Review: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG at Morgan Auditorium At The University Of La Verne

Merrily We Roll Along is a transcendent, joyous production of the classic Sondheim musical by the Inland Valley Repertory Theatre at the Morgan Auditorium through August 4th.  The gorgeously renovated Morgan Auditorium, a historic gem from 1927,  is on the lovely, tree-lined, turn-of-the-century campus of La Verne University in charming Old Town La Verne, nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, near Claremont.

This Tony-award-winning musical follows the memories of three friends over a couple of decades as they follow their dreams, and gain and lose everything along the way — careers, money, success, children, marriage, love.

As we move backwards in time through the musical, we follow not just the lives of composer Frankin Shepherd (Allen Everman) and his best friends Charley (Bobby Collins) and Mary (Kirklyn Robinson), but also the general trajectory of the country, starting with the disillusionment, economic recession, and decadence of the 1970s disco era. We move through the 1960s to finally arrive at a rooftop in an apartment building in New York in 1957, where three people in their twenties are watching Sputnik in the sky, with all the optimism, youth and hope of the midcentury.

Merrily We Roll Along reminds me of Richard Linklater’s 2014 film Boyhood, quietly transcendent, life-affirming, and luminous.  In fact, Richard Linklater has already begun an ambitious 20 year project of creating the film version of Merrily We Roll Along in real time.  Luckily while waiting another couple of decades for that film to appear, I could enjoy this marvelous production at the gorgeous, historic Morgan Auditorium, with exceptionally dazzling performances.

Merrily We Roll Along is that rare gem, a grown-up, subtle, perceptive musical that can delight both audiences who love musicals and audiences who hate them.  This production by the Inland Valley Repertory Theatre, with brilliant direction by Frank Minano, is complex, bittersweet, funny, heartfelt, ultimately joyous and inspiring.

Merrily We Roll Along has a long history as a play and musical, often steeped in shocking failure.  It began life as a Broadway play in 1934 by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, which was well reviewed by critics but ultimately flopped.  Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim adopted the play with playwright George Furth and director Hal Prince in 1981, and they updated the story, created the music, and enhanced the characters with people they knew.

I have always thought of Stephen Sondheim as THE modern Broadway composer and lyricist, and it surprises me to realize that actually Sondheim’s works often had lukewarm reception initially— even megabits like Westside Story and Gypsy became blockbuster successes only after their filmed versions were hits.

Merrily We Roll Along was a hard flop in 1981, closing after only 16 performances.  Even the critical reviews were vicious.  But Sondheim and playwright George Furth never stopped tinkering with it, and over the decades, it finally found its audience.  Maria Friedman directed a popular revival in London in 2012, and it is her direction of Merrily We Roll Along that has been a massive, sold-out smash hit on Broadway for a couple of years with Daniel Radcliffe, Jonatahn Goff, and Lindsay Mendez.

The wrong staging, direction, or casting could easily derail this challenging musical.  It has the potential to feel quite sour and cynical, and I say this as someone who loves darkness.  But in the hands of the superb creative team at Inland Valley Repertory Theatre, Merrily We Roll Along is, quite simply, magic.  I left the Morgan Auditorium feeling deeply moved, uplifted, and touched with wonder.

Demanding tonal shifts from sharp satire to light-hearted comedy to heartfelt poignancy and drama are tenderly navigated with inspired direction from Frank Minano.  The large, diverse ensemble is terrific, with great voices and powerful, textured performances.

Allen Everman masterfully gives rich complexity, heart, and bittersweet depth to the rather unlikable, self-absorbed character of Frank, and his youthful optimism and beautiful, soaring voice at the end are a gut punch.  Bobby Collins shines as best friend Charley, especially in the bravura song "Franklin Shepard, Inc.”, caustic, hilarious and blistering with rage and frustrated friendship, a true bring-down-the-house performance.  All the supporting characters in this ensemble are dynamic and bursting with life, so there is no “minor” role in this production.  In the talented ensemble, many vibrant, truly brilliant performances stand out, including newcomer Fenton Colclough, making his stage debut at six years old, Amanda Gillette Colclough, Alonso Garcia, Amanda Greig, Lucas Longoria, Emily Martin, Jacob Miller, and Amanda Valdes

As best friend Mary Flynn, Kirklyn Robinson is a joy, with a gorgeous voice and electrifying stage presence.  She is laugh-out-loud funny, with a piercing wit, and eminently lovable and heartfelt.  Robinson’s tremendous performance anchors the musical.

Mary is hopelessly in love with Frank, standing by and watching him destroy his life, his relationships  and his talent through his self-absorption and his pursuit of success at any cost, while she struggles with her own thorny literary ambitions and alcoholism.  In the original Kaufmann and Hart 1934 play,  Mary’s character was first named Julia and was inspired by Jazz Age poet, humorist, writer, and activist Dorothy Parker, with her alcoholism and trademark brilliant, acidic wit.   In adapting the 1934 play, Sondheim, Furth and director Hal Prince renamed the character Mary, in homage to their friend Mary Rodgers, daughter of the Broadway composer Richard Rodgers, and a fierce creative force in her own right.  Mary Rodgers first met Sondheim at Broadway legend Oscar Hammerstein’s country house, when they were both in their early teens, and she remained in unrequited love with the very gay Stephen Sondheim throughout her life.   Their intimate friendship was a source of rich joy and inspired creativity to both of them.

At times it is frustrating to see the high-spirited character of Mary inhabiting the somewhat tired role of the funny, smart, adoring friend with a larger body who never gets love. In real life, the historic, iconic women who inspired the role of Mary, Dorothy Parker and Mary Rodgers, were both quite glamorous and desired, with a steady herd of men frolicking around them.  Mary is such a powerhouse, juicy, rich role that I hate to find any fault with it, even when the writing flirts at times with confining stereotypes about bodies and desire.  Except for this kink in the writing, the Inland Valley Repertory Theatre production succeeds joyfully in beautiful body diversity and body positivity, which I love.

Costumes by Mark Gamez are electrifyingly good, with subtle attention to period detail and sensuous use of color and texture, capturing the decades of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.  The staging by Mark MacKenzie and Jeff Deards is also very striking, luxe, and stylish.  This is a gorgeous production to look at.

The live music is ambitious, lively and exquisitely performed by a live sextet, with superb musical direction from conductor Ronda Rubio.  It is impossible to calculate how much of the musical’s depth and emotional power comes from the music alone, but certainly, much is owed to the subtle, radiant, masterful Sondheim score and the vibrant, astonishing work of the great live musicians playing here.

Photos by DawnEllen Ferry

Merrily We Roll Along runs through August 4th at the Morgan Auditorium at the University of La Verne.  The Morgan Auditorium is located 1950 3rd St. CA 91750.  There is easy street parking on campus.  You can get tickets by calling 909-859-4878 or clicking the button below:

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