BWW Reviews: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, The Harold Pinter Theatre, May 1 2013

Following a highly praised run at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Maria Friedman's directorial debut of Merrily We Roll Along has transferred beautifully to a larger space. While opinion is often divided about whether Merrily itself is artistic genius or if it lacks cohesion, this production is quite faultless.

Stephen Sondheim, as ever, provides masterly music and lyrics, with George Furth's book slipping in so naturally that you hardly notice its presence. Their story is of three "best friends", showing their relationships over time, their work together and their various romances. Narration is provided throughout by the whole company, who not only get a tune well and truly stuck in your head, but help the audience to stay on top of what year it is, as the show starts in 1976 and wends its way back to 1957 - a tactic that adds poignancy at various points, as you know how relationships will lessen and how brutally less important factors will take over.

Friedman states that "eighty per cent of a director's work is casting". Given that she utilised an unusually long casting process for this production that may well be true - they truly do a superb job. Damian Humbley's Charley Kringas is especially wonderful, with his rendition of Franklin Shepard, Inc receiving slightly stunned, then rapturous applause. Jenna Russell provides an evocatively damaged, sensitive Mary Flynn, but then this show is full of performances of this calibre - the actors' work is so completely transformative that you couldn't possibly connect them to any of their work you'd seen previously. Mark Umbers as Franklin Shepard completes the trio and does an excellent job of ultimately being far less likeable than his friends; it is hard to forgive him for prompting Clare Foster's (Beth's) rendition of the beautiful Not a Day Goes By. Foster and Glyn Kerslake (as Joe Josephson) also gave wonderful performances, along with Josefina Gabrielle as Gussie. Tommy Junior is also played impressively well by the very young Joseph West, Tommy Rodger and Noah Miller. All in all, performances were fantastically believable.

The only conceivable flaws within this production are unavoidable and merely due to the piece itself. Firstly, the script just doesn't entirely gel, being chopped together from different points in time. It's hard to buy into the beauty of something if you know it will end sadly. That said, there are moments here that are so unusually well performed and directed that they transcend this defect and leave you quite mesmerised.

Secondly, the final scene would be all the more devastating if presented by twenty year-olds, full of true naivety. While Friedman quite rightly states that the actors can look like they're playing dress-up in Act One if they are too young and that life experience only assists any actor dealing with a complex, subtle character, it is a shame that this compromise is unavoidable.

Sondheim's typically challenging score is handled seemingly effortlessly by the cast and musical supervisor and director Catherine Jayes. Jonathan Tunick's orchestration is superb, with witty sound effects throughout.

While this may not be a musical for everyone's tastes - it's not really easy viewing - it can perhaps be regarded as a testament to how extremely talented companies can completely suspend disbelief, if only for a little while.

Merrily We Roll Along has a strictly limited run at the Harold Pinter Theatre until June 1.

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