuit of that dream, because the best moments may slip away.
Review Courtesy of Risa Bolash
Feature Image Credit to Matthew Murphy via Playbill