A composer’s rise to success and the loss of everything else is followed backwards in time in Merrily We Go Along, directed by Maria Friedman in a proshot of the 2023 Tony Award-winning Sondheim musical (originally produced in 1981).
This edition of Merrily We Roll Along won four Tonys in 2023. It was a long time coming. The original production of the show, adapted from a 1934 play, with songs by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth (to ease confusion, “book” here means the non-singing portion of a musical, rather than a source text), directed by Broadway master Hal Prince, closed after sixteen shows. Other attempts met with a mixed reception. But it’s Maria Friedman who reworked it, and it finally hit. All that history of the show can be found out there in the wide world of the internet if you’re interested in heading down the rabbit hole further. But the point is, despite the less-than-stellar reputation of the recently passed musical impresario’s show, this new version is more than stellar. And Friedman, directing the filming of her own show, brings the stage to the screen with a brilliant vibrancy. So we’re all treading the same boards: Merrily We Roll Along is what’s often called a “pro-shot”; cameras are working in and around the stage of the show as it goes, shot over 3 nights in July of 2024. So, you are seeing the show pretty much as it was on stage, not a standard film (though Richard Linklater is working on an adaptation right now, filming in segments to match years like Boyhood. He started in 2019, so we have to wait until 2040 to see the results).
Merrily We Go Along, as presented here, is a great musical, with incredibly strong characters, solid songs, and an engaging story. Merrily We Go Along follows Franklin, Charles, and Mary from 1976 to 1958 (not an error, you’ll see soon); the men are a composer and lyricist pair, and she’s a close friend: an author and drama critic; over twenty years, they find success in different ways and sadly tear apart. Yes, you say it’s a story you‘ve seen before, but here it’s given a new life in the great characterisation and the method of telling: backwards, each scene sliding back a few years from 1976, when Frank is finally alone, to 1958, when all three meet for the first time. A fascinating look, we’ve seen showbiz destroyed and tears, but in this manner, it presents new angles. It’s never showy or winky; instead, it devastates. Discussions of integrity and artistic truth versus the idea of success. How far can you let it go more commercial to live before one loses self, individual vs the team, what’s good for you or me; family and fame?
It rolls along, but hardly merry, a heartbreaking way to tell the story. Starting with the final dissolution of the last vestige of decades of friendship lends a knowing sadness to everything we see. Every triumph will crash, every laugh is a future cry. The younger, hopefully, and optimistic the character gets, the more crushing the weight of the future crashes over the viewer. Lines and songs earlier in the show gain reflected meaning and depth when heard again, younger. It’s a powerful presentation. Yet, even as the youngest version closes on the edge of breakthrough, it feels optimistic, like maybe this time things will be different.
Though we know it won’t.
The method gives a stronger emotional through line; like Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, the past and future inform each other to weigh on the audience. Each moment gains a sad irony. Each and every poor and selfish decision by Frank hurts all the more. It’s done with care. Maybe it has one too many “oh we know this thing won’t work” comic relief lines. We need them for levity, to break our emotions of watching Jonathan Groff’s expressive and teary face, but a few are a little cringe.
Jonathan Groff is the lead as Franklin, but he has an amazing pair to back him up with Daniel Radcliffe as Charles and Lindsay Mendez as Mary. The three, along with Katie Rose Clarke as Franklin’s first wife Beth, have amazing chemistry. It leaps off the stage. There’s a reason Groff and Radcliffe earned Tony Awards for their performances (Mendez was nominated). This is Groff’s show through and through as the others come and go, but they do everything with the time provided. The supporting cast is similarly amazing, with many playing multiple characters as needed. They move through those times and one another, the timing and beats all land. Sondheim’s songs are catchy and powerful (a knowing bit calls out the criticisms Sondheim himself received of this). We all know how amazing Groff is, with his roles in Hamilton and Frozen, but wow! Radcliffe is absolutely astounding. If you had any qualms about seeing him in the musical, leave them at the door as he’s truly wonderful (he’s been a stage actor for a long time, but many might only know him for Potter or the wild and weird film projects he gravitates to).
Not merely content with setting and forgetting, Friedman reworks the stage for the screen with impressive and knowledgeable camera use. She provides an intimacy with well-timed and chosen close-ups and shared moments. Every slight expression and moment is embiggened, far more than a seat in the audience would provide. However, it is generally static, moving from one still shot to another over a dynamic movement, and is nearly always presented from the audience’s point of view, even if magnified to a high degree. This does keep it a little stagey (yes, yes, it IS a stage show); while she changed up some blocking for film, it largely remains confined to the medium. It looks great as well; however, it occasionally loses the cinematic sheen and has the “too real, looking at dailies” snags. But those are only minor criticisms as the power of the play comes through.
We need more pro-shot productions like this. Many great shows are locked to stay on the great white way or very expensive local shows; Hamilton smashed on Disney+ and later theatrical release, but more need to be this way. It allows a wider variety of people access to things they might not be able to afford or see otherwise (there are a handful of ways to see shows online, but it’s not the same as a screening).
Merrily We Roll Along is a fantastic representation and presentation of a sad and engaging show. It has fantastic leads and a compelling story. I’m very glad to be able to see it like this. It’s not the same as traveling to New York to see it, so it’s great for it to come to us. (Just before Covid, my wife and I had a quick weekend whirlwind to see Hadestown specifically- that has its own proshot coming next year- but we know not everyone has that ability. But man, what a trip.)