A Fond And Sad Farewell To "Merrily We Roll Along!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                               This is the day Theater Queens, and the trio above have been dreading.  Today the now acclaimed production of "Merrily We Roll Along" closes and goes into the history books.

                                 While the original will always have its place in history, this soon to fold production will go on as being the definitive one.  Not just because of how it was rewritten and staged, though that was crucial to its success, but, more important, the talent and charm of the three performers who brought humanity and vulnerability to their characters, two of whom won TONY Awards, as the show did as "Best Revival Of A Musical."  And Lindsay Mendez, should have completed the TONY triumvirate by winning one, too.

                                How Jonathan Groff pulled off humanizing Franklin Shepard was nothing short of a miracle.  Oh, he was still dislikable, but in this production, it became clear how Life simply swept him away, like a bad ocean current.  He did not strike me as a sellout, but someone making the wrong choices because the things he thought he wanted would make him happy, when they actually did not.  The last image of the show, featuring Groff standing, staring out into a galaxy with Life ahead of him was moving and devastating, because we, who had seen the show, knew what was ahead for him.  And this broke our hearts.

                                   As did the trio's rendition of "Our Time,' which takes us Boomers old enough to have seen the original production back to our starting points and breaking our hearts in the process.  At least mine was broken.  And Mendez and Radcliffe brought such vulnerability to their performances they were almost painful to watch.  And their glorious renditions of the Sondheim score will live forever on the CD.

                                   Now, there are rumors of a filmed performance--culled from a variety of performances--floating about, that may be theatrically released.  How true this is I am not sure, but if it is, you can be sure David and I will be there, and for those unable to have seen the show live, I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity.

                                       And I can guarantee this--starting tomorrow, throngs of people at my former workplace will be fighting one another to view the 'Merrily' videotape!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         Because of Maria Friedman, and her sister, Sonia, "Merrily We Roll Along " finally made the history it deserved.  It went from being a flop to the hit many of us knew it could be, and I am so grateful to have lived long enough to have seen this unfold.

                                         Farewell, 'Merrily.'  "Not A Day Goes By" that you will not be thought of.

                              I wanted to give the full version of "Our Time," but could not find it.  Here is a brief excerpt that will convey the effectiveness of this song, and show how special this cast was.