Subsequent Production History
Throughout the years, with Furth and Sondheim's blessing, the musical has been staged with numerous changes. Sondheim has contributed new songs to several of the show's incarnations, most notably "Growing Up".
A production directed by James Lapine opened on June 16, 1985 at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse, where it ran for 24 performances. The cast included John Rubinstein as Franklin Shepard, Chip Zien as Charley Kringas, Marin Mazzie as Beth and Heather MacRae as Mary Flynn. An Arena Stage production, directed by Douglas C. Wager and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, opened on January 30, 1990 at Washington, D.C.'s Kreeger Theater, where it ran slightly more than two months. The cast included Victor Garber, David Garrison, and Becky Ann Baker. In his review of the Arena Stage production, Rich noted that "Many of the major flaws of the 1981 Merrily, starting with its notorious gymnasium setting, have long since been jettisoned or rectified in intervening versions produced in La Jolla, Calif., and in Seattle." He called the score "exceptional."
A revised production, directed by Paul Kerryson, with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick and musical direction by Julian Kelly, opened on April 14, 1992 at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, where it ran for three weeks. The cast included Michael Cantwell (Franklin), Maria Friedman (Mary), and Evan Pappas (Charlie), along with Jacqueline Dankworth, Louise Gold, and, Gareth Snook. A cast recording was released on a single CD in the UK in 1994 and, with extended cuts and dialogue, as a double-CD set in the US in 1997.
An Off-Broadway revival, directed by Susan H. Schulman, opened on May 26, 1994 at the York Theatre in St. Peter's Church, where it ran for 54 performances. The cast included Malcolm Gets, Ron Butler and Michele Pawk. A cast recording was released by Varèse Sarabande.
During their 1997-1998 season, SpeakEasy Stage Company performed the show the Boston Center for the Arts.
After eight previews, the West End premiere, directed by Michael Grandage, opened on December 11, 2000 at the Donmar Warehouse, where it ran for 71 performances. The cast included Mary Stockley. The production won Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Musical, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
In 2002, a reunion concert was staged at the Laguardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center as a benefit for Musical Theatre Works, of which Lonny Price was Artistic Director. All but two of the original cast members recreated their roles, with Jason Alexander acting additionally as Master of Ceremonies. Kathleen Marshall directed. George Furth was not in attendance (and did not allow any of his dialogue to be spoken), but Prince and Sondheim were on hand.
Also in 2002, the show ran for approximately 120 performances at the Shaw Festival in a production directed by Jackie Maxwell and featuring Tyley Ross as Franklin, Jay Turvey as Charley and Jenny L. Wright as Mary.
As part of the Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center, a limited engagement of fourteen performances opened on July 12, 2002 at the Eisenhower Theater. The cast featured Michael Hayden (Franklin), Miriam Shor (Mary), Raúl Esparza (Charley), and Emily Skinner (Gussie).
The Theatre Works, Mountain View, California, production opened in April 2007.
The Derby Playhouse production ran from 19 April to 19 May 2007, starring Glyn Kerslake, Glenn Carter and Eliza Lumley in the lead roles.
The Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia) production, directed by Eric Schaeffer, opened on September 4, 2007 and ran through October 14, 2007.
John Doyle directed a production running at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury, Berkshire, from January 16, 2008 through March 8, 2008. It featured Sam Kenyon (Franklin), Rebecca Jackson (Gussie), Elizabeth Marsh (Mary) and Thomas Padden (Charlie). (This is Doyle's last production for the theatre.)
A concert production was held in Southampton, New York in March 2008 directed by Michael Disher, followed later by a fully staged production in September 2008.
Plans for a revival by the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York were announced in May 2008. The revival had been aiming for a Broadway production in 2009/10, but it has not occurred as of June 2012.
Available Light Theatre (AVLT) presented the revised version at the Vern Riffe Center in Columbus, Ohio, from August 19, 2010 through September 4, 2010. It was directed by John Dranschak, and featured Ian Short as Frank, Nick Lingnofski as Charley, and Heather Carvel as Mary. The musical director was Pam Welsh-Huggins.
The Encores! staged concert at New York City Center ran from February 8, 2012 to February 19. This production was directed by James Lapine and featured Colin Donnell as Franklin Shepard, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Mary Flynn, Lin-Manuel Miranda as Charley, Elizabeth Stanley as Gussie Carnegie, and Betsy Wolfe as Beth. This version incorporated parts of revisions done for the 1985 La Jolla Playhouse production and 1990 and 1994 productions.
The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park presents a revival directed by John Doyle, using the actor-musician concept, opening on March 3, 2012. Principal cast includes Malcolm Gets (Franklin Shepard), Daniel Jenkins (Charley Kringas), and Becky Ann Baker (Mary Flynn). This production uses the 1994 York Theatre revisions. The creative team includes Scott Pask (set design), Ann Hould-Ward (costume design), Jane Cox (lighting design), and Dan Moses Schreier (sound design).
Clwyd Theatr Cymru at Mold in North Wales performed this musical 10 May - 2 June 2012, directed by Nikolai Foster.
The London Menier Chocolate Factory will present a revival directed by Maria Friedman. The performances will start on November 16, 2012 and will run till March, 2013.
Read more about this topic: Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
Famous quotes containing the words subsequent, production and/or history:
“Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply; and it must be by a long and unnatural estrangement, by a divorce which no subsequent connection can justify, if such precious remains of the earliest attachments are ever entirely outlived.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)
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—Charles Darwin (1809–1882)
“It is my conviction that women are the natural orators of the race.”
—Eliza Archard Connor, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 9, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)