MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG to be revived off-Broadway in 2019

[jacobsnchz14]

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Roundabout-Fiasco-Theatre-Will-Present-MERRILY-WE-ROLL-ALONG-Off-Broadway-in-2019-20180517

Fiasco and Roundabout will collaborate on the production following the steps of their INTO THE WOODS revival

[Jshan05]

I recently got my hands on the London revival from a few years back and wow it's terrific. I've really fallen in love with this show so this news makes me SO HAPPY! Can't wait to see who they cast!

[Sauja]

I love Merrily but truly couldn't stand Fiasco's Into the Woods production. This doesn't make me feel optimistic. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

I want a MERRILY revival but I don't want this. I would much prefer if Roundabout had transferred the Friedman production either on or off-Broadway. 

[Kad]

I loved Fiasco's ITW, but I just can't get excited for another Merrily.

[Jshan05]

IdinaBellFoster said: "I want a MERRILY revival but I don't want this. I would much prefer if Roundabout had transferred the Friedman production either on or off-Broadway."

YES to this. Trying to be optimistic as I didn't see the revival of Into The Woods. Can someone elaborate as to what made it so bad?

[little_sally]

Kad said: "I loved Fiasco's ITW, but I just can't get excited for another Merrily."

Agreed 100%.

[ColorTheHours048]

I’ve heard pretty mixed things about this based on a recent workshop. I’m cautiously optimistic. Emphasis on cautiously.

[GeorgeandDot]

I liked the minimalist Into the Woods. Interested to see what they do here.

[Kad]

Jshan05 said: "IdinaBellFoster said: "I want a MERRILY revival but I don't want this. I would much prefer if Roundabout had transferred the Friedman production either on or off-Broadway."

YES to this. Trying to be optimistic as I didn't see the revival of Into The Woods. Can someone elaborate as to what made it so bad?"

The main point of contention is that it was, by design, not the most musically satisfying Into the Woods. Fiasco is made up of actors who, by and large, can merely carry a tune.

 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Jshan05 said: "IdinaBellFoster said: "I want a MERRILY revival but I don't want this. I would much prefer if Roundabout had transferred the Friedman production either on or off-Broadway."

YES to this. Trying to be optimistic as I didn't see the revival of Into The Woods. Can someone elaborate as to what made it so bad?"

Speaking for myself, I loved the concept behind Fiasco's Into the Woods, but the cast, comprised mainly (entirely?) of Fiasco members were just not vocally up to the demands of the score. The vocal struggles constantly pulled me out of the world they were creating on that stage, and I think the production suffered quite a bit for it.

[JBroadway]

I loved Into the Woods, and I thought their recent Twelfth Night was good but not great. I love Merrily and I'm excited to see what they do with this.

That said, when I saw this headline I was really hoping it would be the Friedman production, and now I can't help but feel disappointed.

[ljay889]

I think the London production would’ve been a better option, I pretty much hated their Woods. A Sondheim score on a piano and toy instruments isn’t up my alley.

[barcelona20]

Really surprised it's not the Friedman production.  I wonder what happened.

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE bring back the ORIGINAL BOOK...i am sure this great company can make that book work...i would give anything to see the show as it was presented when it flopped on Broadway...

[Sauja]

Jshan05 said: "YES to this. Trying to be optimistic as I didn't see the revival of Into The Woods. Can someone elaborate as to what made it so bad?"

Agree with the others who said it was cast with actors who could carry a tune but no real singers. There were immensely talented people on that stage who I admired quite a lot in other things (either roles that didn't require a big voice or in plays) but found vocally disappointing attempting Sondheim. And am I remembering correctly that there was just a piano? I just remember it sounding so ugly. 

 

I love the Fiasco company (their Cymbeline was BRILLIANT). I adore Sondheim. I just don't like them together. 

[JSquared2]

barcelona20 said: "Really surprised it's not the Friedman production. I wonder what happened."

Fiasco production = cheap to produce

[Matt Rogers]

Jshan05 said: "IdinaBellFoster said: "I want a MERRILY revival but I don't want this. I would much prefer if Roundabout had transferred the Friedman production either on or off-Broadway."

YES to this. Trying to be optimistic as I didn't see the revival of Into The Woods. Can someone elaborate as to what made it so bad?"

Stop listening to the haters on here. It won the Lortel Award for Best Revival and it got great reviews. Snarky, negative comments by a loud vocal minority does not make the revival "bad". 

[MichelleCraig]

I saw the last London revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” (MWRA for millennials here) twice and thought it was weak. Back here in the States I saw it onscreen and disliked it even more. I did enjoy an earlier production done at London’s Donmar Warehouse. 

I think that I most enjoyed a production I saw at Boston’s Emerson College shortly after the Broadway production closed.

i have many recordings of the show on CD and I enjoy all of them to some extent...some more than others. Someday, there’ll be a live production to match the hype. It is one of my absolute favorite Sondheim shows.

[RippedMan]

They played instruments in Into The Woods?

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

LOL RippedMan...technically anything can be turned into a musical instrument, even household appliances. You should Google the Joshua Redman/Yo-Yo Ma episode of PBS's "Arthur."

Anyway, I'm actually kind of thrilled because A. I missed the two productions of Merrily that recently played within my reach, and B. Because I'll be able to get $25 tickets as a Hiptix member. It's my main man Steve, hotcakes- count me in!!

[uncageg]

I think I will keep my memories of the Encores! Production and skip this one. I was there the evening Sondheim and the original cast members came out at curtain call to sing OUR TIME.

[Someone in a Tree2]

The only production I ever saw was last year's god-awful production in West LA starring Wayne Brady. Nope, even the stage wizard Michael Arden couldn't breathe life into that fossil. As far as I can see, MWRA is best enjoyed as a cast album-- and a great one at that. It doesn't seem to be a viable organism on a stage.

[uncageg]

Someone in a Tree2 said: "The only production I ever saw was last year's god-awful production in West LA starring Wayne Brady. Nope, even the stage wizard Michael Arden couldn't breathe life into that fossil. As far as I can see, MWRA is best enjoyed as a cast album-- and a great one at that. It doesn't seem to be a viable organism on a stage."

Maybe you just saw a bad production. The only thing I didn't care for was the casting of Miranda as Charley. He wasn't awful but i wasn't crazy about his performance.

I do hope to see it again but just not really interested in seeing this production. JMO

[wonkit]

Sauja said: "I love Merrily but truly couldn't stand Fiasco's Into the Woods production. This doesn't make me feel optimistic."

My exact reaction. I thought the singing voices in their INTO THE WOODS just couldn't handle the material, so I'm not sure how they will manage some of MERRILY either.