NOW YOU KNOW; OR, HOW TO MAKE ‘MERRILY’ ROLL ALONG
10 / 10
All told, it’s a hit, to borrow a title phrase from one of Sondheim most artful “concerted” numbers; a palpable hit, to borrow a phrase the Master borrowed from the Bard. Forget about the troubled history of Sondheim and Hal Prince’s most ignominious miscue; here and now, Merrily is a five-star hit, and no doubt about it. The show plays like wildfire, ignited from that first blast of overture from that band. It’s a win-win, or perhaps a win-win-win-win. A win for Merrily, yes; a win for Radcliffe, Mendez, and Goff; and a win mostly for Maria Friedman, who created this production with significant success back in 2012 and—in three or four steps along the way—has continued to add layers of sheen so that it no longer plays like an excellent production of a troubled musical but an excellent show all around. It’s a win for Furth, too, who is often overlooked for his script to Merrily (and Company as well) but whose contributions the composer always insistently cited.
