You can never have too many revivals of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s exquisitely-crafted, bittersweet 1981 musical “Merrily We Roll Along,” which notoriously moves backwards in time in order to demonstrate how a three-way friendship disintegrates and its lead character loses sight of his ideals in pursuit of material success.
Ever since the original Broadway production crashed and burned (running just 16 performances and ending the glorious partnership of Sondheim and director Hal Prince), the score of “Merrily” (one of the greatest of all time) continues to mesmerize, and regional productions of the show’s revised version have abounded. Even so, “Merrily” has still not been revived on Broadway.
Personally, I think the 2012 City Center Encores! production (which co-starred a pre-“Hamilton” Lin-Manuel Miranda and benefited from having a full-size orchestra) deserved to transfer to Broadway. More recently, in 2019, the Roundabout Theatre Company presented a scaled-down Off-Broadway revival led by the scrappy Fiasco theater ensemble, which was interesting but underpowered.
Now, a decade since it premiered in London, a revival directed by actress Maria Friedman is being produced at New York Theatre Workshop in the East Village. Many New Yorkers are already familiar with the production, which was filmed and screened in movie theaters and later made available for online viewing.
The New York edition features a superb cast led by Jonathan Groff (“Spring Awakening”), Daniel Radcliffe (who, for the record, starred in a Broadway musical back in 2011), and Tony winner Lindsey Mendez (“Carousel”). Radcliffe (as the principled Charley) and Mendez (as the heartbroken Mary) are wonderful, but it is Groff’s dashing and unusually sympathetic performance as Frank that makes this one of the most persuasive and moving productions of “Merrily” to date.
Critically, Friedman emphasizes that “Merrily” should be viewed as a kind of flashback by Frank, which offers up hope that the character will find a way to put his life back together after looking back on his past and reconsidering his choices and values.
While I would much prefer to hear the score with a larger orchestra and more robust sound (the smashing original overture is sorely missed), I will happily take this polished and carefully considered revival, which more than deserves to take the leap and become the show’s first Broadway revival.
New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th St., nytw.org. Through Jan 21.
