Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's 1981 musical Merrily We Roll Along is back on Broadway in it's first-ever revival. With a box office that is already regularly placing it amongst Broadway's top sellers, the revival appears to be a sure-fire hit. But then, that's a first for this show too.
Lonny Price, the musical's first Charley Kringas (at the tender age of just 22), remembers director Hal Prince coming backstage opening night. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry. I wanted to give you a hit. I didn鈥檛 give you a hit. I think I gave you a good show, but I wanted to give you a hit,鈥� Price remembers him saying. "That was very moving, that he cared about me, and the company. He must have been so hurt鈥攊t was painful for all of them." The original production opened November 16, 1981 and closed November 28鈥�16 performances total.
The show had come with the highest of expectations baked in. Prince and Sondheim had spent the previous decade collaborating on a string of musicals that quite literally changed the face of musical theatre. Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, and Sweeney Todd had more than made the notion of a Sondheim-Prince musical an event on the Main Stem. If those productions weren't necessarily the biggest money makers in Broadway history, they were all major critical successes and Tony Awards darlings.
And then there was Merrily We Roll Along. In some ways, the show, based on an obscure 1932 Kauffman and Hart play, was amongst the pair's most daring concepts. It tracks a trio of young friends from their bright and eager early careers as 20-somethings to their 40s, when all three have found themselves discontented and disconnected. And it tells that story backwards, beginning at the end and ending at the beginning.
That concept proved to be difficult for audiences to wrap their heads around, particularly because Prince decided to cast the show with younger actors in their 20s (modern productions, including the current Broadway revival, tend to split the difference between casting younger actors and middle aged actors). Following a tumultuous preview period that saw major changes to the script, the scrapping of the entire costume design, and actor replacements, disastrous reviews sealed the show's fate. It would be Sondheim and Prince's first real flop together, and essentially served as the end of their professional collaboration. [The two collaborated on a musical called Bounce decades later at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center, though it too was unsuccessful and Prince left the project. That show, later renamed Road Show, has yet to make it to Broadway.]
The entire experience was no doubt traumatic for its original cast, which included several actors who have gone on to illustrious careers in the theatre (Jason Alexander, Liz Callaway, Donna Marie Asbury, David Loud, Tonya Pinkins, Daisy Prince, and Jim Walton were all in the original company).
And then there's Price, who created the role of ever virtuous writer Charley Kringas. A true theatre kid and devotee of Sondheim and Prince's musicals, Merrily meant a great deal to him, and not just because he was in it. He went on to enjoy a successful Broadway acting career in the years following Merrily's failure, but his career's greatest highs came after shifting things a bit and becoming a director. Price has directed such Broadway favorites as Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill and A Class Act (in which he also starred), and a number of concert productions of his beloved Sondheim-Prince musicals for the New York Philharmonic and Chicago's Ravinia Festival. He also revisited his experience in Merrily directing and producing the 2016 documentary Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened (a must-see for any Merrily fan鈥攊t's available for digital purchase and rental on most video-on-demand platforms).
We caught up with Price over the phone recently just hours after he got to see the current Broadway production鈥攚hich opened October 10 (to markedly more positive reviews) at the Hudson Theatre. It stars Daniel Radcliffe (as Kringas), Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez; Maria Friedman is at the helm. Price talked about his reactions to this new revival and if he'll ever direct his own version of Merrily We Roll Along (Price is currently readying the upcoming tour of the revised Peter Pan). The conversation has been edited for clarity.
Tell us a little bit about what Merrily meant and means to you.
Lonny Price: I'm so proud of it. I feel so honored to have been a part of it. I'm proud of a lot of my work, but it鈥檚 DNA for me, that show. And that time was so defining of myself and certainly my career. It was a combination of all my childhood dreams. It's never really far from me, the show or the themes of it鈥攈ow did you get here from there, and just trying to live a life of integrity and to hold on to dreams. Dreams are expensive. You pay a price for keeping them, and you pay a price for giving them up. I think about the philosophy of the show a lot.
It's almost surreal to have worked with those men and to get to do that material, which is just so extraordinary鈥攁nd some of it written on me! "Franklin Shepard Inc." came in three days before previews began. Hal spent five weeks saying, "And then he sings a song here and let鈥檚 move on." And then Steve wrote that song. You feel like the greatest tailor in the world just built you a gold suit. He knew that I was good with a lot of words. I had three good notes, and he kept hitting him.
It was just such a miracle to me, that whole experience is really a miracle. I look back on it with great love and fondness and gratitude. It was obviously not successful. But it was just a fantastic time.
It feels like you were unusually aware of the gravitas of that experience for someone your age.
Oh, sure. I mean, they were my heroes. I was a gofer in Hal Prince鈥檚 office on Pacific Overtures. I was going to Performing Arts High School and I used to go and stuff envelopes and just be around. I got to be at the recording session of Pacific Overtures and saw it out of town. Hal opened the door to the theatre and said, "Come on in." It was just the greatest gift in the world. I revered these men to probably a degree that was not healthy. They were heroes, giants, everything to me, so to get to work with them and then to originate a part in one of their shows, and a lead, introducing songs and hearing them for the first time鈥攁nd Steve writing one for me. It was just really heady stuff. But I never took it for granted. Ever.
What was it like for that experience to end with failure? Did your admiration for Sondheim and Prince make you feel responsible in any way?
It was devastating, utterly devastating. The hardest part was that I didn鈥檛 get to do it anymore. I loved doing it so much, and I didn鈥檛 get to have a run at it. The rug was sort of pulled out from under us, and that was really hard.
I don鈥檛 remember feeling responsible, though. In the film, Terry Finn says that I did feel partially responsible. But I don鈥檛 remember that part of it. I just remember feeling utterly sad and depressed. And look, you know I was very lucky. Later that season, I got to do Master Harold 鈥nd the Boys. I got a lead in a gorgeous play. That helped heal the wounds. But interestingly enough, when I did Master Harold, the night the critics were there, I wasn鈥檛 very good. I think part of it was that they had taken away, or they had hurt something that I loved. I couldn鈥檛 be vulnerable in front of them. I felt wounded by the demise of the show and at the time felt they were responsible in part for its failure, at least with the public. We got such terrible reviews. I was very wounded by that. But you get over it.
I don鈥檛 read reviews now. I didn鈥檛 read reviews then, because I鈥檝e always thought that鈥檚 not helpful for me. But I knew they were terrible. It was very clear that they were just bad.
Do you think the reviews were wrong?
The score was always just dazzling and brilliant. Coming after Sweeney Todd, when we heard those songs, those Jule Styne-style big tunes鈥攊t鈥檚 just so thrilling. We all knew the score was amazing. Looking back now, Hal often said that he didn鈥檛 know what it should look like. He had wanted to do it like Our Town, with ladders and clothes on racks, very simply. But he chickened out because people were paying a then-astronomical $35 a ticket [Editor鈥檚 note: Adjusted for inflation, that鈥檚 roughly $119] and they wanted spectacle. I don鈥檛 think Hal was ever pleased with the physical production, and it wasn鈥檛 good.
But the show wasn鈥檛 done. It wasn鈥檛 finished yet. Had they had more time, I think they would have made it easier for the audience. It鈥檚 interesting鈥擨 saw the show last night, and everyone knows now that it goes backwards. They鈥檙e aware of what it鈥檚 doing and the score is so beloved as it deserves to be. We had to keep putting projections in saying what year it was. In that way, it was ahead of its time. Just think of all the innovation they did over the years, and then they decide to do a show that goes backwards. It鈥檚 sort of a mad idea, and a brilliant one. I think people have caught up with it in some way.
But that鈥檚 also not to say that the original production was flawless. It was deeply flawed, but it was also beautiful. I think anybody who got to [the musical's final songs鈥攖he original production infamously saw lots of audience walkouts during performances] "Opening Doors," and "Our Time," we were very close to the age of the characters. It was intensely moving in a way that was very pure. Hal鈥檚 idea was always that he wanted kids because by the time you got to the end of the show, you would think, "They won鈥檛 make the mistakes of these characters." It鈥檚 a big, meta idea that was really hard to convey. I still think the boldness of it was pretty exciting. And I鈥檓 sorry it didn鈥檛 come off in the way he had wanted it to.
As I was leaving the performance I saw, I overheard someone saying they loved it but wanted to see it in the "right" order, which, as you know, is a thing people say occasionally. But that鈥檚 always felt a little wild to me because it would absolutely not work and wouldn鈥檛 even be the same story.
I agree. Completely. There would be no hope. It would become a story of people who mostly lose their values and their relationships. How depressing is that? You watch characters become a sadly drunken woman, a man who is unhappy and bitter and successful, and a self-righteous prick who doesn鈥檛 have his friends. I think it would be a disaster.
I know people who have done it, who rehearse it that way to help the actors with continuity, but I think it鈥檚 always going to be a peculiar and beautiful, gorgeous puzzle. Some people are going to get on the ride, and some people are鈥擨 think this version many more people are going to get on the ride than they ever have, which is a testament to Maria [Friedman]鈥檚 work and those three wonderful actors, who I think are just sensational.
Lindsay鈥檚 just doing one of the great performances ever. And Daniel鈥攕o good. Watching him, I didn鈥檛 miss me at all. The complexity and the layers and the nuances of the way they鈥檙e playing it, and they found all the humor. I believed they were those friends and they had private jokes. Just spectacular.
How has your reaction to the show changed as you鈥檝e gotten older?
When I was younger, I thought Charlie was right. Now I think, "It鈥檚 his life. He鈥檚 allowed to do whatever he wants. Who鈥檚 to say that someone is wasting their talent," or whatever. We only get one life to live, and he chose something that he chose. To say that it鈥檚 selling out鈥 don鈥檛 know that we鈥檙e allowed to say that about other people. We鈥檙e not inside their heads, we don鈥檛 know what they want and what鈥檚 useful for them. That鈥檚 changed over the years. I think Charley鈥檚 a little self-righteous, and it鈥檚 none of his business what that other man decides to do with his life.
How did you feel when Sondheim and Furth started to revise the show?
Well, they鈥檝e been revising it forever. They don鈥檛 license our production鈥擲teve said that鈥檚 never to be sanctioned again. As soon as we closed, they started revising it. In a way, watching it鈥攊t鈥檚 so different that it鈥檚 not the show we did. The bones of it are, but it鈥檚 dressed quite differently. It鈥檚 complicated for me to watch it, for all of that original cast, because it鈥檚 part of our history and our DNA. It鈥檚 an overwhelming series of emotions. I鈥檓 not saying that they鈥檙e bad鈥攖hey鈥檙e complicated. Mostly I鈥檓 thrilled that people love it, that something that I love very much is now being loved by a lot of people, many more people.
Is there anything in particular that you miss from the original version?
I love 鈥淭he Hills of Tomorrow.鈥� I liked that frame of the graduation and stuff, but that was our production. When I watched it last night, I didn鈥檛 miss it. I thought, "OK, that鈥檚 just not what it is anymore." I love the song 鈥淩ich and Happy,鈥� but 鈥淭hat Frank鈥� is exactly right for this production. Some of the songs I missed. I think 鈥淕rowing Up鈥� is one of Steve鈥檚 best. It鈥檚 gorgeous. It鈥檚 a lot of contradictions for me watching it, missing some of it, and then delighted that it鈥檚 the new things. People ask me what I think of the show, and I always think I鈥檓 the wrong person to ask because it鈥檚 so complicated.
Is that complication why we haven鈥檛 seen a Lonny Price-directed revival of Merrily?
I think the film is my version of it, that it鈥檚 as close as I鈥檓 probably going to get. But never say never. I might take a stab at it someday if I can find some distance. I used to say I will never do it because it鈥檚 just too much. But someday鈥ou never know.
I had that reaction watching the documentary, particularly the point where Terry Finn talks about looking at young actors and thinking they don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e building.
Yes. They don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e building, that every choice you make is going to lead you someplace. The innocence of starting your life and not knowing what鈥檚 in store. It鈥檚 why I love teaching. I think about the students and I wonder what鈥檚 going to happen. It鈥檚 such an open book for them.
You say in the documentary that Hal hoped the kids of the original cast would learn the show鈥檚 lessons. What did you learn and what have you applied to your own career?
I lived a little bit like Charley. I didn鈥檛 want to go out to California and be on television. I wanted to be in the theatre. I feel really lucky that I鈥檝e been able to make my life in the theatre, so that was being true to me.
On another level, I learned how to be in the theatre from Hal and Steve. I learned respect. They respected the stage doorman the same way they respected Angela Lansbury. Hal was always about everyone鈥檚 important and everybody鈥檚 a part of this. You need everybody鈥攚e鈥檙e all in together. These two men just had enormous respect for everybody in their orbit. And everybody working鈥攚e were kids!鈥攁nd we were treated like we were big stars.
I remember 鈥淔ranklin Shepard Inc.鈥� came in late and Steve didn鈥檛 feel satisfied with it. He came up to me after a matinee and said, 鈥淚 know. I鈥檓 working on it. I鈥檒l make it better.鈥� And I thought, "He鈥檚 apologizing to me, 22 year-old me, saying I want to do better for you." I was taken aback and moved and didn鈥檛 know what to do with that. Hal came back to me opening night and he said, 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry. I wanted to give you a hit. I didn鈥檛 give you a hit. I think I gave you a good show, but I wanted to give you a hit.鈥� That was very moving, that he cared about me, and the company. He must have been so hurt鈥攊t was painful for all of them.
What does it feel like now with the show finally a big hit on Broadway, but with both of them gone?
I was missing them a lot last night. It was Hal鈥檚 idea鈥攖he show wouldn鈥檛 exist except for Hal. His wife, Judy said 鈥淲hat about a show for kids,鈥� but he found this one. I feel sad that Steve is not seeing it triumphant. And that鈥檚 a shame because he deserved to see it finally be accepted and loved. It鈥檚 bittersweet that they weren鈥檛 around to share in this.
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