Merrily We Roll Along

Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

Director Notes

Welcome. You’ve stepped into a space designed for intimacy, for confrontation, for the unadorned truth. That’s the power of the black box – there’s nowhere to hide, not for the characters and not for the audience. Perhaps no musical requires such raw honesty quite like Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along. This show is famously, brilliantly, heartbreakingly told in reverse. We meet Franklin, Charley, and Mary at their most fractured – successful by society’s standards, perhaps, but spiritually bankrupt, their friendships and ideals seemingly shattered beyond repair. From that wreckage, we travel backward. Back through the compromises, the betrayals, the successes that felt like failures, and the subtle moments where their course in life shifted. Year by year, layer by layer, our journey back leads us to a rooftop where our “Old Friends” are filled with youth, talent, and a powerful belief in each other convinced “Our Time” is arriving. For us, knowing their full story, watching this moment brings a unique and poignant heartache.

Seeing the hopeful start after witnessing the bitter end forces us to ask the questions. How did you get to be here? What was the moment? Staging Merrily in this stripped-down environment magnifies these questions. Without the lavish sets sometimes associated with musicals, we are forced to focus on the essential intricate tapestry of Sondheim’s score, the sharp wit and vulnerability of Furth’s book, and, most importantly, the complex, evolving, and devolving relationships between these three souls. You’ll feel the sting of Charley’s disillusionment, the weight of Mary’s unrequited feelings, the seductive, destructive charm of Frank’s ambition. Merrily We Roll Along is a cautionary tale, yes, but I believe there’s still a stubborn glimmer of hope in the story. 

By journeying back to the beginning, by seeing the purity of that initial dream, we’re reminded of the potential that resides in all of us – the potential for connection, for creation, for loyalty. Perhaps understanding how things unravel can teach us how to hold them together.

Thank you to this incredible cast, crew, and creative team who have poured their hearts into excavating the layers of this challenging, beautiful piece. Thank you, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth, for giving us this puzzle box of a musical.

And thank you for joining us. Lean in. Listen closely. Let the journey backward illuminate something about the way forward.

Enjoy the show.

Jacob Brent 

Special Thanks

President Connie Book, Provost Rebecca Kohn, Dean Hilton Kelly, Babs Bayliff, Derek Tucker, Brian Kremer, Alexandra Warren, Jim Walton