Saw the doc last night at IFC and absolutely loved it! I saw the Live Stream in theaters version of Merrily a few years ago, so it was nice to have this documentary is a companion piece in a way.
SomeoneinaTree2, I love your explanation. That paragraph alone would hook me. In a way, this documentary IS Merrily We Roll Along...its reincarnation as a new artistic medium.
I saw it two weeks ago at IFC Center with the Q&A with Lonny Price and Bernadette Peters. It changed my life. What a brilliant documentary. As a Merrily fan, I think it was incredible. As someone who loves theatre, I think it was incredible. As someone who has dreams, I think it was incredible. The raw emotion displayed (and how Ann Morrison mentioned what it was like to watch your heroes fail) left me speechless.
i've got 99 problems and a revival of parade would solve like 94 of them
Thanks for info! There's a blurb in today's Washington Post Weekend section saying it opens next week, but it doesn't say where. Guess I'm heading to Silver Spring next week. (I signed up for those emails, but I haven't received any.) Anyway, I'm happy!!
Finally found some time in my schedule to see this at Lincoln Center today and thought it was absolutely wonderful. MERRILY is my favorite musical so I entered with that bias, but I really think this is a beautifully done documentary about the rush of working in the theatre, the realities of show business, and how we continue to navigate our lives after our dreams come true and end up looking different than we expected them to. Can't recommend it enough.
I was surprised that Liz Callaway didn't participate. In addition to Jason Alexander and Lonny Price, she has had continued to work in the industry. I know she was just a member of the ensemble, but was hoping she'd make an appearance in the documentary. I think there was just a quick shot of her sitting in the theatre when they did the concert a few years ago, but certainly nothing substantial. Thoughts?
Anshel2, I just watched this via iTunes (for anyone who doesn't know, it's now available there) and I wondered that about Callaway as well. She's one of my favorite performers and I hadn't even realized that she was in the original cast of Merrily. I also noticed the brief shot of her at the reunion concert and wondered why she wasn't interviewed for the documentary. I thought that possibly Price wanted to spend more time interviewing the actors who were in larger roles in "Merrily," whether or not they went on to fame and fortune. Or perhaps Callaway just wasn't available, or just wasn't interested in doing it. If I had to guess, I'd say that maybe the experience, being in a small role in the ensemble, didn't have as much of an impact on her as it did on some of the others. I know she's sung songs from the show with her sister and on albums, but I don't know if she's ever commented on her experience in the show at any of her concerts or in interviews. Since she went on to do "Baby" not long afterwards, and that was obviously a much bigger moment in her professional life, perhaps that's what she thinks of as the real start of her Broadway career. Just conjecture on my part of course!
I saw a talkback with Lonny Price after a screening when it was out in New York and he said his original plan was to include all of the original cast members in the film, but he found (like Sondheim and Prince did with the original production of MERRILY) that he had to focus in on a smaller number of characters to keep the storytelling clear. He said in early cuts where many more people were featured, it got very confusing about who you were supposed to be paying attention to. So he chose his five "leads" and then another seven or eight people from the cast to provide "color commentary." Apparently they interviewed nearly everyone in the original cast, including Liz Callaway. And I am pretty sure Donna Marie Asbury is in the film. I don't know about Giancarlo Esposito. But they ultimately narrowed down the number of people who actually appear in the final cut of the film. I would love to see those other interviews, though (and the full interviews of the entire cast!).
VIDEO: Miranda Raps Drunk Voice Mail in DRUNK HISTORY Deleted Scene
VIDEO: MISS SAIGON's Eva Noblezada & Alistair Brammer Perform on 'Today'
joined:10/14/14
joined:
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Posted: 11/30/16 at 1:06pm