| Verily Merrily |
At RWCMD |
| RWCMD- Merrily We Roll Along , Richard Burton Theatre, RWCMD , December 10, 2011 |
Radio Four’s “One to One” on December 6th featured an interview with the wealthy beneficiary of a company flotation. The interviewee, who chose anonymity, spoke of the inclination for the rich to mix exclusively with their own. Her deepest fear, she said, was the loss of her friends. No interviewer ever asks of a celebrity the degree of their loneliness. On the Richard Burton stage “Merrily We Roll Along” does just that. Its subject is the shedding of friendship, for small purpose. It is a highly accomplished, ultimately moving production.“Merrily We Roll Along” famously failed in the eighties but its stature seems to ever grow with time. It was to be seen at the Watermill in 2008 and at Edinburgh by Dulog in 2009. George Furth’s book is very good indeed. Its nine scenes, receding backward in time over twenty plus years, are filled with character and points of irony. It is clever no doubt. A kind of “Usual Suspects” for the stage, full appreciation of its quicksilver density probably requires more than one viewing. The score does not leap out with a clamourous bang. But it has beauties that linger. “Not a Day Goes By” is one of Sondheim’s most haunting melodies. “Our Time” was a high point of the eightieth birthday celebratory concert at the Albert Hall in 2010. Here, it can be seen as one of those numbers where character, plot, melody and lyric fuse in perfection. In the last repeated lines of “Me and you, pal/ Me and you” it also acts as a thematic mirror to “As It Was” sung an hour and a half earlier. The lyrics make effortless use of the colloquial. After a successful audition the quick-fire lyrics run “I’m Beth”/ “I’m Frank”/ “I Really Thought I Stank.” The lyrics also tease audience expectation. A line runs “Stop me quick before I sink.” It rhymes with the song title “Franklin Shephard, Inc.” The character, Charley Kringas, sings a second line, then breaks for a line of dialogue- the scene is a television interview. He resumes to sing another line and only then caps it with the rhyme “Then we’ll all go have a drink.” Triple rhymes and more abound. “The Blob” is a word for the movers and shakers at a party “Not many and yet”, sings Gussie, “They come as a set” Two guests interrupt then the song continues “And we’re in their debt.” “Merrily We Roll Along” presents a unique acting challenge. The cast has to grow younger by twenty-five years. The Watermill opted for actors in their thirties. The age here works better, in that the second act is filled with a sense of jubilation. A cast member says it is a mix, part director Shaun Kerrison, part the actors reverting to their natural age. The how and the why matter less than the fact that the last scenes deepen in emotion. They take on a universality of hope and optimism, before “Time Goes By”/ “And Hopes Go Dry”/ “But Still You Can Try”. The effect of the last rooftop scene, friendship, embarrassment, introduction, comedy, is quite moving. Among the cast of eleven, Nicky Taliesin makes a powerful Frank. In the scene where his long-term friendship collapses, he presents to the audience an unmoving profile. Melissa Moore’s Gussie is all glossy ambition but, in a short absence of her husband, she displays a brief moment of breathy intimacy. The character of Joe Josephson is revealed gradually. Tom Norman’s performance, with his nasal New Yorkese and his loose-fitting suit, has a touch of the Runyonesque to it. Nicola Avino captures the lightness of the young, and also has a subtlety to her Texan-ness, that marks her difference without calling attention to itself. She is among the trio who carries off the high-speed “Bobbie and Jackie and Jack” adroitly, with its all rapid movement and change of headgear. The role of Charley has one big number and Richard Russell Edwards delivers it with enthusiastic gusto. He captures the emotional mix of loss, defensiveness and denunciation. That it is delivered while seated is some achievement. “Tremendous” is not a word a reviewer reaches for often, but Helena-May Harrison is tremendous as Mary. “Merrily We Roll Along” is not a song-and-dance show but, where it is required, her feet twinkle (choreography Jason Pennycooke). In her big song she wears a short, tightly button jacket and her whole being exudes the emotion of friendship. Wong YatKwan’s design turns back the years with a succession of slides. For the cusp of the seventies it is the Godfather, Dirty Harry, Nixon with a thumbs-up. The costume design includes a black-white check miniskirt and a lot of alarming eighties big hair. Julian Bigg conducts the fifteen-strong musical ensemble. A thrilling brass sound rises towards the end of act one. The programme has a quality that is absent from the John Good production model. It contains a note that is both informative and personal. It also has a quirky grammar…that eschews the full stop…some rules are there to be broken…and some you keep…full stop. The company in the opening number sings together “Some roads are soft”/ “And some are bumpy”/ “Some roads you really fly”/ “Some rides are really rough”/ “And leave you jumpy.” That is true, for the performers as much as the characters, even “You and me, pal”/ “Me and you.” |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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