By Dan ShawWalking out of the Sharon Playhouse after its exhilarating production of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, it’s impossible to comprehend how this musical was a flop when it opened on Broadway in 1981, closing after 16 performances. The story of three best friends — composer Franklin Shephard (Jason Tam), lyricist Charley Kringas (A.J. Shivley) and novelist-turned-critic Mary Flynn (Lauren Marcus) — the show begins in California in 1976 when success has shattered their triumvirate and bonhomie has devolved into bitterness. The show moves backwards through the 1960s in New York City until the final scene in 1957, when the three meet as optimistic college students intoxicated by possibility and youthful dreams on a rooftop near Columbia University. Sondheim’s genius is that his cynical story — he’s basically saying be careful what you wish for — is nevertheless full of heart and by the time you leave the theater you feel euphoric despite the plot’s inherent sadness. As both the composer and lyricist, Sondheim wrote words and melodies that fit together like pieces of a complicated jigsaw puzzle. But it’s not until the final scene that the big picture finally comes into full focus — -and it’s not exactly what you expect. Merrily, like Sondheim’ brilliant Company, is a sociological musical about quintessential New Yorkers, and it captures the Broadway era before Andrew Lloyd Weber and Disney. It’s a psychological show, too, as if Sondheim had stolen files from the main characters’ psychoanalysts. The onstage Sharon Playhouse orchestra captures all the exuberance and urgency of Sondheim’s score from the magnificent overture to the reprise of “Old Friends" at the curtain call. The music is reason enough to see this show, which is summer stock as it should be — invigorating, entertaining and thought provoking.
The performances by the three principals make this production soar. They have perfect chemistry, whether they’re loving or hating one another. Tam’s transformation of Franklin from arrogant to earnest is convincingly heartbreaking. Marcus plays Mary, the troika’s third wheel, with the perfect balance of pluck and pathos. And Shivley's Charley stops the show when he sings “Franklin Shephard, Inc," humorously and poignantly unloading all his anger and pain about how his show-writing partner has betrayed and disappointed him. The three main supporting players are just as well cast. Emma Davis as Shephard’s first wife is especially endearing when she joins Tam and Shivley for “Bobby and Jackie and Jack," a rip-roaringly funny parody about the Kennedy family as they capture the White House and the nation’s imagination in 1960. Sarah Cline, as the Broadway star who lures Shephard away from his first wife, and David Fanning, as her Broadway producer first husband, convey the schmaltzy side of "show business" as it was called when Sondheim was starting out in the 1950s. In the second act, on the opening night of Franklin and Charley’s first Broadway show, they stand at the stage door listening to the audience’s enthusiastic applause. They perform a number called “It’s a Hit," which they could also be singing about this production of Merrily We Roll Along. Merrily We Roll Along (through July 19) Sharon Playhouse, Sharon, CT 860.364.7469
