Merrily We Roll Along at TheatreWorks Begins April 4

TheatreWorks closes its 37th season with a revival of Stephen Sondheim's classic modern musical Merrily We Roll Along, based on the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.  Playing April 4 - 29 (opening April 7) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.

Artistic Director Robert Kelley helms this timeless American story about dreamers and dreams, featuring a tuneful score of soaring Sondheim gems, including 'Not a Day Goes By,' 'Good Thing Going,' and 'Our Time.'

"Rolling backwards in time from the self-serving cynicism of the 1980s to the naïve optimism of the 1950s, Merrily We Roll Along chronicles the story of Franklin Shepard, a one-time Broadway composer who has become a highly successful film producer," states press notes, "Realizing that he sold-out his talent, his morals, and everything he valued most, including his longtime friends Charley and Mary, in the process of becoming a success, Frank turns back the clock to find out where he went wrong. Retracing three decades of rivalries, failures, triumphs, and loves, Merrily We Roll Along is an intimate, witty look at the high price of fame and recapturing the dreams that mattered most."

Merrily We Roll Along opened on Broadway in 1981 directed by Harold Prince and choreographed by Larry Fuller. Stephen Sondheim was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Original Score and won the Drama Desk Award for Lyrics. An off-Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along directed by Susan H. Schulman opened in 1994 and later the show was revised in London in 2001, where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical, and was revived in 2002 at the Kennedy Center.

Previews are April 4, 5 & 6, Opening April 7, with performances through April 29.

Show times: Previews at 8PM; Tuesdays at 7:30PM (no performance April 24); Wednesday through Fridays at 8PM; Saturdays at 2 & 8PM (evening only April 7 & 28); Sundays at 2 & 7pm (matinee only April 15 & 29).  "Visual Voice" audio-described performances are available April 27 & 28 at 8PM, and April 29 at 2PM.

TheatreWorks is located at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St. (at Mercy).

Tickets ($20-$60) and information at 650-903-6000 or visit www.theatreworks.org. Savings available for youth, students, seniors, and members.

To post a comment, you must register and login.