MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance...- Page 7
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance...
#150MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 11:41am
I think she's in the new Katori Hall show at Signature...so maybe she went to the reception after a performance?
Seeing it tonight with my best friend. I simply cannot wait.
WestVillage
Broadway Star Joined: 7/20/05
#151MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 11:55amI was at the reception, which was in the late afternoon prior to the evening performance ... Tonya was there and had to leave to do her own show at Signature. Jason is in LA and had prior commitments that prevented him from attending.
#152MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 12:56pm
Tonya, looking glorious, with Collin and Celia:
#153MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 1:08pm
And I love this picture of Celia and Ann Morisson--the two Mary Flynns. It's like they've connected and become a heart.
#154MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 1:21pmI forgot Ms Pinkins was in that show so that explains why she wasn't at the performance. I had hoped to see her there but it was still a wonderful evening. Not sure if this was posted but thet have magnets, t-shirts, posters and some cd's on sale. Didn't really look to see which cd's. I got a shirt and a magnet.
Just give the world Love.
#155MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 2:04pm
But they don't have a pillow.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#156MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 2:06pmThey should sell clocks that run backwards.
#157MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 3:33pmJordan, I actually own a backwards clock!
Just give the world Love.
#158MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 6:36pm
I was there last night. I've never seen a production, so this was the first time I was seeing and hearing the songs in context. It's certainly a flawed show. As someone else said earlier, there's no real drama since the drama is presented as the exposition. As suspected, the second act felt more fulfilling to me because of the journey and fateful genesis of the relationships.
Question, since I don't know the show so well: Is that really how "Not a Day Goes By" is typically presented? By a character that was introduced to the audience just five seconds ago? It felt like a so-what "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" moment. The second act version was more purposeful.
The actors were okay but unmemorable to me. Especially Lin-Manuel Miranda. He was definitely a weak link. Doesn't help that his big number is about ten minutes into the first act and he just kinda disappears into the background. His choices were so one-note though, the only one of the three that appeared to have no journey whatsoever.
Still, with all my quibbles, it is an interesting show and I had an enjoyable time. I loved "Opening Doors" through to the finale. Just thrilling writing.
And to see the original cast and SONDHEIM on that stage... It was so special. I ordered these tickets because I was taking someone on a date for the holiday and it turned out to be one of the most memorable theatre experiences I'll ever have thanks to all that history in one room.
On a side note, it's interesting that the orchestra had no violins but four violists. I'm assuming that's the original orchestration, but it's an interesting choice.
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#159MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 8:20pm
I also thought the horn solos sounded a bit spotty.
And I thought "Not A Day Goes By" was almost a bit of a throw-away as it was presented in ACT 1. I mean, it's this huge standard, but we're introduced to it by a character we've known for less than 2 mins? It's hard to feel anything for her when basically we've just met her.
#160MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 9:00pm^Chronologically we've known the character for more than two minutes, but it doesn't really work until the end when you've played it all back in your head in the correct order.
#161MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 9:01pm
On a side note, it's interesting that the orchestra had no violins but four violists. I'm assuming that's the original orchestration, but it's an interesting choice.
Jonathan Tunick actually addressed this very issue at a talkback after Saturday's matinee. In fact, the original instrumentation only had cellos, and no other strings. For this production, he asked Encores if he could add the violas, because he thought they were needed especially for underscoring. He said the instrumentation was otherwise the same as the original production.
He also talked about the tuba taking the "Good Thing Going" melody in the overture. He realizes it sounds a bit weird, and explained that he was at first led to believe that the show would be a youthful, fun romp, so he wanted to make the orchestration whimsical. Obviously the show went in a different direction, but apparently the tuba solo is an artifact of earlier plans.
#162MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 10:44pm
Thanks for the information, kdogg. I wondered about the tuba bit too. Interesting...
Cats, yes that's very true, but for such an emotional moment/song, it's a throwaway giving it to her so early on in the show. Seems like Mary should be singing it instead.
#163MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/15/12 at 11:09pm
EricMontreal22 wrote:
Was that a Lapine change and not one of Furth's (or Sondheim with Furth as it's a pretty major change) revisions before he died? ... Either way, I agree with you that it's a bad move - the "Our Time" scene is meant to show what optimism and hope they shared as friends for the future - I think it loses something if it's their introduction...
givesmevoice:
They addressed that at the talkback, and it was a Lapine change. They had made it, they said, about six days before the Saturday performance.
What I want to know is where Sondheim's open letter to the press challenging changes like this, changes that compromise the original, deceased author's intentions and the show as a result, is. The show certainly loses something with a fundamental change like that.
Musical Cyberspace: a tribute to the musicals of Broadway and beyond.
#164MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 10:57am
So. I've finally been able to see a production of Merrily We Roll Along. And I thought it was magnificent.
Yes. It's a difficult show. It asks A LOT of the audience. You need to be comfortable being held at arms' length for the entire first act and some of the second. But once the puzzle pieces come together, the show takes on an overwhelming emotional color that simply stuns.
I've never seen the show before, though I've known the score pretty well since I was 14 years old. And, for me, the 'meet cute' of Charley and Frank at the end was perfection. It answered the question 'Why would Charley and Mary stick around Frank for so long???' Well...anyone who would lay out a vision of the future like Frank does in Our Time after just meeting him is someone you want to believe in. Which makes all of the compromises Frank makes all the more heartbreaking. I think it was a masterful change. On a personal note, when Charley put out his hand as he introduced himself, I was immediately transported back 20 years, to the day I stuck my hand out to a handsome man name Brian. That day transformed my life in every conceivable way, and to have my best friend of 20 years sitting next to me last night as I watched this was a very, very special experience for me.
The cast, like the show, was true to the conceit of the backwards storytelling, allowing you only glimpses of these people until you could step back and see the beautiful tapestry. Celia Keenan-Bolger gave an off-kilter, daring performance that moved me to no end. But the entire cast was terrific. The only change I didn't like was the two men singing together on Good Thing Going. No, Lin-Manuel Miranda does not have the pipes of a Brian Stokes Mitchell. But I think he was more than equipped to sell the song emotionally.
There are other small details that I could nitpick. SPOILERS POSSIBLE: Once Frank and the his friend snorted coke on the yacht, I wondered why they idea of coke wasn't introduced earlier (later?) for the character of Frank. Maybe it is a bit of crass shorthand for 'man who's lost his way', but I think it could have worked well (especially in That Frank and leading into Franklin Shepherd Inc.). I like a Charley that's slightly more unhinged during the television interview, but still think Miranda was quite terrific.
I don't know. I went in expecting to be disappointed (mostly from years of build-up and knowing the troubled history of the show). But I left feeling like not only was I entertained, but that I also gained...something. Some knowledge I didn't have before I walked in. Or maybe something I already knew, but had forgotten.
#165MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 11:16amRobbie, Frank and his friend did coke during "Now You Know"? I really don't recall that happening when I saw the show a week ago.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
DeNada
Broadway Star Joined: 7/7/07
#166MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 11:24amOh, how I wish you all could have seen the Donmar Warehouse cast reunion concerts for MERRILY we had in London recently. They were magic - Julian Ovenden, Daniel Evans and Sam Spiro were perfect, even if Anna Francolini stole the show from them as Gussie. The show isn't perfect, but I think that concert staging was probably a better production than this sounds like it might be.
#167MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 11:28am
At the very end of Now You Know, Answering Machine Guy give Frank and bump and they do it. And I thought, 'Huh...that would have been an interesting thing to explore instead of just adding it randomly to this one number.'
I haven't seen a whole lot of Encores (Apple Tree, Follies, Bells are Ringing), but Merrily was by far my favorite. Maybe because it surprised me the most.
#168MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 11:40amHuh! I wonder if that was added in or I just completely missed it.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#169MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 11:42amI don't feel that the show asked "A LOT" from me. I had no problem following the show. JMO
Just give the world Love.
#170MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 11:45amI agree, uncageg - and it's hardly the first show in history that plays with chronology. It tells a perfectly easy to follow story (to those who pay attention).
#171MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 11:54am
Would anyone mind posting a cast list of who plays what character? I normally wouldn't ask, but for the life of me I can't seem to find one other than a list of who is in the ensemble.
I so wish I could see this- I was fortunate enough to be involved in a production of Merrily late last year, and it was such a great experience. To sing that phenomenal music was really just fantastic, and I got to work with a great group of people.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
#172MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 11:55amWell...I thought I was relatively clear about what I was talking about when I mentioned that the show asks a lot from its audience. I wasn't speaking of confusion with the plot regarding the backwards storytelling. I was talking about the fact that it asks you to invest a lot of time and energy on people whose actions are very difficult to empathize with...until, as I said up-thread, the pieces come together in Act 2. I think that is a lot to ask of an audience...especially when people today are used to aggressive storytelling and loud and fast shows. I agree that there's nothing actually confusing about the show. But you really have to stick with some unlikable people for a long time before you begin to get the emotional pay-off. But I found the pay-off very much worth it.
#173MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 11:58am
Thank you new, I was going to add that I paid attention and had no problem. I think I also read somewhere in this thread or another that there was no real emotion, or something, in the book scenes. By the middle of the 1st act I was so pulled into the story. By intermission I couldn't wait to find out what happend "before". By the time the show ended my eyes were full of tears. It just hits home and makes one think just what will happen in the future with the people who have become your close friends. And it was told well enough that by the time the three of them were on the roof, my mind flew back, easily, through the show and I also remembered that time in my life when I felt the world was my oyster.
Having never seen a production, it was also great to see just where the songs fell in the show. Just my random thoughts!
Just give the world Love.
#174MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG First Performance - I was at the dress..
Posted: 2/16/12 at 12:02pm
Here's a list of how the cast is broken down in the Playbill (I'm not including the principals)
Tyler- Andrew Samonsky
Terry- Ben Crawford
Scotty- Mylinda Hull
Dory- Rachel Coloff
Ru- Joshua Dela Cruz
Jerome- Michael Winther
KT- Pearl Sun
Meg- Patricia Noonan
Bunker/Dancer- Whit Baldwin
TV Newswoman- Jessica Vosk
Makeup Artist- Marja Harmon
Photographer/Dancer- Charlie Sutton
Dancer- Sean McKnight
Dancer- Karl Wardne
Mr. Spencer- Michael X. Martin
Mrs. Spencer- Colleen Fitzpatrick
Minister- Bernard Dotson
Audition Girl- Kenita R. Miller
Evelyn- Leah Horowitz
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
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