Merrily We Roll Along – 03 April 2024

I enjoyed Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along today with Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Koray Tahan in for Daniel Radcliffe. It’s a feel good show with a great opening scene that explores themes of friendship and collaboration more than love and romance between a set of three friends. The gimmick of the show going backwards in time from the ending of the friendships to the night that they began kept it interesting and was pleasantly surprisingly easy to follow and enjoy.

Although I have always enjoyed Stephen Sondheim’s work, to me Merrily We Roll Along had a familiar cast of characters but didn’t arrive in an emotionally meaningful place. We had the checked out, aloof male protagonist; the husk of a woman who was once beautiful but is now an obsessive alcoholic; the awkward tag along boy who sings a good song but is more of a caricature than a character; the ensemble of strange intervals that somehow click together; the oddness of characters talking out instead of to each other; and the lack of vocal harmonies in favor of everybody singing their own story at the same time, overlapping with one another yet in their own world. I do want to note that Merrily We Roll Along was mixed significantly better than Sweeney Todd as far as ability to discern words as a first time listener.

My biggest struggle with this show has nothing to do with this particular production. I don’t understand Mary (Lindsay Mendez)’s relationship in the set of friends. Charley (Koray Tahan) and Frank (Jonathan Groff) are writing partners who share creative pursuits. Mary is always sidelined, even from the beginning of the friendship. Her entire character is built around being in love with Frank, but we never get to see what she contributes to the friendship, what her relationship is to this dynamic duo, how she got to actually be part of it, and what she means to Charley and Frank. It really seems like she is an afterthought, added to make it clear that the show is fictional and not about Sondheim and anyone he collaborated with.

I felt like director Maria Friedman made the most out of this musical that was possible within the constraints of what is written on the page. The ensemble was well utilized, the message (though sweet and simple) was delivered, and everyone got their moment to shine. Lindsay Mendez stood out as an actress more than a singer, Jonathan Groff the reverse. I did not see Daniel Radcliffe, but was very impressed with how well understudy Koray Tahan fit into the role of Charley. He was a highly convincing actor with a beautiful voice who never missed a beat—bravo on his Broadway debut.

It’s unfair to rate a production based on its subject material and not on the performance at hand. I did genuinely enjoy this production, and it’s good that there are lighthearted shows on Broadway. Variety is important. I am grateful for shows like this that exist in the space between flashy/fun and heavy/serious. But to be frank, of the numerous Sondheim productions I’ve seen, the text of Merrily We Roll Along seems to restrict the potential for people to be truly moved by the show and its story, which is a shame because it’s such an interesting concept and the cast and creative team have a lot going for them.

I did not attend this performance on a press pass.