BROADWAY RECALL: Multitudes of Franklin Shepard, Inc.s

Welcome to BROADWAY RECALL, a bi-monthly column where BroadwayWorld.com's Chief Theatre Critic, Michael Dale, delves into the archives and explores the stories behind the well-known and the not so well-known videos and photographs of Broadway's past. Look for BROADWAY RECALL every other Saturday.

Thirty years ago Merrily We Roll Along seemed destined to become little more than one of Broadway’s legendary flops.  But after the release of its original Broadway cast album, which was recorded the day after the completion of its 16-performance run, the musical theatre community came to realize there was a brilliant score contained in a troubled production.  Stephen Sondheim and George Furth went back to work and while the show may still have a few kinks, the exuberant reception for the current Encores! concert staging proves it has a loyal and loving following.

While “Good Thing Going” and “Not A Day Goes By” have become American Songbook standards, one of the score’s most memorable showpieces is “Franklin Shepard, Inc.,” a musical patter monologue sung by the character Charley Kringas that’s a sterling example of plot-and-character-driven theatre writing.  Pictured to the left is Lin-Manuel Miranda, currently eliciting cheers from City Center audiences with the number, clowning with his role’s originator, Lonny Price.  In the audio clip below, Price talks about introducing the song on Broadway.

In 1994 New Yorkers saw Adam Heller take his crack at the role in the York Theatre Company’s Off-Broadway production, and Euan Morton re-created the scene in the 2010 Broadway revue, Sondheim On Sondheim.  In 2002 Raúl Esparza had Gothamites traveling down to D.C. to see his rendition in the Kennedy Center production.

I can’t tell you anything about this final clip except it’s sung in Hebrew by a fellow named Danny Leshman and he’s delightful.

Photo by Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.

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