MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG Comes To Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

A new revival of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth will continue the Marx Theatre season at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Directed by John Doyle, who led our Tony Award-winning production of Company, the performers in this highly anticipated revival will play all of the instruments as they act and sing one of Sondheim's most melodic scores. MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG begins public previews March 3 and continues through March 31.

This remarkable Broadway fable of friendship and the high price of success opens in 1976 and moves backward in time to 1957. The triumphs and failures of a jaded composer and his two closest friends are traced from their estranged ending to their idealistic beginning.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG debuted on Broadway on November 16, 1981, and picked up a Tony Award for Best Musical Score.

About the show: Merrily’s idealistic trio of friends will include Tony nominee Malcolm Gets, whose New York theatre credits include The Story of My Life, Polish Joke and Amour, as Franklin Shepard; Daniel Jenkins, whose Broadway credits include Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins, Wrong Mountain and Big, as Charley Kringas; and Becky Ann Baker, whose Broadway credits include Good People, All My Sons, Assassins and Titanic, as Mary Flynn. Additional cast members include Jane Pfitsch as Beth; Leenya Rideout as Gussie Carnegie; Jessica Tyler Wright as K.T.; David Garry as Jerome; Matt Castle as Scotty; Bruce Sabath as Joe; Lee Harrington as Meg; Fred Rose as Tyler; Matthew Deming as Ru; and Ben Diskant as Frank Jr. (Rideout, Castle, Sabath and Rose were all in Company.)

Special Performances

Meet the Artists

These free programs allow audiences to interact with cast members and others associated with the production following the show.

2 p.m. Sunday, March 11

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 14

2 p.m. Sunday, March 25

8 p.m. Thursday, March 29
Audio Described Performance

4 p.m. Saturday, March 24
Signed Performance

2 p.m. Sunday, March 25

Playhouse Perspectives

A free, pre-show lecture series featuring theatre artists and experts. Funding provided by Roderick and Barbara Barr. The featured speaker will be local theatre critic and

The Sondheim Review managing editor Rick Pender.

Time: Sunday, March 18 at 6 p.m.

Dining Options

Karlo's Bistro at the Playhouse offers full-service dining prior to most evening performances. Dinners include salad, entrée and dessert. Reservations are required by noon on the day of the show. The price is $27. Karlo's Casual Fare offers busy theatre patrons an alternative light, quick bite prior to the show. Options include salads, sandwiches, soups, pasta and desserts. No reservations are required. Credit cards are now accepted.

Sponsors

Production Sponsor:

Tony Alper

Design Sponsor:

Johnson Investment Counsel

Artist Sponsors:

Karen and David Hoguet

An anonymous donor
The 2011-2012 Marx Theatre Series is presented by The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation.

John Doyle has received numerous awards for direction, including a Tony©, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards. Doyle directed the Playhouse’s 2006 production of Company, which moved to the Ethel Barrymore Theater for a successful run on Broadway and received the Tony© Award for that year’s Best Revival of a Musical. During the 2009-2010 Playhouse season, Doyle directed a new version of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, commissioned by the Playhouse, by Sarah Ruhl. He has staged more than 200 productions during his 30-plus-year career in the theatre, including Sweeney Todd, The Gondoliers, Amadeus, Mack and Mabel, Fiddler on the Roof, A Catered Affair, Road Show and Irma La Douce. According to Doyle, “I am excited to return to Cincinnati as part of Ed Stern’s last season and to work with some great collaborators on this wonderful piece.”

The use of actor-musicianship was pioneered by Doyle while he was an associate director of the Watermill Theatre in the United Kingdom. He featured actor-musicians for the critically acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, which went to Broadway. In 2006, the Playhouse production of Company also used this technique.

In addition to Doyle, the acclaimed artistic team includes Music Supervisor/Orchestrator Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Music Director Matt Castle, Set Designer Scott Pask, Costume Designer Ann Hould-Ward, Lighting Designer Jane Cox and Sound Designer/Composer Dan Moses Schreier. The Stage Manager is Andrea L. Shell.

Prices for MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG range from $25 - $71, depending on day and seat location, and are subject to change. Tickets are just $25 for the preview performances at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 3; 2 p.m. Sunday, March 4; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6; and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7. Some restrictions apply. The official opening night is Thursday, March 8 at 8 p.m.

Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets to MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG are on sale now. For more information, call the Playhouse box office at 513/421-3888 (toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800/582-3208) or visit www.cincyplay.com. Call 513/345-2248 for TDD accessibility.

The Playhouse is fully accessible. Audio enhancement receivers, large print programs and complete wheelchair access are available.

The Playhouse is supported, in part, by the generosity of the tens of thousands of individuals and businesses that give to ArtsWave.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

The Playhouse also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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