Photo: Deana Muro
(L to R) Hope Anthony, Nathaniel Yost, and Dan Mayhak in Front Porch Theatricals' Merrily We Roll Along
Griffith infuses the show with fresh energy and capably marshals a cast of 19 through a decades-spanning musical that grapples with the trials of enduring friendship, ego, and commercialized art.
The show portrays the gradual dissolution of the friendship between Frank (Dan Mayhak), a successful Broadway composer turned Hollywood sellout; his writing partner, Charley (Nathaniel Yost), who bristles at Frank’s investment in the commercial aspects of their craft; and Mary (Catherine Kolos), their friend from college, herself a writer with one bestseller behind her, who tries in vain to smooth the tensions between the two and force herself to fall out of love with Frank.
The show opens in 1976 at a party celebrating the premiere of Frank’s first movie. The party ends in disaster with all of Frank’s relationships in disarray. Told in reverse chronological order, the musical endeavors to answer the question posed by its titular song, “How did we get to be here?” Told chronologically, it wouldn’t be a terribly interesting story, but the show’s backward motion allows the predictable results of Frank’s decisions to take on a slight air of mystery, with pleasurable moments when events in the chain of cause-and-effect click together and the situation increasingly makes sense.
Frank angrily informs his second wife, as their marriage dissolves in the musical’s first scene, that he has only made one mistake, but he’s made it over and over again — saying “yes” when he meant “no.” Sondheim’s terrific score, well-executed by music director Doug Levine and his orchestra, manifests that repetition with recurring melodies, some of which are among the composer’s loveliest.
The book, by George Furth, provides very little by way of character development, but strong performances by Mayhak, Yost, and Kolos save the musical’s central trio from flatness and provide just enough likeability to keep the audience rooting for them despite our advance knowledge of their eventual estrangement.
Photo: Deana Muro
Michaela Isenberg (left) and Dan Mayhak (right) in Front Porch Theatricals' Merrily We Roll Along
The trio of principals is joined by David Ieong as the schmaltzy producer, Joe, Michaela Isenberg as the calculating, somewhat bluesy star Gussie, and Marnie Quick as Frank’s first wife, Beth, whose performance soars in her first appearance as she belts the Sondheim standard “Not a Day Goes By.”
John Michael Bohach’s set design provides a slightly nondescript versatility without dipping into boredom, and the lighting design by Andrew David Ostrowski, in opulent jewel tones, contrasts with the show’s bleak emotional landscape and provides significant visual interest.
Griffith’s staging and Alex Manalo’s choreography keep the large cast gracefully circulating through the cavernous New Hazlett Theater, managing to both keep the stage bustling with show business energy while highlighting the characters’ isolation.
Costume design by Kim Brown conveys the trio’s descending fortunes, most evident when it comes to Frank’s appearance, as they become less sharply attired and the clock rolls back to their first meeting as college students in 1957, where their potentially cloying hopefulness takes on a tragic overtone in the audience’s wizened eyes, having seen what the future holds for them.
Merrily We Roll Along. Continues through Sun., Aug. 27. New Hazlett Theater. 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $24-40. newhazletttheater.org
