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A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewMerrily We Roll Along
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Not a day goes by,
Not a single day But you're somewhere a part of my life And it looks like you'll stay. As the days go by, I keep thinking, "When does it end? Where 's the day I'll have started forgetting? — Lyrics from “Not a Day Goes By” |
Mark Umbers as Frank, Damian Humbley as Charley and Jenna Russell as Mary (Photo: Tristram Kenton)
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Soutra Gilmour's elegant set has a curved wall, a staircase to one side and a wide window and beyond, the starlit sky. In 1976, we see Franklin Sheppard (a tall and handsome Mark Umbers) initially serious but later in party mood in his Californian beach house, until Mary Flynn (Jenna Russell) rains on his parade. Franklin is flirting with his very young star Meg Kincaid (Zizi Strallen) much to the annoyance of his second wife, Gussie Carnegie (Josefina Gabrielle). “The plot thins,” quips Mary and she relates the feud between old friends and song collaborators, Charley Kringas (Damian Humbley) and Franklin.
Merrily We Roll Along is constructed backwards as each change of scene takes us back a few more years after Mary has said, “If I could go back to the beginning,” as she “blames the way it is, on the way it was.” This scene in 1973 is set in the NBC Studio in New York where Frank and Charley are being interviewed. Lyricist Charley's solo number “Franklin Sheppard Inc.” wonderfully summarises his problem with Frank's ambition. Frank needs money to pay for his divorce from his first wife and wants to go into movies. Back five years to 1968 to Mary, Charley and Frank working together in “Old Friends” and then “Growing Up” from Frank and the musical star and his second wife, Gussie Carnegie. The final scene of Act One is set in 1967 in the Manhattan Courthouse where the Sheppards are getting divorced. Frank's wife Beth (Clare Foster) in a really heartbreaking song “Not a Day Goes By” sings about his infidelity and her love for him. Their son Frank Junior (Noah Miller/Tommy Rodger/Joseph West) is led away by his grandparents.
1964 sees Frank's early flirtation with Gussie in Frank and Charley's Paris set musical, “Musical Husbands” with Gussie vamping it up to the backdrop of Montmatre and the Moulin Rouge. “It's a Hit” has all the anticipation and excitement of mounting a Broadway show and getting a good audience reaction. 1962 concentrates on Gussie's marriage to Joe Josephson (Glyn Kerslake) with op art black and white clothing and an audience of sycophants, called The Blob, moving together. In “Good Thing Going” Frank and Charley's early song writing partnership is evoked with a pretty song. In 1960 Charlie, Frank. Beth and the pianist wittily present the Kennedy clan in song in “Bobbie, Jackie and Jack” from their revue Frankly Frank. 1957 to 59 sees Frank's first marriage as he meets Beth and back to the beginning 1957 has Frank and Charley on a New York City rooftop planning their future.
Merrily We Roll Along has a sadness, a bittersweet feel because with each meeting we already know the sad outcomes, the broken friendship, the broken marriage. The characterisations are very fine and there is excellent acting as well as singing from the cast. Jenna Russell's Mary is full of sardonic wit, her sorrow being a candle held for Frank. I warmed to Damian Humbley's self effacing Charley and despised Josefina's selfish Gussie. Mark Umbers as Frank through the draw of Gussie is unable to save his marriage and becomes estranged from his son.
Although we are told that Merrily We Roll Along flopped on its first outing in 1981, Maria Friedman has cast this fascinating production so well it is easy to believe in the characters and feel the emotional punch of their stories. The show was revised in 1992 for the Leicester Haymarket which starred Maria Friedman and it is that version showing here. Many of the tunes are very pretty, the sentiments sincere and the lyrics have wit but the success of her charming show is in casting experienced and older actors who go back 19 years with a relaxed ease and genuine feeling.
| Merrily We Roll Along
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Book by George Furth Based on the original play by George S Kaufman and Moss Hart Directed by Maria Friedman Starring: Mark Umbers, Jenna Russell, Damian Humbley, Clare Foster, Glyn Kerslake, Josefina Gabrielle With: Matthew Barrow, Martin Callaghan, Bob Harms, Julie Jupp, Elana Martin, Noah Miller, Amanda Minihan, Kirk Patterson, Amy Ellen Richardson, Ashley Robinson, Tommy Rodger, Robbie Scotcher, Zizi Strallen, Joseph West, Joanna Woodward Designed by Soutra Gilmour Choreography: Tim Jackson Sound: Gareth Owen Lighting: Tim Bray Musical Supervision and Direction: Catherine Jayes Orchestrations: Jonathan Tunick Running time: Two hours 30 minutes with one interval Box Office: 0844 871 7615 Booking to 27th July 2013 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 1st May 2013 at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton Street, London SW1Y 4DN (Tube: Piccadilly Circus) Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe, E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
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