Courtesy of Joan Marcus
From left: Manu Narayan, Jessie Austrian and Ben Steinfeld in 'Merrily We Roll Along'
It
has become a pleasure for me to look forward to performances by The Fiasco
Theater, the company that created something like minimalist magic with
Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline,” and then with even more unpretentious inventiveness
with the challenging Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods,” each to wondrous
results. Am I not surprised that they have gone right back to Sondheim to
tackle his difficultly structured 1981 musical “Merrily We Roll Along,” but this
time with the production resources of the Roundabout Theatre Company. This
musical about idealism gone astray has been a test for many theater groups
since it first made the rounds.
Although
it had an original run of only two weeks, “Merrily” boasted a memorable score
that would become a legend in its own time. Sardonic as it was, George Furth’s book
(based on a 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart) had a hard time marrying
itself to the often flinty lyrics of the score, that included such melodic
treasures as “Good Thing Going,” “Not a Day Goes By,” “Old Friends,” and “Our
Time.”
The
program notes reminds us that Fiasco explored and combined earlier versions of
the script--a good idea for a very good result. I might say that this version
has been scaled down to a streamlined one act but not terribly diminished by
this paring. The notes also remind us of the lengths that Sondheim and Furth went
to solve the show’s problems when it first opened, the first being to clarify a
problematic plot device that keeps the action going backward in time, instead
of forward...just as did the original play.
Like
the play, the musical focuses on a talented composer willing to compromise his
professional and personal ethics in pursuit of success and without regard for
its effect on his friends and collaborators. Tainted throughout by betrayals and
tinged with a bittersweet perspective, the musical hits us in hard in our gut
as we follow the path of friends once life-long friends who once shared the
same optimism and romantic ideals.
This
production, under the fine and get-right-to-it direction of Noah Brody, boasts
a more awesome frame than Fiasco is usually afforded. The setting designed by
Derek McLane suggests a large warehouse of antiquities and collectables and is notable
for its floor to ceiling shelving. It pleases the eye if it doesn’t necessarily
add any corroborative value to what is being performed within it. I admit that I
may have missed the message.
The
players, however, are terrific in their roles as expected and express the
trenchant realities of their characters. This, as I also admit this company is
not noted for its singers. In this case, the singers were merely adequate but also
singularly impressive in their interpretive abilities. Watching the mix of
jaded and naive characters make those wrong turns, as they grow younger over
the musical’s regressing 20-year span, may just break your heart.
Although
I choose to not single out each of the six terrific cast members, half of whom
do more than double duty, I do feel compelled to say that Ben Steinfeld, as the
egregiously self-serving centerpiece Frank, has a firm grip on his demanding role,
something that can be said for all.
The
costumes designed by Paloma Young and Ashley Rose Horton are often good for a
laugh and the lighting design by Christopher Akerlind is as pro as one might
expect. What one doesn’t expect and but get with this collaboration between
Fiasco and Roundabout is a reminder of how Sondheim has always challenged us to
ascend from any complacency with musical theater. In its smaller way, the
Fiasco Theater does it all with heart.
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