Merrily We Roll Along

Synopsis

In 1981 the musical was savaged by the Broadway critics but is slowly being reclaimed as a classic. Based on Kaufman and Hart's 1934 play, it tells of a composer's descent from decent and virtuous youth to wayward and greedy middle-age.

Our Review:

12 December 2000

Listening to the wonderful original Broadway cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's score to Merrily We Roll Along, one wonders how the show could possibly have failed.

It has one of its composer's most tuneful yet rueful scores, including a couple of his most haunting and heartbreaking songs, “Our Time” and “Not a Day Goes By”. It also has a couple of his most delightfully upbeat and life-affirming songs, too: “Old Friends” and “Opening Doors”.

The show - which revolves around the failure of a professional creative partnership between a composer and a lyricist - is famously the one whose own failure in its original Broadway production in 1981 ended (or, to date, at least suspended) the professional partnership of Sondheim and the director Hal Prince. Together, they'd previously produced such masterpieces of the genre as Company, Follies, A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd.

But if you read about that origi...

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Latest User Review

Stevie - 12 December 2012:

Perhaps I’m the problem and the great Sondheim is not for me; will try a few more yet. This reverse chronological story about a few friends, and that’s about it, is excellently presented and performed by theatre's in-crowd of note. A few unknowns and wider casting might have added spark to yet another weak book that’s media-about-media. Audiences’ insatiable appetite for incestual entertainment is once again satisfied and proves you can con’ most of the people most of the time. A sell out show that’s a long way from its early Broadway (1981) failings but I’ll wager a transfer up West won’t hack it. I paid so I stayed, but a close call on something I’ve never done, walk out.....

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