New York City Center's Encores! Merrily We Roll Along 2012

PS Classics

Merrily We Roll Along, composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim and bookwriter George Furth’s first collaboration following their landmark Company, opened on Broadway in 1981 to some of the most savage reviews of Sondheim’s career, closing after a run of only 16 performances. But fitting for a show that runs in reverse, the end was only the beginning of the story. Sondheim moved on to success with James Lapine on Sunday in the Park With George; Furth then encouraged Lapine to take a look at the show, beginning a major overhaul of Merrily by Sondheim and Furth that lasted over 20 years. In 2011, with the work complete, original orchestrator Jonathan Tunick was brought in to score the new songs; he ended up reorchestrating the entire score, giving it a consistency and clarity he felt it deserved. In 2012, New York City Center’s Encores! series premiered this new version of Merrily We Roll Along, starring Colin Donnell as Franklin Shepard, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Mary Flynn, Lin-Manuel Miranda as Charley Kringas, Adam Grupper as Joe Josephson, Elizabeth Stanley as Beth and Betsy Wolfe as Gussie Carnegie, and featuring a 23-piece orchestra conducted by Rob Berman.

New York City Center's Encores! Merrily We Roll Along BWW Reader Reviews